The Hockey News’s Michael Augello examines “pluses and minuses” of three “bubble teams” in the NHL’s Eastern Conference in the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, and both the good and not-so-good news about the Red Wings involves a single position:

Detroit Red Wings

Positive 

After years of struggling to find a legitimate No. 1 goalie, GM Steve Yzerman may have finally solved the issue with the acquisition of John Gibson from Anaheim. The rest of the summer was spent solidifying their depth, adding veterans Travis Hamonic, Mason Appleton and James van Riemsdyk. 

Negative 

The Wings did not add any offense to a club that had only four players who scored 20 or more goals last season, which means they will have to play much better defensively, even though the depth on their blueline is questionable, and will need their improved tandem of Gibson and Cam Talbot to steal points. 

Continued; the Wings need to both manufacture more offense and improve their defensive play, and at present, it appears that the team’s desire to add a top-six forward and a top-four defenseman will have to wait.

The NHL Network spent this past summer ranking top players by position, and this morning, they begin releasing their list of the top 50 players regardless of position in the NHL. Of numbers 50 to 41, Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin occupies the 41st position:

41. Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings captain is the ninth player in team history with four consecutive 30-goal seasons and the first to do it since Henrik Zetterberg from 2005-09. Last season, Larkin played all 82 games for the second time, finishing with 40 assists and 70 points, and had a goal and an assist in four games at the 4 Nations Face-Off to help the United States reach the championship game, a 3-2 overtime loss to Canada. The 29-year-old center has also had at least 13 power-play goals in each of the past three seasons.

I can’t embed it, but there’s a video of Mike Johnson and Corey Schneider discussing Larkin’s pluses posted within the article.

Update: you can watch the video here.

Winged Wheel represnting'!

Dylan Larkin is back on the list, this time at #⃣4⃣1⃣!@DetroitRedWings | #NHLTopPlayers pic.twitter.com/0C4sPDFcaN

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) September 7, 2025

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a “getting to know you” article regarding the 7 free agents who the Red Wings invited to take part in their pair of Prospect Games against the Dallas Stars this upcoming weekend:

Among the seven rookie free agents that the Red Wings have extended an invitation to participate in the club’s prospect games against the Dallas Stars, defenseman Justice Christiansen is the captain of the WHL Prince Albert Raiders. In the summer, Christiansen was also the captain of the Canadian team that won the World U20 ball hockey championship in Slovakia.

Last season, the 5-foot-9, 191-pound Christiansen scored 22 goals for the Raiders.

At the other end of the spectrum, 6-foot-7, 225-pound Swedish defenseman Carl-Otto Magnusson was also extended a camp invitation. The Frolunda rearguard is known more as a stay-at-home defenseman. And since he’s still eligible for the 2026 NHL entry draft, the Red Wings wouldn’t be able to offer Magnusson a contract if he wows them at rookie camp.

Magnusson was selected in the CHL Import Draft by the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats. However, he opted to remain in Sweden.

Still, there will be plenty of Moncton flavor on Detroit’s rookie roster. Two draft picks – goalie Rudy Guimond (2023) and center Grayden Robertson-Palmer – will play for Moncton this season.

Joining them will be free agent right wing Vincent Collard. He scored 25 goals for the QMJHL champions last season. Collard also had a four-goal performance in Game 3 of the QMJHL final against Rimouski.

Continued

The Hockey News’s Andre Leal posted a set of biographical sketches regarding 3 likely-to-play-in-the-AHL prospects which he suggests bear watching in Oliver Bonk, Tanner Molendyk and Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka,  Grand Rapids Griffins

Axel Sandin-Pellikka really made a name for himself in the last two World Junior Championships that he featured in. For the latest 2024-25 world juniors, Sandin-Pellikka captained Team Sweden.

Despite a fourth-place finish, the blueliner equalled Carolina Hurricanes prospect and Chicago Wolves right winger Felix Unger Sorum to lead his team in points with four goals and 10 points in seven games. 

With that, Sandin-Pellikka finished the tournament tied in second for points behind Team USA’s and Washington Capitals prospect defenseman Cole Hutson, who had 11 points.

The offense-minded defenseman has already made a few appearances in the AHL last season. After racking up 12 goals and 29 points in 46 games for Skelleftea in the SHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins brought him in to end the AHL campaign.

The Detroit Red Wings prospect recorded one assist across two regular-season and three post-season contests.

Continued; Sandin Pellikka may have a bit of a slow start if he requires readjustment to the North American style of play, but his skill set translates well to every rink, so we’ll get hints as to whether his apprenticeship will be short or somewhat extended over the course of training camp and the exhibition season.

Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur suffered a dislocated elbow on the second shift of his NHL debut, and he’s been beset by injuries over the past two AHL seasons as well. Mazur spoke with the Hockey News’s Jake Tye recently regarding his “upper-body injury,” his recovery from said issue, and his expectations going forward:

“It’s been my dream ever since I was a little kid to play for the Detroit Red Wings, so just to get the taste of it was kind of a good thing, and it just makes me want to work even harder to get back there,” Mazur said “I’ve had the right people behind me, the right training staff and everything to go through that injury, it was pretty tough when it happened but I’m looking forward to getting back out there and showing them what I can do.”

The 23-year-old winger has his sights set on making the Red Wings roster once again and feels like he is in a favorable spot to rejoin the team once again. 

“I’m not really a stat guy, I don’t really care about stats and I’m more about making a team right now, I’d say I think I’m in a good position to make Detroit, that’s my main goal” Mazur explained “I got a little taste of it last year, even though it ended pretty badly, which kind of sucked, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity to go into camp and just put my best foot forward and just show them what I can do.”

