Category: Uncategorized

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills checked in with Red Wings free agent signing James van Riemsdyk, with the 36-year-old discussing his leadership qualities and the strengths of his game…

“Especially over the last few years, I think as you get older in your career, obviously you have your calling cards as a player,” van Riemsdyk said. “You have to find ways to be a bit more versatile, add value in different ways to a team and being able to contribute in different ways, so I think I’ve been able to add some different things to my game that can make me be able to play in different spots all over the lineup. Coming into camp, I’m sure that’s what we’ll try to figure out as a team – how the puzzle pieces start to fit together.”

Offseason NHL roster reconstruction can be compared to completing a puzzle, and van Riemsdyk is an ideal piece for Detroit. For starters, his presence should also be significant in the Red Wings’ dressing room.

“It’s a full-time commitment,” van Riemsdyk said about his leadership style. “Whether that’s your preparation, being ready to practice, being ready to play and being ready to recover to get ready for the next game. Just trying to do the right things like that every day. And just trying to bring positive energy to the group and on the bench. It can be a long year, lots of ups and downs, so I think you need to have some of that sounding board just to help things stay even keeled when maybe things aren’t going your way.”

As well as his long-time relationships with Patrick Kane and Justin Holl:

Continue reading Checking in with James van Riemsdyk

Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz offers “Early Bold Predictions” for the 2025-2026 NHL season, and you’ll have to forgive me for disagreeing with the premise:

Detroit Red Wings: Steve Yzerman’s seat finally gets hot

It probably already should be, but if it’s not, it will be when this season ends.

If the Red Wings end up missing the playoffs again — which seems likely given how slow the offseason has been — that will be 10 consecutive seasons, with seven of those coming under Yzerman’s watch.

Yes, he took over a mess.

Yes, rebuilds take time.

Yes, the Red Wings have been extremely patient while he waits for his players to develop.

But at some point you have to start having expectations for something better. You can’t keep blaming the end of the Ken Holland era anymore. Enough time has passed that Yzerman’s team should be ready to be in the playoffs and competing for something. So far, it hasn’t been. And it doesn’t seem close to doing so. This might be the year where the temperature starts to crank up on him.

Continued; Yzerman’s seat may be “hot” as far as fans are concerned, but I’m convinced that as long as Mrs. Ilitch is around and Chris Ilitch is in charge of the hockey team, Yzerman’s got a long, long leash in terms of his job security.

He’s the GM and he will see the rebuild through, whether we like it or not.

I never quite know what to do with these real estate articles, so we’ll just share it and see whether you’re interested.

The Chicago Tribune’s Bob Goldsborough reports that Red Wings forward Patrick Kane sold one of his several Chicago area properties:

Former Chicago Blackhawks great Patrick Kane, who now skates for the Detroit Red Wings, in late June sold his four-bedroom, 4,776-square-foot condominium on the 25th floor of the luxury Near North Side tower at 9 W. Walton Street in an off-market transaction for $6.4 million.

Kane starred as a right winger for the Blackhawks from 2007 until 2023, during that time leading the club to three Stanley Cup finals victories and being selected to nine NHL All-Star Games.

Over the years, Kane has owned several residential properties in Chicago and on the North Shore. In the building at 9 W. Walton, Kane paid $6.4625 million in 2019 for his unit.

In late June, Kane sold the unit in an off-market deal, according to public records, so no details about are available in listing information. However, in a sign of the softness of the downtown condo market, Kane took a loss on the $6.4 million sale, selling the condo for 1% less than he had paid for it in 2019.

Continued; if you’re interested, read further.

Friday, of course, Patrick Kane will be recollecting memories as 8/8 is Patrick Kane Day in Chicago.

Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist interviews famous scout Christer Rockstrom today, discussing hockey experiences with one of the first prominent Swedish scouts in the NHL. Rockstrom worked for the Red Wings, Rangers and Canadiens, but he’s hanging up his scouting notebook at 68 years of age, and he describes his start in the NHL with the Red Wings…

How did you work initially?

