Two things: a 100th anniversary history lesson and Wings-Habs game notes

Of Twitter-related note this morning:

  1. It’s game day, and the Wings posted a hell of a 1-and-a-half minute video chronicling the Wings’ history…

2. And, if you’re interested, here are tonight’s game notes:

gn-2025-10-09-0010-MTL@DETDownload

Bultman makes ‘bold predictions’ ahead of the 2025-2026 season

The Athletic’s Max Bultman makes 10 “bold predictions” about the Red Wings’ season to come:

7. Detroit has a winning record in March

Boldness level: 6/10
Confidence level: 7/10

This one doesn’t feel like it should be bold. And yet, well, you know. Detroit went 4-10 last March and 3-9-2 the year before that. They were also 5-9-1 in 2022-23. Simply put, it’s been their undoing as they’ve tried to turn the corner.

But not this year. Not with a schedule that, at least today, looks much simpler to navigate.

Detroit will still see some tough teams, with Vegas, Florida, Tampa, Dallas and New Jersey all on the schedule (and the latter four all on the same early-March road trip). But the schedule as a whole is much more balanced, with playoff long shots such as Calgary, Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh also on tap.

I think the Red Wings will be focused on righting their wrongs with a better March, so I’ll say they manage to stay just above .500 at 8-6.

8. Red Wings have a new highest-paid player by 2026 opening night

Boldness level: 6.5/10
Confidence level: 7/10

The NHL’s rising salary cap shouldn’t be news to anyone at this point. And even though the Red Wings don’t have anyone in the running for a Kirill Kaprizov-level extension, they’re still going to be dealing with the realities of the new market.

Jackson Lacombe and Luke Hughes each just signed long-term extensions with $9 million AAVs — before either one cracked 50 points.

So, with the cap set to go up yet again, what do we think that will mean for Simon Edvinsson next summer? The 6-foot-6 blue liner has a very real chance this season to get into the same 40-to-50-point range where Hughes and Lacombe have been thus far, while also being a trusted defender who doesn’t get much power-play time.

And with the cap going up the way it is, signing Edvinsson to a bridge deal would just be asking for trouble two or three years down the road. So, I’ll say Edvinsson extends right around that new going rate for top young defensemen and surpasses Larkin ($8.7 million AAV) as the team’s highest-paid player.

Continued (paywall)

Three DHN things: On the difficult schedule ahead, season-opening trivia and a Wings-Habs preview

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes that the Red Wings have a brutal opening-couple-of-weeks’ schedule in a “The Daily” column this morning…

The Red Wings home-heavy schedule from tonight’s Opening Day until Oct. 23 seems like a major test. Playing five Atlantic Division games, plus another Eastern Conference game, sandwiched around Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers, is more like a final exam than a test.

After tonight’s game against Montreal, the Red Wings play Toronto Saturday at home, and then two more home games next Wednesday and Friday against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.  On Sunday, Oct. 19, the Oilers come to town. The lone road game in this stretch comes Oct. 22 at Buffalo, and then back to Detroit the following night to meet the Islanders.

Based on that schedule, we will have an early indication about how the Detroit’s youth-infused lineup will stack up against division rivals and against top teams like the Panthers and Oilers who were in last season’s Stanley Cup Final.

“I’m okay with that,” Coach Todd McLellan said. “I think it should put us on our toes. We have to play these teams at some point…The gauntlet you have to go through. Well, it happens at some point. You know, we can’t get overly high or overly low on what might happen throughout the first five, six games. We have to be aware that there’ll be ups and downs, and if there’s downs, we can’t drag ourselves into the mud and never get out of it.”

And Bob Duff offers “Five interesting elements ahead of the Red Wings’ opener“:

Continue reading Three DHN things: On the difficult schedule ahead, season-opening trivia and a Wings-Habs preview

HSJ in the morning: regarding the state of the rebuild and the McLellan effect

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James wonders aloud whether the Red Wings’ rebuild is complete, as some of the team’s players have suggested:

When does a rebuild end? When a team advances to the playoffs? The Detroit Red Wings haven’t made it that far in nine years, but as they embark on the 2025-26 season, they don’t want to hear any more about how they are a work in progress.

“You are only in the NHL for so long,” said veteran forward Andrew Copp, now in his fourth season with the Wings. “Guys in here could be in their last year, they could be in their first year. We’re no longer developing. That was a word here for a while – development, rebuilding and all that. We’re done with that.”

