Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz offers “final grades” for every NHL team’s offseason moves (or the lack thereof), and I cannot disagree with his reasoning for giving Detroit an “F” grade (except for the fact that the team does have an interim general manager in Shawn Horcoff):

Detroit Red Wings

Offseason grade: F

Dysfunctional. That’s how this whole operation comes across right now.

Dylan Larkin requested a trade at the start of the offseason, Steve Yzerman was removed/stepped aside as general manager, and now with the season just days away they still do not have a new general manager to run the team.

That has resulted in Larkin not being traded, while nobody actually knows if he still wants a trade, and the organization stripping him of his captaincy.

Restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson (who also happens to be one of their best and most important young players) also remains unsigned because they haven’t had a general manager to get a new deal done with him.

Continue reading Bleacher Report’s Gretz issues an “F” grade for the Red Wings’ offseason →

Updated at 8:27 AM: Red Wings prospect defenseman Anton Johansson has the Red Wings in something of a pickle. Anton doesn’t need waivers to be sent down to Grand Rapids, so, in an ideal world, he’d be moved down for the start of the regular season over, say, William Wallinder or Jacob Bernard-Docker, who might be picked up on the waiver wire.

There’s a small problem with the equation, however, and it’s the fact that 22-year-old Anton has played fantastic hockey over the course of three exhibition games, posting 5 assists and looking more and more NHL-ready as he works the kinks out of his defensive game and displays surprisingly strong offensive chops.

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James duly noted that Johansson earned significant praise from coach Todd McLellan and teammate Alex DeBrincat after last night’s 3-2 OT win over Buffalo:

Continue reading Red Wings prospect Anton Johansson’s blazing a trail toward a spot on Detroit’s blueline →

Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat finished last night’s overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres one assist short of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, scoring the game-winning goal in a 3-2 decision and getting in a fight with Buffalo’s Trevor Kuntar…

Kuntar vs DeBrincat #LetsGoBuffalo #LGRW pic.twitter.com/qrgyFN9U3Y

— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) September 25, 2026

After the game, DeBrincat told MLive’s Ansar Khan that he expected to get some blowback from coach Todd McLellan…

“It’s an intense game,” DeBrincat said. “(Kuntar) had done some stuff earlier in the game, too. And in the pile, he came in hard, I just saw red, I guess. Probably shouldn’t be fighting, but it is what it is. And it’s an intense game out there. So we got to play hard and do what we need to do.”

DeBrincat said coach Todd McLellan has never told him to avoid fighting. He has eight career fighting majors in the regular season, according to hockeyfights.com.

“He might say something now, but … I’m a competitor,” DeBrincat said. “I was getting (ticked) off, and it just happened. So, probably not exactly what I want to do, especially in preseason or anytime really.”

But coach McLellan told the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker that he was in fact quite proud of DeBrincat:

Continue reading Coach Todd McLellan makes no bones about Alex DeBrincat’s scrap in the Red Wings’ preseason victory over Buffalo →

The Detroit Red Wings advanced their preseason record to 2-0-and-1 after defeating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in overtime on Thursday evening.

NHL.com’s recap will tell you the “just the facts” part of the narrative:

Alex DeBrincat won it for the Red Wings 33 seconds into overtime, finishing a one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Lucas Raymond during a power play.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Sheldon Dries also scored for the Red Wings (2-0-1). Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves.

Jiri Kulich and Trevor Kuntar scored for the Sabres (1-1-1). Ellis made 16 saves.

Kuntar gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 10:48 of the first period, roofing a shot after retrieving a failed clearing attempt by Tarasov.

Sandin-Pellikka tied it 1-1 at 16:11 with a power-play goal, a one-timer from the right circle off a feed from Anton Johansson.

Kulich scored 33 seconds into the second period to put Buffalo back ahead 2-1 after his shot on the rush trickled through Tarasov’s five-hole.

Dries tied it 2-2 at 7:13 of the third period, redirecting Jacob Bryson’s shot from the blue line in the left circle.

Even though this was an exhibition game, this game was particularly scrappy in the literal and figurative senses, with the Red Wings rallying from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to force overtime, and Alex DeBrincat of all people getting in a fight with Trevor Kuntar amidst a bunch of individual and collective scraps and scrapes.

