Tweet of note: MSU vs. Penn State outdoors on January 31st, 2026

Per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman, Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine will be taking part in an outdoor game vs. Penn State on January 31st, 2026:

Tweet of note via RWP: Kiiskinen rips one in preseason action

This one slipped under the radar, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen caught this highlight from Red Wings Prospects on Twitter.

It’s not the greatest angle, but HPK Hameenlinna forward and Red Wings prospect Jesse Kiiskinen swiped the puck from an opponent at the offensive blueline, walked in and wristed a nasty shot into the net in preseason Liiga hockey:

Tweets of note: Nikita Tyurin already knows how to ‘walk the line’

Red Wings prospect Nikita Tyurin recently spoke with the MHL’s website, and while the junior hockey-playing defenseman just turned 18, these clips from Red Wings Prospects on Twitter illustrate Tyurin’s very mature abilities in terms of knowing how to “walk the blueline” laterally in order to open up opposing defenses and find teammates to tip pucks.

He skates very well with his blades outside of the blueline to stretch the area with which to move the puck, and he’s got a very good shot, too.

It is incredibly early in Tyurin’s career, and he’s very likely to play for MHK Spartak of the MHL (the KHL’s version of junior hockey) this upcoming season, so he’s far from making the jump to North America to say the very least…

But it’s good to see some maturity in his game already, given that his draft year was played as a 17-year-old youngster.

Gerard Gallant weighs in on Sergei Fedorov’s jersey retirement

RG.com’s Daria Tuboltseva profiled former Red Wings player and long-time NHL coach Gerard Gallant, who’s coaching the KHL’s Shanghai Dragons this season. As Gallant prepares to helm an expansion team playing far away from Shanghai in St. Petersburg, he shares his opinions on numerous topics with Tuboltseva, including this:

Gallant’s ties to Russian hockey go back even further, to his playing days with the Detroit Red Wings, when he shared the ice with Sergei Fedorov.

“When Sergei came over, I was a couple of years older than him. He was a tremendous player for us at a young age. We knew he was good, but we did not know how good he was. He was just a tremendous, tremendous talent. He is a really good guy. We really liked Sergei. Obviously, his career in the NHL, he deserves to be up in the rafters in Detroit with Steve Yzerman and Gordie Howe and all those guys. He is a phenomenal player. I do not know if he is the best Russian player ever, but he has to be up there. When they talk about the best Russian players, his name has to be mentioned. I really like Sergei. I have not seen him for quite a long time, but I am very happy for him that his number is being retired in Detroit. Well deserved.”
Source: RG.org

Continued; Gallant may very well see Sergei this season as Fedorov is an advisor to CSKA Moscow.

Patrick Kane discusses his Olympic dream with The Athletic

The Athletic’s Michael Russo wrote a massive article regarding Patrick Kane’s attempts to earn a spot on the 2026 U.S. Olympic team. Kane understands that he’s skating uphill against Team USA and GM Bill Guerin’s attempts to build a younger, faster, leaner team:

“A gold medal is all I’m missing in my career,” said the three-time Stanley Cup champion, former Calder Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner and 2010 Olympic silver medalist.

Last fall, Guerin, who doubles as the Minnesota Wild GM, flew to Detroit for a scouting trip. But the real reason he went was to meet with Kane after the game to explain to him that he wouldn’t be on the 4 Nations roster. Guerin felt Kane deserved that kind of respect. In December, U.S. 4 Nations and Olympics coach Mike Sullivan also met up with Kane after a Red Wings-Pittsburgh Penguins game.

Kane wasn’t surprised that he didn’t make the team. He got off to a rough start last season, “and pretty much knew and understood they wouldn’t be taking me.”

But Kane, who had missed the first two months of the 2023-24 season after hip-resurfacing surgery, got back to past form as 2024-25 went on and finished the season on a tear, with 16 goals and 45 points in the final 42 games. He went into the offseason feeling he’d have a shot to be chosen for the upcoming Olympics.

“There are a lot of good players here obviously — a lot of guys that are deserving of making it,” Kane said. “I just want to put my best foot forward and have a really good start to the season and kind of put yourself in a position, whether you’re making it or not, to say that I gave myself a chance.

“I didn’t really do much of that last year. It was just an easy decision to kind of leave me off. So, I definitely want to get off to a good start and get rolling the right way because if I’m on the team, I want it to be for the player I am now, not because of the player I was years ago.”