St. James points out that the Red Wings have coach Todd McLellan to thank, in part, anyway, for the steps which the team has taken in a forward direction, and that the team has a better goaltending tandem at present…

“He’s super-honest, he’s very detailed, demanding, isn’t afraid to speak up and that’s exactly what we need right now,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “We need a little bit of guidance and structure and he definitely provides that, with the whole team behind him.”

Beyond structure, the key to success for any team usually comes down to special teams and goaltending – and then some.

“You can throw in health and streakiness ,trying to maintain the good and eliminate the bad,” McLellan said. “But it can really go on and on for a long period. A lot of things have to go right for us and it’s up to us to make them happen.”

But she also notes that the Wings’ players aren’t necessarily talking about a miraculous run to a playoff spot just yet:

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: regarding the state of the rebuild and the McLellan effect

Overnight news: On the Habs’ loss to Toronto, the Red Wings’ rookie trio and ’10 things to know’

Of Red Wings-related note early on a Thursday morning:

  1. The Montreal Canadiens dropped their road opener via a 5-2 tally to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, but the final score is deceptive. Montreal actually blew a 2-1 lead to the Maple Leafs–surrendering the game-winner to Morgan Rielly with 9:02 left in the 3rd period (thanks to a snapped Canadiens stick)–and the Habs also gave up 2 empty-net goals. As such, the Canadiens’ garish plus-minus stats were not indicative of the competitive game that was played between the teams.

Montreal will start Jakub Dobes in goal tonight opposite John Gibson when the Red Wings and Canadiens (with Joe Veleno in the lineup) meet at Little Caesars Arena (7 PM EDT start; 6:35 PM pregame ceremony, on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/TSN2/RDS/97.1 the Ticket).

After tonight’s home opener, the Red Wings will play a home-and-home series with the Leafs, who don’t play again until Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada game in Detroit.

Here are the Habs-Leafs game’s Sportsnet highlights, should you wish to watch them:

2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a late-evening article which discusses the performances of the Red Wings’ likely debutantes in Emmitt Finnie, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin Pellikka. Kulfan discusses the characteristics which set the trio apart from other players on the Wings’ roster:

â–¶ With Brandsegg-Nygard, a 2024 first-round draft pick, it’s been the fact he appears to be able to play a physical game that most 20-year-olds aren’t usually capable of doing. He’s played against men in Europe, he has an NHL shot, and carries himself like a professional.

“We have to pay attention to his strengths like his physicality, he can play as a bully a little bit,” McLellan said. “He’s got a tremendous shot. The hunt mentality we’re trying to adopt, he’s part of that.”

Brandsegg-Nygard felt it was important the Wings knew he could play a physical, hard game. They obviously know now.

“It’s pretty cool to be here and it’s been a dream, so hopefully I can keep the spot,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “I know what I can do, and I just try my best and see what comes out of it.”

Continue reading Overnight news: On the Habs’ loss to Toronto, the Red Wings’ rookie trio and ’10 things to know’

Remembering the Detroit Red Wings…erm, Detroit Cougars’ first hockey game

NHL.com’s Dave Stubbs tells the story of the Detroit Red Wings’ first official game, in which the then-named Detroit Cougars lost a 2-0 decision to the Boston Bruins at Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario:

The splashy advertisement in the Nov. 11, 1926, edition of the Detroit Free Press trumpeted the arrival of the city’s new NHL entry, players arriving from the Victoria Cougars of the folded Western Hockey League.

“Welcome! Detroit ‘Cougars'” it announced, putting the team’s nickname in quotation marks. “Detroit’s First Year in the National Hockey League Should be a Great Success with Your Able and Experienced Big League Playing.”

It was a momentous year in the NHL with Detroit, the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks all making their debuts in the 10-team League.

The Detroit Red Wings, the Motor City’s rebranding of what were the Cougars, then the Falcons, will drop the hammer into their second century on Oct. 9, facing off at Little Caesars Arena against the visiting Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET, TSN2, RDS).

One hundred years ago this Nov. 18, the Cougars took their first strides across the Detroit River at Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario, the team’s first-season home with Olympia Stadium under construction in Detroit.

The third-year Boston Bruins would spoil the opening night party, grinding out a 2-0 win on early first-period goals by Duke Keats (1:45) and (2:40), getting the puck behind last-minute Detroit goalie Herb Stuart.