The former Denver Pioneer had a successful college career with 75 points in 81 games and helped lead his school to a NCAA National Championship in 2022. He carried that momentum into the AHL, where he became an impact player over two seasons, posting 28 goals and 30 assists for 58 points in 86 games. What makes these numbers even more impressive is that Mazur doesn’t view himself as a point producer, but rather as a gritty, physical player who brings energy and edge to the ice. One of his favorites in the NHL to watch right now is Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett.

“I was watching [Bennett] in playoffs, and just how he competes, and he’s just a hard player to play against, I feel like that’s kind of how I am I’m not going to be a guy who’s going to go out there and dominate and get you 80 points,” Mazur outlined “I’m a gritty guy, I like to go to the hard areas, I feel like I would fit well on a top line, I could play up and down the lineup, and it’s just something that I’ve really built in my game, I like to penalty kill, I just like to be hard to play against. I think that’s probably the biggest thing that stands out about my game.”

Continued…good stuff here.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note today:

Dmitri Buchelnikov took part in CSKA Moscow’s “derby” against Dynamo Moscow, with CSKA prevailing by a 6-2 score, but Buchelnikov didn’t register a point. He finished even with 1 shot in 14:52 played.

Update: In Champions Hockey League action, Noah Dower Nilsson finished at -2 in 14:55 played as Frolunda HC lost 4-2 to Sparta Prague.

NHL.com/sv’s Janne Bengtsson posted a lengthy interview with Lucas Raymond in Swedish today. Here’s a rough translation thereof:

Lucas Raymond on the playoff hunt with Detroit

The Red Wings’ Swedish star forward has set his sights on copying Zetterberg and Datsyuk

Lucas Raymond turned 23 at the end of March. But despite his relatively low age, he has already played four seasons in the National Hockey League.

Now Raymond is preparing for his fifth year in the world’s best hockey league. And he’s planning to take Red Wings to the playoffs after nine years outside them. That’s an eternity for a team that, between 1991 and 2016 reached the playoffs 25 times in a row, and also won the Stanley Cup four times during that period. Facts that everyone, players, club management and fans, are aware of in the hockey-crazy city in Michigan and on the team that is one of the NHL’s legendary Original Six.

“We have the capacity to get back to the playoffs. I feel like we’re doing it this season (25-26),” Lucas Raymond said.

“Detroit is a cool city to play in. Not only for the tradition and history of the team, but also because of how the fans treat us (players). We haven’t gone to the playoffs during the time I’ve been to the team, and we’ve had some really difficult years, so if there’s any who are disappointed and frustrated, it’s us players. But still, it’s sold out to every game,” says Raymond.

“And when you meet fans on the street, it’s never in a bad way. We have magical fans who support us in the wet and in the dry. Not the least, it’s something that drives me and the players; to get back where we belong.”

Continue reading Roughly translated: Lucas Raymond speaks with NHL.com/sv at length

The Detroit Red Wings Alumni are going to face off against a “Yoopers United” team to help raise funds for the United Way of Marquette County next Friday, September 13th via an exhibition game called “Hockey Night in Marquette County.”

The event will be held at the Berry Events Center on Northern Michigan University’s campus (click the link for tickets), and two high-mark donators, Brad Boudrie and Kevin Thompson,mwill be skating with the Yoopers United team.

WNMU-FM of Marquette interviewed executive director Andrew Rickauer about the event, and you can listen to the 10-minute interview here.

Per Oakland County Executive David Coulter:

I recently joined @DetroitRedWings captain Dylan Larkin and hockey legend and commentator Mickey Redmond to encourage our community to support @AdoptPetOakland, which remains at capacity with pets in need of a new home. Adopt, don’t shop! https://t.co/CpXHW5Ise2. pic.twitter.com/oCHJGnHrB2

— David Coulter, #OaklandCounty Executive (@OakGovEO) September 4, 2025

You can find more about the Oakland County Animal Control & Pet Adoption Center here.

The Detroit Red Wings revealed their Prospect Games roster on Thursday, and one of their free agent invites is Justice Christensen, the captain of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. The 5’9,” 185-pound right-shooting defenseman is 20 years old, and he posted 22 goals and 24 assists for 46 points in 64 games played for Prince Albert this past season.

Prince Albert Now’s Nick Nielsen spoke with Christensen and the Raiders’ two other prospect tournament invitees today:

Captain Justice Christensen is heading to camp with the Detroit Red Wings, the newly acquired Max Heise is heading to San Jose Sharks camp, and Lukas Dragicevic is heading to camp with the Seattle Kraken.

Starting off with Christensen, the 20-year-old defenceman was not drafted by the Red Wings, but has earned his spot after leading all WHL defencemen in goals and earning a scholarship with the University of Nebraska-Omaha for next season. He first heard from the Red Wings in early July when he captained Canada’s U20 World Ball Hockey Team to a gold medal in Slovakia.

“It’s been about a month and a half-ish. I got the call when I was in Slovakia, actually, so that was a crazy week for me. But yeah, I’m super pumped to get there.”

Raiders Assistant Coach Connor Yawney is the son of Red Wings assistant coach Trent Yawney, but Christensen says the two of them have not spoken much about the opportunity to head to Detroit. For Christensen, he believes it’s important to keep some distance between the Raiders and the Red Wings to make sure he has his focus in the right place.

“I was in touch with Connor over the summer and yeah, we just talked a little bit about it, but yeah, just kind of keeping the two separate a little bit. Like I want to do my job when I’m here, but then obviously when I get the opportunity there to prove myself. Not a whole lot’s been said, but it’s definitely exciting.”

Continued; I’ll be posting an article on the Wings’ Prospect Games invites soon.