Continued at length (paywall); the American international teams are kind of insular–you only make it if you’ve “done your time” at World Championships most of the time, and the team’s been more than willing to nix veterans’ spots for the sake of building experience for younger players.

I don’t expect Kane to make the team unless he absolutely rockets to the top of the NHL’s scoring leaders, but at 36, I’m rooting for the “old guy.”

Snippet: Nicklas Lidstrom’s enjoying his role as a Swedish-based VP for the Red Wings

Red Wings vice-president of hockey operations Nicklas Lidstrom spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Andreas Hanson for a very lengthy article, but, regrettably, it’s stuck behind a paywall for the most part. Here’s the intro, at least:

Lidstrom on the Djugardens IF prospect: “Incredibly talented”

Nicklas Lidstrom follows hockey closely in his heavy role with the Detroit Red Wings.

For Hockeynews, the legend talks about:

  • His NHL mission
  • Hope for the Red Wings
  • What he sees in [2026 NHL Draft top prospect] Viggo Bjorck
  • What speaks for a boost to the West

Nicklas Lidstrom begins his first full season in the role of “vice president of hockey operations” for the Detroit Red Wings.

Hockeynews got a chat with the legend when he watched Vasteras and Djurgarden on Thursday in Stockholm.

“I’m still in the same role as before. I will mainly scout here in Sweden, see our guys we have, and scout as a ‘pro scout,’ i.e. on potential free agents. And so I travel over [to the U.S.] a number of times, five or six times a season, roughly.

He said he had as a claim against Steve Yzerman, his former teammate in Detroit, who has been a general manager for the Red Wings for several years.

“I told him: I’ll stay in Sweden when I jump on it. So I’m based here but travel over from time to time. It can be every two months to go over and work.”

The now 55-year-old Lidstrom was like Yzerman during Detroit’s glory days. The former big defenseman, one of Swedish hockey’s biggest of all time, has four Stanley Cup triumphs on his merit list, among many other things.

He says that he feels a little extra about being engaged for the team that he has such a strong history with–Lidstrom played his entire career with the Red Wings, 20 seasons and over 1,500 career games.

“I think it’s fun to be inside and back in the organization again. When I was a player, you had a role, but on management it becomes a different role. You build the team and look at a different perspective than as a player. I really enjoy the role I have.”

That’s not a whole hell of a lot, but now that Lidstrom’s four boys are grown men, it’s good to hear that he’s dove back into the business of hockey on a happy full-time basis.

Team USA’s extended family is thinking about Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau today

Today’s one-year anniversary of the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau remained on the minds of the 44 USA Hockey players who took part in Team USA’s Olympic orientation camp at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, MI earlier this week.

NHL.com’s Bill Price spoke with many players at the rink regarding the Gaudreaus and the one-year anniversary of their passing, and Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was blunt:

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin wore a United States World Championship jersey at the Stadium Series. He was teammates with Johnny at Worlds in 2017 and 2018.

“I just wish them (the Gaudreau family) nothing but the best,” Larkin said. “I know that Friday is going to be hard, and it’s continued to be hard all year.”

Along those lines, however, Larkin and the Red Wings leadership’s decision to wear Gaudreau family jerseys to the Stadium Series last March remains a strong memory for the Columbus Blue Jackets’ family, and Larkin’s friend, Zach Werenski:

When the Blue Jackets played the Detroit Red Wings in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1, each team honored Johnny with their attire upon arrival. The Blue Jackets walked into St. John Arena for a pep rally wearing Johnny’s signature outfit — black Ugg boots, black sweatpants, light blue sweatshirt from Avalon Surf Shop in New Jersey and black AMIRI ballcap with three black stars in the front.

The Red Wings stepped off the bus in jerseys that Johnny and Matthew wore during their hockey careers. For Johnny, they represented Dubuque of the United States Hockey League, Boston College and USA Hockey; for Matthew, Omaha of the USHL and BC. Each had a Gaudreau nameplate and number on the back.

“I think the outpouring of support for the family, for [Gaudreau’s friend Sean Monahan], for our team, for all John’s friends and family, like, it was really incredible to see all the tributes, just the support that we had,” Werenski said. “I felt like, in a weird way, we could kind of feel the support from all teams across the League, all fan bases, just hockey in general.

“He’s a special person and deserves that. I mean, he was Johnny Hockey. I think what he did for the game of hockey, he was on pace to be one of the greatest Americans of all time. He is one of the greatest Americans of all time.”

