Another depth signing in Wilmer Skoog

The Red Wings signed 26-year-old center Wilmer Skoog to a 1-year, 2-way contract. The 6’2,” 196-pound forward posted 18 goals and 37 points in 61 games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers this past season, and he posted a pair of assists in his first 3 NHL games with Florida.

Update: Here’s the team’s press release:

RED WINGS SIGN CAMERON BUTLER, WILMER SKOOG TO ONE-YEAR, TWO-WAY CONTRACTS

  … Butler Made NHL Debut with Columbus in 2023-24; Skoog Recorded Two Assists in Three Games with Florida in 2025-26 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed forwards Cameron Butler and Wilmer Skoog to one-year, two-way contracts.

Continue reading Another depth signing in Wilmer Skoog

Depth signings…Detroit signs Cameron Butler and Jacob Bryson

Updated 3x at 5:19 PM: The Red Wings signed two “depth players” on Wednesday, adding Cameron Butler, a 24-year-old 6’4,” 209-pound winger who’s bounced around the AHL and ECHL…

And the Red Wings have signed defenseman Jacob Bryson to a 1-year, $850,000 contract. Bryson is 5’9″ and 176 pounds, and the 28-year-old has been a #6/7 NHL defenseman:

Update: The Wings confirmed the Bryson signing at 4:44 PM:

Update #2: The Wings posted a Bryson press release first:

Continue reading Depth signings…Detroit signs Cameron Butler and Jacob Bryson

Red Wings sign Daniil Tarasov to 1-year, $2 million contract

Updated 4x at 4:06 PM: Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Update: In an ironic sense, from the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson comes an article suggesting that the Edmonton Oilers should have signed Tarasov instead of trying to trade for Sebastian Cossa, who ended up in Utah:

“For me, the best UFA goalies to sign would be Ingram or Tarasov,” said Kevin Woodley, InGoal magazine’s managing editor, pointing out that they were the top 2 in terms of adjusted save percentage in their trying environments last season, with Tarasov (33 games) one tick below the overall league average .896 save percentage, and .835 in high danger saves when average was .811.

True, Tarasov’s play was better in the first half than the second when he played more, but the Panthers were decimated by injuries, playing a lot of call-ups.

Do we ever totally know about goalies, who to sign, who to trade for?

“I’m looking at Bob’s (Bobrovsky) numbers and he’s been a below average league goalie for five of his last seven years in regular-season but he has the ability to turn it up in the playoffs,” said Woodley.

…

“The injuries kept Tarasov from getting a chance in Columbus. He missed so much time early in his career, then he had to clear waivers later and didn’t have enough reps,” said Woodley. So Florida traded him to get a draft pick back, rather than lose him for nothing. They were scared to send him down (minors) because they need how much people valued the talent.”

Update #1:

Update #2:

Continue reading Red Wings sign Daniil Tarasov to 1-year, $2 million contract

Burchfield examines 4 alternate potential destinations for Dylan Larkin

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield engages in a thought experiment today, discussing four possible destinations for Dylan Larkin in detail.

Burchfield suggests that the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes could all be places where Larkin would “fit” as a tradeable asset.

I would argue that Will, who I admire greatly, is reaching a bit in terms of returns for Larkin, but here’s his take on the Canes’ potential return:

The Hurricanes haven’t been afraid to swing big under GM Eric Tulsky. Could the Stanley Cup champs take a hack at Larkin? Would they offer up either Logan Stankoven or Seth Jarvis?

Jarvis, 24, has three straight 30-goal seasons, the ability to play center and a cap hit of just $7.4 million for the next six seasons. In other words: already a more valuable asset than Larkin. So, no.

Stankoven, 23, is the more realistic target. Carolina views him as a central piece behind Sebastian Aho, having locked him up for eight years at $6 million annually, but this would be a fair ask on the part of Yzerman. Stankoven is still in the 2C category, and might not have the size to ever be more than that. He had 21 goals and 44 points last season, with more production coming.

