MLive’s Ansar Khan weighs in regarding the scuttlebutt surrounding Elliotte Friedman’s suggestion that the Carolina Hurricanes have considered submitting a restricted free agent offer sheet to Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson:

If they do, or any other team does, it will be an exercise in futility, accomplishing nothing but inflating the Red Wings’ payroll and possibly prompting general manager Steve Yzerman to tender a retaliatory offer sheet to one of that club’s future restricted free agents.

That’s because the Red Wings are sure to match any offer to Edvinsson, even if it exceeds $10 million a season. With more than $18 million in cap space, a number in flux given the uncertainty of what they’ll get back in the inevitable Dylan Larkin trade, they can easily afford to match any offer.

The compensation for an offer sheet with an AAV of between $9,551,333 and $11,939,166 is two first-round picks, one second-round pick and one third-round pick. Anything more than that would garner four first-round picks if the club declined to match.

Khan continues, estimating Edvinsson’s contractual worth as a restricted free agent:

Continue reading Khan weighs in on the rumors regarding a Simon Edvinsson offer sheet

As noted last week, new Red Wings forward Wilmer Skoog spoke with Hockeysverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist on Friday, discussing his decision to sign with Detroit and his expectations for his upcoming tenure with the team.

This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff offers more highlights from Skoog’s Swedish-language interview:

In his third pro season with the Florida Panthers organization in 2025-26, Skoog, 26, finally made his NHL debut. He played three late-season games for the Panthers. In the season finale, an 8-1 drubbing of the Red Wings, Skoog collected two assists. Those were his first NHL points. He thought he’d done enough to earn a new contract with the Panthers. Skoog thought wrong. No qualifying offer was forthcoming from Florida.

“It wasn’t disappointing, but I was a little surprised,” Skoog said. “I then mostly saw opportunities to talk to other teams and see where there was interest.”

He knows that the Red Wings haven’t made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2016. Skoog embraces the opportunity to be a piece of the puzzle that finally puts it together and gets Detroit back into the NHL postseason.

“These are new challenges, and I hope to be a part of and contribute to hopefully making it to the playoffs,” Skoog said. “It’s a process all the time, even for all the players. I think it’s more about where I see opportunities for myself. A little bit of what they say and what I myself think and believe. I think it feels like a good ‘fit’.”

Duff also noted Skoog’s remarks regarding joining a team with a history of utilizing Swedish players:

Continue reading A bit more from new Wings forward Wilmer Skoog’s interview with Hockeysverige.se…

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took part in a midsummer edition of the News’s “Octopulse” podcast, discussing the hypothetical question as to whether Dylan Larkin will win a Stanley Cup with whatever team to which he’s traded before the Detroit Red Wings win a Stanley Cup:

“He’ll (Larkin) help someone the next couple of seasons for sure (win a Stanley Cup), especially if he’s more of a No. 2 center and not a No. 1,” Kulfan said on the podcast. “That’s why the Wings need to get as big of a return as they can. They’ve been telling people they want ready-made players.

“If you’re a team though that’s going to get a Dylan Larkin, chances are you’re not going to give away a really good player to get him. You’re more than willing to trade draft picks and prospects.”

Continue reading Detroit News’s Kulfan discusses Larkin’s future achievements, potential offer sheet for Edvinsson on ‘Octopulse’ podcast

This afternoon, Sean Shapiro offers an intriguing correlation between soccer and hockey on his Substack blog, discussing Team USA’s twitchy performance in yesterday’s World Cup loss to Belgium as it might relate to the Red Wings’ general twitchiness when it comes to hitting bumps in the road…

As in, specifically, how the team might react to the Dylan Larkin situation:

The Red Wings have also been overly impacted by outside noise, Larkin included, the past few years and players have admitted as much. The culture of losing has infected Detroit in now annual March collapses, and players have taken the moments of booing and internalized them, frankly, in the wrong way and been almost indignant about it.

Yes, the Red Wings need better players, that’s a direct line from Steve Yzerman, but they also need a locker room that takes that adversity and either gets pissed off about it or uses it to find a solution.

I rarely get angry at the Wings, but when Andrew Copp started to suggest that it was “outside noise” from the media and fans that was partially at fault for this past March’s second half collapse, and, of all people, Moritz Seider used the line, I became really, really angry.