“I came in the middle of the season, and I got some travel money to leave some information. Then I wasn’t really a scout, but it was more than I would keep track of the defenseman born in 1967 and 68’s.

“Then Detroit and Neil [Smith] began training me as a scout. Year two I was hired and got it as a part-time job. The first half of the year I didn’t report, but instead just a compilation of interesting players in Sweden. I wrote that together in cranky English and sent it in. The following year I started scouting, so it was with the 1968 litter that I really started my job as a scout.”

And Rockstrom discusses his time with Detroit…

Continue reading Roughly translated: Former Wings scout Christer Rockstrom ‘talks shop’ with Hockeysverige.se

The Free Press concludes its survey of the first quarter of the 21st century in Detroit Sports this morning, ranking the best Detroit sports teams over the past 25 seasons.

The 2005-2006 Red Wings earn an “honorable mention” from Christian Romo despite being upset by the Edmonton Oilers…

Continue reading Four Red Wings teams make the Free Press’s ‘All-21st Century teams’ list

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that the Red Wings have filled the vacancy caused by amateur scout Kevin Gibson’s decision to leave the Red Wings to become the GM of the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks:

The Detroit Red Wings have filled out the club’s scouting staff. Veteran scout Marty Hogan will be taking over for the departed Kevin Gibson as an amateur scout.

Hogan, 43, owns a lengthy resume of scouting in the Ontario Hockey League ranks. He has worked as a scout for the past eight years with the Ottawa 67s.

“Scout Marty Hogan has accepted a scouting position with the Detroit Red Wings,” the 67s posted on the club’s social media sites. “We’d like to thank Marty for all of his contributions over the last eight years with us, and wish him all the best with the Red Wings. Great, knowledgeable hockey man and unbelievable human being.”

Before his time with the 67s, Hogan served five years as an OHL scout with the Niagara IceDogs and one season with the Mississauga Steelheads.

He also spent two years as the video coach with the Estonian U18 national team. Currently, he is employed as an assistant coach by the NCAA Division III Lake Forest Foresters in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Continued; I would not be surprised if Red Wings coach Todd McLellan added one more coach to flesh out his staff of assistant coaches Trent Yawney and Alex Tanguay, as well as video coordinator Jeff Weintraub.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James profiles Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine this morning, discussing the “unfinished business” at the NCAA level which gave Augustine pause about turning pro this summer:

Earlier this summer, the No. 41 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft went through a second development camp with the Wings, which gave team personnel a chance to help instill the habits that, down the road, project to make Augustine a good pro. For now, he wants to be a championship player for Michigan State hockey, to which he is returning for his junior year.

“There’s still something to prove there and I want to go back and win a national championship,” Augustine said. “But it was a lot of good things that happened throughout the year. I got better as a hockey player and as a person and am looking to do that again next year.”

Augustine, 20, had an outstanding sophomore season: 19-7-4 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, earning first-team All-Big Ten and All-America honors and leading the Spartans to their second straight Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles. The Spartans were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament but were upset in the opening round by Cornell.

…

He’ll continue his development for another season what projects to be a highly competitive team and likely emerge even better for having made the right decision for himself.

“I didn’t feel there was a wrong answer – just kind of what worked best for me and my career,” Augustine said. “I still want to get stronger on and off the ice and I think staying in college gives me a little better opportunity to develop my body and get ready for the professional game.”

Continued;

I’ve read a couple of people suggesting that Augustine didn’t turn pro this past spring because he doesn’t want to play for the Red Wings, and that’s ludicrous “summer talk.” He’s going to sign with Detroit, whether it’s next spring or two springs from now.

I’ve been looking at the Red Wings’ prospect pool on an informal basis over the last couple of weeks. In the case of 23-year-old winger Jakub Rychlovsky, I had to double check PuckPedia and the Grand Rapids Griffins’ “Roster and Alumni Tracker” to confirm that the 5’10,” 181-pound Rychlovsky was still Red Wings property.