Continue reading Burchfield examines 4 alternate potential destinations for Dylan Larkin

For Myles Brosnan, the NHL Draft was a stressful five-hour wait

The New England Hockey Journal’s Evan Marinofsky followed Red Wings 2026 draft pick Myles Brosnan on draft day, and Marinofsky reports that it wasn’t fun for the young defenseman, who was drafted 196th overall by Detroit on Saturday afternoon:

For the first time all day, Myles Brosnan got to sink into a couch and take a deep breath.

It was upstairs, away from the crowd of friends and family who had moved outside. There was relative silence for the time being. Brosnan had spent most of the day on a couch or in a chair. But that came with the angst of waiting for an NHL team to call his name. The squirming, the changing positions, the sweat — oh yeah, the sweat.

Remembering to breathe isn’t easy on days like Saturday.

Continue reading For Myles Brosnan, the NHL Draft was a stressful five-hour wait

Red Wings sign Viktor Arvidsson to a 2-year, $10 million contract

Updated 11 times with the official press release @ 3:12 PM: It’s official:

1:51 PM: Per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan…

The 33-year-old stands at 5’10” and 180 pounds, he plays wing, and scored 25 goals among 54 points in 69 games played for Boston last season.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta confirms…

And Elliotte Friedman makes it 3 sources, and he reports that it’s a 2-year, $10 million contract:

The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun also confirms…

And here’s Kaplan in text form:

The Detroit Red Wings are closing in on a two-year contract with Viktor Arvidsson, sources told ESPN.

Arvidsson thrived last season on Boston’s second line with mates Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt. In 69 games, Arvidsson, 33, posted 25 goals and 54 points as the Bruins returned to the postseason after a one-year absence.

However, the 33-year-old was not able to come to terms with the Bruins, who made a big splash at the NHL Draft by acquiring winger JJ Peterka.

The Red Wings are looking to snap the NHL’s longest active playoff drought, which has reached 10 seasons. The biggest agenda item for GM Steve Yzerman this summer is how to handle captain Dylan Larkin‘s trade request.

Sources say Yzerman has been working through a small list of teams provided by Larkin, but has not found offers he’s happy with and is willing to wait until he identifies a deal that makes sense for the Red Wings. Detroit also allowed veteran wingers Patrick Kane and David Perron to explore the free agent market.

Continue reading Red Wings sign Viktor Arvidsson to a 2-year, $10 million contract

Red Wings re-sign Carter Mazur to 2-year contract

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Here’s Detroit’s press release:

RED WINGS RE-SIGN CARTER MAZUR TO TWO-YEAR CONTRACT

  … Jackson Native Made NHL Debut with Detroit in 2024-25 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today re-signed forward Carter Mazur to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $875,000.

Continue reading Red Wings re-sign Carter Mazur to 2-year contract

Nick Kypreos updates the Dylan Larkin trade impasse

From Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos’s “Real Kyper’s Trade Board“:

• The Red Wings would have no problem trading Dylan Larkin to Minnesota if the Wild were prepared to part with Matt Boldy. Other than Boldy, there is nothing else Detroit GM Steve Yzerman is too interested in. 

That leaves Larkin with three choices:

1. Open up the trade demand to more teams. The Wild and Golden Knights don’t have anything that excites Detroit.

2. Prepare to start next season with the Red Wings.

3. Prepare to stay home and not get paid.

As of July 1, door No. 2 looks like his best bet.

Continued; I believe that the Wings will be a *little* more flexible in terms of a trade return, but right now, GM SY is holding out for the best deal possible. That’s his prerogative.

Morning tidbits from Shapiro

The multi-talented Sean Shapiro posted some Red Wings tidbits on his must-read Substack this morning, offering some points of note ahead of the start of unrestricted free agency:

Nothing new on Dylan Larkin, for what it’s worth, I think Steve Yzerman is going to wait on this and he has no issue making Larkin come to camp if he doesn’t get a deal in place that he likes.

…

Alex DeBrincat has also been getting trade interest from other teams, but there’s a big difference between teams calling the Red Wings and the Red Wings actively “shopping” him, which is not the case.

Continued (paywall, but $7 is affordable); I don’t expect the Wings to ask Larkin to come to training camp at LCA this fall, should a trade not be consummated by that time. It would cause too much of a distraction. I’d suggest that he stay home instead.