I don’t ever want to hear, “It’s not our fault that we’re struggling, it’s that we have to deal with this shit from the media” line, especially when we’re talking about the Detroit media corps, which affords the Wings far more benefit of the doubt than most every other media corps (I will explain “why” another day).

The Red Wings get more softballs thrown their way than almost any other team, and the “why that is” is complicated, but I can only say that the media atmosphere in Detroit is particularly team-friendly…

So the suggestion that you’re struggling because you’re reading your own press, and you don’t like it, and you’re hearing the boos, and you don’t like it…

That’s giving up in my book. And that’s unacceptable. I hope that Copp and even Seider got chewed out at some point by the coaching staff, because the “outside noise” is something that professional athletes deal with all the time.

Criticism and critiques come and go, and if you’re believing your own press instead of believing in the locker room, your head is not in the right place. For reasons that are beyond us, the Wings got “off message” late in the season, and that’s very, very concerning, because coach McLellan is the right man for the job IMHO.

Anyway, Shapiro continues:

Continue reading Riffing on a riff about the Dylan Larkin situation

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses Patrick Kane’s situation today, suggesting that Kane could end up in Buffalo, Toronto or even Chicago. Kulfan also offers some reasons why Kane might want to leave Detroit, and they’ve got my “spidey sense” tingling:

▶ Captain Dylan Larkin’s trade demand and the likelihood Larkin has played his last game as a Wing. Without Larkin, a consistent 30-goal scorer and one of the top two-way centers in the NHL, the Wings’ path to ending a streak of 10 consecutive years without making the playoffs looks grim.

For Kane, that would mean no chance of getting another playoff run, and another opportunity to win a Stanley Cup.

Kane and Larkin also had a relationship going back to playing together on Team USA at the world championships. Not having Larkin around might be a reason for Kane to leave, also.

As I’ve told you repeatedly, Kane and Larkin share the same agent in the long-tenured power broker known as Pat Brisson, and I do believe that the Larkin situation might be holding up Kane’s decision-making process.

However, my “gut feeling” is that Kane may be holding up his decision until the Larkin situation is resolved, waiting to see whether the Red Wings are able to acquire present-day value in exchange for their disgruntled captain.

Kulfan also believes that Kane’s future may be tied to his pal, Alex DeBrincat:

Continue reading Pondering Kane’s motivations for *not* re-signing with Detroit

The Free Press’s Helene St. James reports that disgruntled Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin still wants to be traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers or Minnesota Wild:

In two-plus months since requesting trade from Red Wings, Dylan Larkin has not expanded his list (he has no-trade clause) from Florida, Minnesota, Vegas. No offers from those teams have intrigued Wings. They want value-now players for a 1C with very favorable contract.

— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) July 7, 2026

The Red Wings must hold out for the best possible deal they can acquire for Larkin, but if this drags into September–which it very well might–I don’t see him showing up for training camp.

Bleacher Report’s Sara Civian offers “1 word for every team’s status after 2026 free agency and the draft,” and while I generally agree with Civian’s observant opinions, I disagree with her assessment of the state of the Red Wings’ franchise on July 7th, 2026:

Detroit Red Wings: Miserable

Steve Yzerman can play hardball all he wants, and as justified as he may be in reminding us that Dylan Larkin has a contractual obligation to report to training camp, he can’t force Larkin or any of us to enjoy what the Red Wings have (or haven’t) become under his leadership.

It’s been eight years of missed playoffs and lack of action from the Yzerplan, and doubling down as the captain and first-line center is just not the move.

1. I’m not miserable. I’m apprehensive. To quote Merriam-Webster, I have significant “anxiety about the future” of the Detroit Red Wings. I am not “in a pitiable state of distress or unhappiness,” though I know that some of you feel that way.
2. This concept that Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings’ management team should simply take whatever trade he can for Dylan Larkin in order for the franchise to “move on” is both naive and inappreciative of the situation. Yzerman and the Wings’ management need to maximize their return for Larkin, whether the assets they acquire in return consist of “futures,” or whether they consist of present-day help.

There’s just no way around the fact that the approach that the Red Wings take regarding trading Dylan Larkin could define the team’s rebuild, and quite possibly set it back by several seasons, especially if Yzerman and the Wings “settle and move on.”