Only when No. 1 Harry “Hap” Holmes fell ill shortly before the opening face-off was Stuart pushed into the net. It was one of just three games he would play that season, Holmes playing the other 41.

Continued; this is a good read!

Big Elmer still believes he’s got to prove himself worthy of full-time NHL duty

Red Wings forward Elmer Soderblom is 24 now, and the 6’8,” 247-pound winger would need waivers to be sent down to the AHL at this point. I believe that Soderblom has a full-time role with the Red Wings, even if it’s a “bottom six” one, but Big Elmer told the Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker that #85 still has something to prove:

During the offseason, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman saw fit to extend Soderblom for another two seasons with a $1.125 million cap hit, and he will likely skate on the team’s fourth line to begin the season with Michael Rasmussen and newcomer Mason Appleton. 

In what will be his second opportunity to cement his place in the lineup after making the team out of Training Camp, Soderblom is already envisioning not only remaining consistent in his performance but also using his notable stature to his advantage. 

“I want to show that I can play good at this level and keep improving, and just become a better player. My goal is to keep being consistent and show what I can do,” he said. I’ve learned to be more consistent and use my size to my advantage and play with my size, and still use my hands and shot,” he continued. “I feel like I’ve found a good combination and found a way to be consistent.” 

As far as knowing no player out of the nearly 1,400 men who have suited up for the Red Wings over the last 100 years has stood taller than he does, it’s not something that’s top of mind for Soderblom – but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think it’s an interesting reality. 

“A couple times, it’s fun,” he said with a grin when asked if he’s ever considered his status as the tallest player in team history. “Not that I think too much of it, but it’s a fun fact.” 

Continued; Soderblom is never going to be a Zdeno Chara-style crash-and-bang player, but he’s got tremendous reach, he’s maneuverable, and between his wingspan, his ever-improving puck skills and skating, and the simple fact that he can stick his butt out and block opposing forwards from getting anywhere near the puck on his stick…

We’re talking about a player who is still evolving and developing into a later-blooming contributor, and at the very worst, he’ll be a gigantic asset to the Wings’ third and fourth lines.

Tweet of note: Red Wings emphasize history in a little pre-game hype Tweet; then the sunglasses come out

Emphasis on the history meets the present here…

But this one is a little more light-hearted:

In living memory

The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker spoke with Red Wings coach Todd McLellan about the living history of the franchise, and the effects of Detroit’s alumni upon its players (and coaches):

“Any time that you get to be a part of the Red Wings organization, it’s special,” McLellan said on the eve of the Red Wings’ season opener. “It’s not just Todd McLellan or anybody else. As I said before, this is an Original Six franchise with 100 years of history. The players who have come and gone and left their mark on the franchise and on the city, it’s incredible.”

Multiple young rookies have made the Red Wings’ roster for the upcoming season, including Michael Brandsegg-NygĂĄrd, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Emmitt Finnie. All three were born in 2005, meaning Detroit’s only Stanley Cup victory in their lifetime came when they were just barely or almost three years of age. 

While it was beyond their control not to have been around for the Red Wings’ Stanley Cup victories in 1997, 1998, and 2002, McLellan believes that a bit of an old-school history lesson could help them and other young players in the organization better appreciate Detroit’s rich hockey tradition and the countless legendary players who have worn the Winged Wheel over the years.

“Maybe one day we should sit down with the players who are here now and take them through a history class, because I’m not sure everybody knows exactly what’s happened here prior,” McLellan said. “And the individuals who have been walking around – like, we see (Nicklas) Lidstrom and (Niklas) Kronwall, these types of players come back through the locker room now. But my first go-around, it was Mr. (Gordie) Howe, Mr. (Alex) Delvecchio. It was these kind of individuals walking through the locker room, and that was for me really special.” 

“Anybody that understood the history, to have them walk through, Gordie would walk by and throw his elbow out. Even seeing Vladdy (Konstantinov) the other night on the big screen, I remember that would happen at our games all the time. They bring him and he’d watch and be cheering, and now to see him 20 years later, it’s incredible. 

That’s just how I feel about being a Red Wing. It’s special.” 

Continued; there’s nothing like having the legends of the franchise readily available to speak with the Red Wings’ younger players, even if it’s only in passing.