The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted a massive list of “prospect tiers” as determined by The Athletic’s prospect gurus, and 9 Red Wings players/prospects made the list, but only two were deemed to be “stars” in the making…

Trey Augustine

Augustine’s Hobey Baker finalist season and second consecutive Big Ten goalie of the year award have again helped solidify him as a top goalie prospect. Now the stoic, calm and controlled Red Wings prospect will have to prove himself in the AHL. He doesn’t have the high-end size or freak athleticism teams drool over, but he’s universally well-respected for his consistency.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka

Sandin-Pellikka’s first season in North America was a perfectly respectable one. He was one of the youngest D in the league for 68 games and scored seven goals before going down to the AHL. But there were also some speed bumps that slowed down the momentum he had coming out of a very exciting year in the SHL. Scouts like his offense and his competitiveness but naturally wonder about that next level, so low-end Star makes sense.

While the bulk of the Red Wings’ prospect pool are deemed to be “support” players:

Of Red Wings-related note from Bleacher Report this morning:

1. Adam Gretz makes five trade predictions ahead of the 2026-2027 NHL season, including a non-trade prediction when it comes to disgruntled Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin:

Dylan Larkin Doesn’t Get Traded

Not all trade predictions have to involve an actual trade.

Sometimes it can just be the simple reality that a trade doesn’t happen.

What if Dylan Larkin’s problem with the Detroit Red Wings wasn’t necessarily a problem with the Red Wings organization itself? What if it was just a major disagreement with Steve Yzerman and the way he was running and building the team? Is it impossible to suggest? Is it too hard to believe that? Isn’t it possible that a new general manager could come in, smooth things over with the team’s captain, and get him to stay?

Stranger things have happened.

Even if Larkin does get traded, it’s not going to happen until that new general manager takes over, and even then it would almost certainly take some time for them to talk to teams, gather offers, and have a vision for what direction they want to take the team in. Larkin doesn’t seem like he is going to hold out, and all it might take is for a strong start to the season with a new vision in the front office.

The players in the locker room would almost certainly welcome him back because they are all pros and understand the business.

The fans might take some time, but winning cures everything.

Continued; I still believe that Larkin will be traded, but that’s just a gut feeling;

2. Joe Yerdon also mentioned the Red Wings this morning, suggesting that the Red Wings are one of 10 teams that will “disappoint” this upcoming season:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff profiles the six free agents invited to the Red Wings’ 2026 prospect tournament:

[Haeden Ellis is] a 5-foot-10, 191-pound right-winger who played with USA Hockey’s national team program and in the USHL before moving to the OHL Kitchener Rangers. Ellis, 19, will be playing college hockey at Northeastern.

…

A waterbug at 5-foot-6 and 153 pounds, right-winger Cooper Dennis, 19, is a teammate of Red Wings 2026 draftee Adam Levac with the OHL Peterborough Petes. The two will also be on the same team next week, wearing the Winged Wheel. Dennis is committed to the Michigan Wolverines.

Carter Hicks, 18, played for Canada at the 2026 World U18 Championship. The 6-foot-1, 183-pound right-winger for the OHL Brampton Steelheads is committed to the Connecticut Huskies.

Falu Kuriren’s Ronnie Carlsson and Markus Josefsson discuss Red Wings prospect and Brynas IF forward Charlie Forslund today.

Both Carlsson and Josefsson report that Forslund is making progress while preparing for his first season in the SHL, but they suggest that Forslund may begin his 2026-2027 season in the Hockeyallsvenskan instead:

Forslund got to play with a star – may still be forced to leave

The Falu native Charlie Forslund is fighting for a place on Brynas’ SHL team.

After his game against Leksand, he was praised by coach Niklas Gollstedt.

Charlie Forslund made a breakthrough on Falu IF’s A-team two and-a -half years ago. Suddenly, he was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings and signed with Mora [of the Hockeyallsvenskan]. From there, his hockey trip went on to Almtuna before he signed with Brynas this spring – and his success continues.

“He’s been doing great this summer and is having a great pre-eason here, so he’s surprised me. I think he has been good,” says Brynas coach Niklas Gallstedt.