I appreciate Civian’s acerbic wit, observant nature and wise writing 99.999% of the time, but here, I feel that she’s being a bit obtuse as to her understanding of the particulars of the situation from Detroit’s perspective.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski ponders whether he’s making overreactions to news items of note from the first full week of the NHL offseason, and here’s what he has to say about the Dylan Larkin situation:

Dylan Larkin will start the season in Detroit

There’s a difference between the “player empowerment” happening with Dylan Larkin and that of his Team USA friends. Brady Tkachuk and Ottawa parted ways, with him having two years left on his contract. Ditto Zach Werenski, seeking to finish the last two years of his contract elsewhere.

But Larkin has five more years left on his deal with the Red Wings. There’s no threat of him not re-signing after an eight-year deal that started in 2024.

GM Steve Yzerman said he received the trade request and the teams to which Larkin would like to be traded, which reportedly are Florida, Minnesota and Vegas.

“My job as the manager of the Detroit Red Wings is always to do what is in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings, and I will act accordingly to that,” Yzerman said after the NHL draft. “I cannot make any guarantees, or did not make any guarantees, that that request could or would be met.”

That sounds like a GM ready to play the long game with his captain, even if that game extends into the regular season.

Continue reading Wyshynski ponders whether Dylan Larkin will remain a Red Wing during part or all of the 2026-2027 season

Per the NHL:

2026-27 NHL Regular-Season Schedule Will Be Announced July 16 at 1 p.m. ET

Opening Night Matchups Will Be Set on July 15; Each Team to Play Two Additional Divisional Games, Expanding Season to 84 Games Per Team and 1,344 Overall

NEW YORK (July 7, 2026) – The National Hockey League (NHL) today detailed plans for announcing the 2026-27 season schedule.

On Wednesday, July 15, the League will unveil opening night matchups, which will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN in the U.S. and on Sportsnet in Canada. The announcement will be made during the day, prior to the 2026 ESPY Awards (8 p.m. ET, ABC), that will feature several NHL nominees, including the 2026 Olympic Gold Medal-winning USA’s Men’s Ice Hockey team for Best Team. Wednesday’s announcement will also detail the League’s 2026-27 signature events.

The following day, on Thursday, July 16, the complete 2026-27 NHL regular-season schedule is set to be announced at 1 p.m. ET. Coming off the 2025-26 season that saw record-breaking viewership and attendance, the 2026-27 regular-season schedule will feature 1,344 games – 84 games per team – which includes two additional divisional games per team.

The @NHL has released plans for announcing the 2026-27 schedule.

Full details: https://t.co/v5etZKMIif pic.twitter.com/mhr0e1rZjs

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) July 7, 2026

We all know that Patrick Kane’s decision as to which team he plans on signing with as an unrestricted free agent will have ramifications throughout Detroit’s roster.

It’s entirely possible that the Wings will look to add some sort of nominal replacement play-maker in addition to the signing of Viktor Arvidsson; it’s entirely possible that Kane’s departure would affect Alex DeBrincat’s desire to re-sign with his hometown team; and there is no doubt in my mind that Kane and Dylan Larkin’s agent, Pat Brisson, are talking about rectifying both players’ future employment situations over the course of one fell swoop…

Anyway, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Max Smith notes this morning, there are a lot of moving parts here:

A week into free agency, the 37 year-old has remained mum on where he intends to sign, despite post-season comments indicating he was leaning towards staying put. Elliotte Friedman stated that he wasn’t sure he expected the veteran winger to return to Detroit. MLive’s Ansar Khan reported that Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings have a standing offer on the table for Kane, however he is still as of yet to sign it.

With Kane potentially on the way out the door the Red Wings future looks even more uncertain with the looming Dylan Larkin trade request.

What bothers me about this whole situation is simple: there have been, “I heard from a guy that…” rumors galore about Kane signing in Buffalo, Toronto, or even back in Chicago, but nobody’s been able to substantiate them. It’s mostly speculation at this point.

As Smith notes, the Wings would take a step back without Kane, at least if they don’t try to replace his production in a meaningful manner…

Continue reading Regarding Kane, DeBrincat and Yzerman