It was easy for Rychlovsky to get lost in the shuffle, because he followed up a 46-points-in-51-games season with the Bili Tygri Liberec of the Czech Extraliga with an injury-plagued North American rookie season in which he registered 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in 38 games, which isn’t pretty.

I had assumed that Rychlovsky would be leaving the Red Wings’ organization to head back to Europe, but he’s still on the books for one more season.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports good news on the Rychlovsky front this morning (via a look behind the paywall at an article from iSport’s Zbynek Irgl, Radek Duda and Miroslav Horak). Duff reports that Rychlovsky still believes that he can salvage his North American career:

Continue reading Rychlovsky hasn’t given up on the North American grind

As noted earlier this evening, Red Wings prospect, 2025 draft pick and Team Sweden forward Eddie Genborg scored a goal and added an assist at the World Junior Summer Showcase today.

While we need to take Genborg’s performance in August hockey with a bit of salt, because the World Junior Summer Showcase is about establishing a pecking order for the World Junior Championship more than anything, it’s good to read that Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis felt that Genborg was at his pest-ering best today:

#25 Eric Genborg, LW (Detroit Red Wings): Genborg loves to make a ruckus, that’s what he did today. he had two points, including a goal where he tipped a point shot in perfectly. He’s a strong forward who defenseman seem to struggle to clear from the crease. Players like that will always find roles because even when they’re not scoring, they’re difficult to play against. Scoring the odd goal doesn’t hurt, though.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted that Genborg enjoys being a pain in the ass in a mid-July profile, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff noted earlier this week that the 6’2,” 205-pound winger is going to be joining Timra IK of the SHL this season, hoping to crack the men’s roster after a strong J20 season with Linkopings HC last year.

Timra IK, of course, has a very famous alumnus in a certain Henrik Zetterberg, who unofficially provides advisement to both Timra and the Red Wings on occasion.

I have a feeling that Genborg’s high-energy, chaos-embracing style will endear him to Wings fans if and when he turns pro with the Griffins in a couple of seasons.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press’s Jess Myers reports that several former NHL players are attending the World Junior Summer Showcase in Minneapolis to scout potential draft picks and signings…as well as their own sons…

Detroit Red Wings assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff has been a particularly interested observer, not only looking for future stars to play in Motown, but having a vested interest in one particular U.S. winger.

After a solid first season of college hockey at Michigan, Will Horcoff was selected 24th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and in addition to vying for a Big Ten title with the Wolverines and a gold medal with Team USA, he’s certainly a candidate to emulate his father, who skated in more than 1,000 NHL games with the Oilers, Stars and Ducks over a 14-season pro career.

“It just shows how fast time flies. It seems like just yesterday I was watching him play,” Will Horcoff said. “It’s kind of crazy that now the roles are reversed and he’s watching me. But he has been a great guide my whole life, and he has taught me so much about how to be a player and a man.”

…

A few sections over from where Horcoff and Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato were talking, former Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Derek Plante — now scouting for the Ottawa Senators — watched intently as Team USA battled penalty troubles and Team Sweden on Wednesday afternoon.

His son Max, who will be a sophomore at UMD this season, has not been on the ice for the Americans due to a nagging injury. But Max played a role in Team USA’s gold medal and is widely expected to make the final 2026 roster for the Americans.

The elder Plante, who was a star for the Bulldogs and a member of the 1999 Stanley Cup champions in Dallas, said getting paid to watch hockey when your child is in the mix is a special thing.

“It gets me in the rink, anyway,” Derek said, with a smile. “I don’t have a lot of decision-making power for him, but it’s fun to watch all these games. I got to watch Max grow up, and also I’ve seen a lot of these kids grow up. I get to know a little bit more about them as a scout.”

Continued