Mo & cat shenanigans #LGRW pic.twitter.com/R4BFAPwsGU

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) September 25, 2026

The game didn’t go particularly well for Buffalo, which lost both Alex Lyon (upper-body injury) and Jiri Kulich (precautionary pull) to injuries, and Kuntar said this to BuffaloSabres.com’s Justin Alpert:

Continue reading Red Wings-Sabres preseason wrap-up: DeBrincat, Anton Johansson and the rest of Detroit’s roster embracing an edgier game →

The Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres faced off at Little Caesars Arena in the 3rd of 4 Detroit exhibition games on Thursday night.

At Little Caesars Arena, the Wings rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie the Buffalo Sabres 2-2, force overtime, and Alex DeBrincat, who had 8 shots, 11 shot attempts (and a fight), scored at 32 seconds of OT, on a 4-on-3 power play, to seal the deal:

Alex DeBrincat nets the overtime winner for the @DetroitRedWings! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/qaDBH7pvDj

— NHL (@NHL) September 25, 2026

Mid-season form 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/pAInmEhDhQ

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 25, 2026

Axel sandin Pellikka would score the 1-1 marker at 16:11 of the 1st (from Anton Johansson, who has 5 assists this preseason), and Sheldon Dries would tie the game 7:13 into the 3rd period on a tip-in of a point shot from Jacob Bryson.

Daniil Tarasov stopped 17 of 19 shots against, and was alert, responsive and sharp;

And the game was very scrappy, with Buffalo and Detroit both taking 7 penalties on the evening.

Enjoy the Tweetcap below!

PREGAME: Daniil Tarasov and Alex Lyon led their respective teams out onto the ice…

Continue reading Red Wings-Sabres preseason Tweetcap: DeBrincat delivers an OT winner in a scrappy win over Buffalo →

Red Wings assistant director of player development and interim Grand Rapids Griffins GM Dan Cleary spoke with the multi-talented Daniella Bruce prior to the Red Wings-Sabres game, per Detroit SportsNet:

Dan Cleary, Assistant Director of Player Development for the @DetroitRedWings, talked with @daniellabruce_ before the first home preseason game of the season. pic.twitter.com/ketIvWWloE

— Detroit SportsNet (@WatchDSN) September 24, 2026

The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker spoke with Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie regarding his expectations heading into Finnie’s sophomore season. Finnie plays like a Tasmanian Devil, and his play-driving, speedy, forechecking style earned pundits’ praise throughout the course of a superb freshman campaign:

“I think my confidence is high right now,” Finnie said. “Obviously, I had some success last season, and it was nice to carry that into the offseason.”

Showing the maturity of a seasoned veteran, Finnie acknowledged that there are still areas of his game he wants to improve, including his work on the backcheck.

“I really wanted to improve my game; I was trying to focus on lots of areas – winning battles low, just working on all areas of my game,” he said. “And defensively, I want to be sharper.” 

Finnie, whom the Red Wings selected in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft, recorded 30 points during his rookie season. Although he isn’t entering this season with a specific points target in mind, Finnie believes the production will follow if he continues to, as he put it, play the right way. 

“I just take it as it comes,” he said of his point totals. “Obviously, you want to produce, and for me, it’s putting myself in the right position to score goals and making plays where I can get assists. If I just keep playing the right way, they’ll come.”

Finnie told Whitaker that he’s embracing coach Todd McLellan’s desire to coach a faster, tougher team as well:

“I think he wants our whole team to play hard, and it’s an area of my game I like to play,” Finnie said of his physicality. “I like to finish my checks and be hard on the forecheck, and I feel like that’s when I play my best, when I do that. I’m gonna continue to do that.”

Continued

Ahead of the start of the NCAA Division 1 college hockey season, College Hockey News’s Mike McMahon posted a “top 10” list of most likely-to-be-competitive schools, and the “Plante-based” Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth are in the middle(ish):

6) Minnesota Duluth: There might not be a better line in college hockey than Plante-Plante-Plante.

Everyone knows Hobey Baker Award winner Max Plante (52 points) and his brother, Zam Plante (51 points). Now add Victor Plante to the mix.

The 18-year-old was selected in the second round of this past summer’s NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings, the same organization that drafted Max in the second round in 2024. Victor Plante had 66 points in 77 games for the U.S. NTDP last season, and while nothing is final, it certainly makes sense that we’ll see all three brothers together at some point this year.