Continued; may the Gaudreau family find peace, if only eventually. That’s all you can really hope for with grief–a sense of peace and as much closure as you’re going to get (which is never total closure).

It’s going to take time, as Dylan suggests here, and it’s gonna be hard for a while yet. But Johnny and Matthew’s memories are strong, and they always will be strong.

THN shares 10 Red Wings’ ratings in EA Sports’ ‘NHL 26’

According to the Hockey News’s Jake Tye, EA Sports has revealed its player ratings for NHL 26, and here are some of the Red Wings’ ratings (please take with salt, remember that it’s a video game):

Dylan Larkin (89 Overall – X-Factor Player)

Being slotted alongside elite talents like Tage Thompson, Robert Thomas, and JT Miller is a testament to Larkin’s status as one of the NHL’s premier centres. The only drawback in his player profile is a slightly underwhelming defensive rating.

Recognized as one of the top two-way forwards in the game, Larkin’s all-situations usage, whether it’s even strength, power play, or penalty kill, deserves more than the 88 defensive awareness rating he received. 

Lucas Raymond (89 Overall – X-Factor Player)

Raymond’s back-to-back campaigns near a point-per-game pace have vaulted him into conversations with top-tier wingers like Brady Tkachuk, Jason Robertson, and Jake Guentzel.

Being placed in the same tier as someone like Robertson, who’s eclipsed the 100-point mark, signals EA’s acknowledgment of Raymond’s development and hints at the potential for a true breakout year in 2025–26.

Alex DeBrincat (88 Overall – X-Factor Player)

DeBrincat continues to produce at a steady 65–70 point pace, and his X-Factor status puts him among elite company including Adrian Kempe, Cole Caufield, and Seth Jarvis.

His lethal shot isn’t being overlooked either with his 92 ratings in both wrist- and slap-shot accuracy reflecting just how dangerous “The Cat” remains from the hash marks in.

Continued; I’m not a big gamer, but these ratings might matter quite a bit to you.

Eduards Tralmaks has friends in high places

According to iDnes.cz’s Petr Bilek, Rytíři Kladno owner and player Jaromir Jagr headed to Riga, Latvia to take in Nikola Jokic’s performance at the “EuroBasket” game between the Czechs and Portugal, on Wednesday.

Jagr was able to squeeze in the game on Wednesday, between two preseason games, via taking his team’s ownership’s private plane to and from Riga, and as Jagr was in Latvia, his friend, Red Wings free agent signing Eduards Tralmaks, made the game arrangements for Jagr and his girlfriend.

Here’s a picture of Jagr enjoying the game from the sidelines:

“Eddie” Tralmaks is 28, and he earned a 1-year, 2-way contract from the Red Wings after the 6’4,” 209-pound winger led the Czech Extraliga in scoring with 23 goals and 28 assists for 51 points in 48 games played.

Tralmaks also posted 3 goals and 4 assists in 7 games played for the Latvian national team during the World Championship.

That, and he’s tight with Jaromir Jagr, so there’s that.

Discussing the 84-game regular season schedule which begins in 2026-2027

The NHL’s regular season schedule will expand from 82 to 84 games during the 2026-2027 season, and as such, MLive’s Ansar Khan looks back to Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s post-free agency press conference to get the GM’s take on the situation:

The NHL’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement that goes into effect in September 2026 features a couple of slight alterations in the schedule. The regular season will increase from 82 games to 84 games and the season will start in September instead of early October.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the earlier start to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas at the NHL/NHL Players’ Association European Player Media Tour last week in Italy.

“It (84-game schedule) should allow us to start the season earlier so we’re not extending the overall schedule,” Daly told Friedman and Bukauskas. “The 2026–27 season may be shorter (in days). We’ll see how that plays out.”

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said last month that an 84-game season “makes perfect sense.”

“I think it’ll give more balance to divisional games,” Yzerman said. “I’m not exactly sure what the matrix is going to be as far as divisional games and whatnot, but it seemed to make sense to us.”

Where GM SY isn’t so sold is upon the concept that teams will play only 4 preseason games instead of 6 to 8:

“I think the four preseason games … it’s a bit of a challenge,” Yzerman said. “You’re always weighing how many games your veteran players need to play. The guys that are really knocking on the door, the guys that you can consider call-ups and then those players that are here trying to push to make the team. It’s going to be hard to get everybody in a reasonable number of games with four. That’s the downside to it, but we’ll manage it.”