The Athletic’s Max Bultman Tweeted the following this morning:

Our summer @TheAthleticNHL “How to Fix” series continues today with the Red Wings (yes, hiring a GM would be a good start)https://t.co/rPuabtR0by

— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) September 2, 2026

Bultman’s link goes to an episode of “The Athletic Hockey Show” in which Bultman and Sean Gentille discuss how they would “fix” the Detroit Red Wings, using their 46 minutes’ worth of podcast time to address the entire organization’s strengths and weaknesses:

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article about Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka today, and Khan uses the comments made by trade deadline addition Justin Faulk to bolster ASP’s case as a top prospect:

Sandin-Pellikka likely will start the season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, but Faulk sees a lot of promise in the 17^th overall pick from 2023.

“He’s got a lot of talent,” Faulk said after the season. “He can skate, he can move the puck, he can shoot it pretty well. He’s another exciting player to have in the mix.

“It’s a hard league as a young D, and we’ve all, as D been there. It takes time. He can’t pick up on all the tendencies and stuff right away, but when you have the base that he has of the skating and the ability and the vision and the playmaking and the shooting and whatnot, it allows him to get around the ice a little bit more and kind of get comfortable playing that style a little bit. But it’s hard, and it was exciting for him to probably get in this league and have a good year.”

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RELEASE 2026 NHL PROSPECT TOURNAMENT ROSTER AND SCHEDULE

  … First-Round Pair of Nate Danielson and Carter Bear Headline 24-Man Roster; Detroit to Face Prospect Teams from Columbus, Dallas and Pittsburgh at BELFOR Training Center …

… Fans Across Michigan Can Watch Red Wings Prospect Tournament Games

for Free on DetroitRedWings.com …  

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their 2026 NHL Prospect Tournament roster and a complete tournament schedule for the event, held from Saturday, Sept. 12 to Tuesday, Sept.15 at BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena. The team consists of 24 recent draft picks, free agent signees and tryouts who will battle against prospect teams from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins.

TSN’s Frank Corrado and Martin Biron discussed the respective situations of Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck on “TSN Overdrive” yesterday.

Biron leads off the segment by telling host Jim Tatti that the Red Wings are “fumbling” their GM search, and that he’s not certain what Larkin will do as he’s not going to get traded before training camp, and the question for Biron involves whether Larkin comes to training camp or stays home…

But most of the segment focuses on hypothetical trades and “fits” for Hellebuyck.

The Athletic has posted its annual “player tiers” list, and Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Simon Edvinsson all make the numerous authors’ list of ranked players:

Moritz Seider

Why he’s here

Early on in Seider’s career there were some pointed questions regarding whether he had what it takes to be a true franchise-caliber defensemen. The tools were there, the results weren’t. He was getting buried in difficult minutes, but his inability to rise above created some concern about his ultimate ceiling.

After his ridiculous Norris-worthy showing last season, any questions and concern are nonexistent. Seider is a franchise defenseman. The Red Wings looked like a juggernaut with Seider on the ice last year … and completely inept otherwise.

What remains is a terrifyingly unique specimen who’s able to take over games at both ends of the ice with a level of nastiness that’s become rare for players of his caliber. It’s that mix that puts Seider squarely in 2B with the potential to land higher as one of the five best defensemen in the world — specifically because of his monstrous defensive game.

“He’s already good, but I think he’s about to take another step,” a scout said. “Not offensively. I think he’s going to be an bigger f—ing problem defensively.”

There’s no one like Seider.

Continued (paywall)

In a 9:45, non-embeddable video clip posted on NHL.com, the NHL Network’s Mike Rupp and Ken Daneyko discuss both the situations of Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin and Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

Rupp and Daneyko suggest that the Winnipeg Jets will probably be able to trade Hellebuyck because Hellebuyck’s supposedly willing to move to more than a handful of teams.

At the 5:04 mark, Rupp suggests that the Red Wings must move Larkin before the start of the regular season because he does not want to be a Red Wing; Daneyko suggests that the Red Wings face a “dicey situation” once the next GM is hired, because he feels that Larkin needs a change as well.

Rupp wonders aloud whether Larkin will stay at home to wait for a trade, and Daneyko says that Larkin’s a great player, but that the situation is one where Larkin will have to “open up his trade list a little bit” to afford Detroit options for a trade.

The segment concludes with Rupp suggesting that Larkin cannot come to training camp as the Wings’ captain or part of the Wings’ leadership group.