That trio will grab the headlines, but the Bulldogs have a solid roster built around the Plante brothers. Jayson Shaugabay (43 points) returns for his junior year, and Ty Hanson (36 points) looks like one of the top defensemen in the nation.

The only unproven part of the roster is in goal, where freshman Carl Axelsson arrives after being one of the top goaltenders in the USHL last season with Muskegon (.916 save percentage). Ethan Dahlmeir was limited to eight games behind Adam Gajan last season, but he posted a .910 save percentage in those minutes and should be an option as well.

Offensively, the Bulldogs are one of the top teams in the country, and Hanson anchors a strong D corps on the other end.

Continued; I think that many Red Wings fans will be watching Victor and Max closely this upcoming season.

The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau takes on a flight of fancy today, suggesting that the Detroit Red Wings should submit an offer sheet to restricted free agent forward Adam Fantilli of the Columbus Blue Jackets:

The Columbus Blue Jackets‘ standoff with star center and RFA Adam Fantilli has no apparent end in sight, and that is opening up a window for another team to take advantage of the situation by tendering an offer sheet to poach him from the Blue Jackets. And that team, more than any other team, should be the Detroit Red Wings. 

Tossing a boatload of money at Fantilli would serve many purposes for the Red Wings. Firstly, they’d be adding a cornerstone player, and someone who could take the place of former captain Dylan Larkin once interim GM Shawn Horcoff trades him. And if Columbus matches the offer sheet, so be it.

Detroit currently has $21.3 million in cap space, and they’ve got all the draft picks they’d need to send the Blue Jackets’ way as compensation for Fantilli. The Red Wings need to be bold, and they need to be aggressive.

They’d be doing both those things by offer-sheeting Fantilli, and they’d be hurting an Eastern Conference rival in the process. And from the perspective of Fantilli, an Ontario native, he’d be playing much closer to home. 

Thus, an offer sheet for Fantilli makes too much sense to be ignored. The Blue Jackets seemingly can’t get a deal done, but the Red Wings have the potential to. If Horcoff wants to remove the ‘interim’ tag off his job title, this kind of move would be a huge step in the right direction.

Continued; Fantilli is a hell of a player as a 21-year-old power forward, but Shawn Horcoff’s main job is to sway a certain defenseman named Simon Edvinsson to stay in Detroit, first and foremost.

Fantilli is a secondary target at best, given that Columbus has a generous $12.45 million in salary cap space remaining, per PuckPedia. Having to offer sheet Fantilli at $13 or $14 million = much less money with which to re-sign Simon Edvinsson, and that’s not cool.

As noted earlier this afternoon, Red Wings coach Todd McLellan issued some effusive praise about Detroit prospect defenseman Anton Johansson, while cautioning that forward Carter Mazur and defenseman William Wallinder, who have to be waived to be sent down to Grand Rapids, have to earn their spots in the lineup.

According to the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan, coach McLellan had this to say about Wallinder’s pluses, contrasting the 24-year-old Wallinder’s status from both Anton and Axel Sandin Pellikka, who don’t need waivers to be sent down to the AHL:

Wallinder, 24, is in a different spot from the other two defensemen. Wallinder is out of minor-league options and has to be exposed on waivers if he were to be sent back to Grand Rapids. There’s a good chance some other team would grab the 6-foot-5, 210-pound steady defenseman.

“I’m in a good spot,” Wallinder said of his mindset. “I’ve been taking this serious, working hard this summer. Hopefully, I get a shot at it this year.”

Wallinder is rangy like Johansson, and is stronger defensively. McLellan likes the two-way attributes Wallinder can bring to the table.

“We’re relying a lot on the minor-league staff and some of our scouts (but) he’s mobile, a big man with lots of good range to break plays up and he moves a puck efficiently,” McLellan said. “First passes are on the tape and then he can play. With his range and mobility, he should be a real good penalty killer, so, we’ll see.

“He’s put his time in. The organization has developed him, and we expect him to play on our club, but he’s going to dictate whether that happens or not. There still is a business element to running a team and the commitments to players in terms of term and dollars and everything else. Some of that comes into play. But that’s why this season runs a long time, and we’ve got to get everything sorted out.”

Continued (paywall) with equal praise for Anton Johansson:

Continue reading On William Wallinder’s place in the Red Wings’ ‘numbers game’ on defense →