A Swedish six-pack

Ahead of the start of the SHL season tomorrow, MLive’s Ansar Khan lists the Red Wings’ Swedish prospects, all six of them:

Eddie Genborg, RW, Timra IK (SHL): The 44th overall pick this year is big and strong (6-2, 205), skates well, plays physical and likes to forecheck. He’s hard to play against, the type of player the Red Wings need. After coming up in the Linkoping system, where he appeared in 28 games for the big club last season (two goals, no assists), he’s moved on to Timra.

Michal Svrcek, LW, Brynas IF (SHL): Selected in the fourth round this year (114th overall), he plays bigger than his size (5-11, 190) and is noted for his compete level and skating ability. The Slovakian had his initiation to the men’s league last season, appearing in 17 regular season games (one goal, two assists) and 10 playoff games (two assists).

Charlie Forslund, LW/RW, Mora IK (Allsvenskan): Big winger (6-4, 212) taken 176th overall in 2024 is said to have a wicked release but didn’t really show it last year with just nine goals in 50 games, mostly with the J20 team. Now, at 19, he’ll play in the second division men’s league.

Noah Dower-Nilsson, C/LW, Frolunda (SHL): A skilled playmaker who’s starting his second full season in the men’s league after producing four goals and 10 points in 35 games last season (no points in seven playoff games). He was selected in the third round in 2023 (No. 73).

Anton Johansson, D, Leksands IF (SHL): Good-sized two-way defenseman (6-4, 198) made a favorable impression during a brief stint late last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, picking up five assists in 11 regular season games and one assist in three playoff games. The 104th overall pick in 2022, he returned to Leksands on a loan for his fourth season in the SHL, where his father, Thomas, is the general manager. He’ll return to the Griffins after the SHL season.

Maximilian Kilpinen, LW, Hudiksvalls HC (HockeyEttan): The Red Wings have until June 1, 2026, to decide whether to sign this fourth-round pick from 2022 (129th overall), and it’s not looking promising, considering he’s been demoted from the second men’s league (Allsvenskan) to the third tier (HockeyEttan) at age 21.

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Tweet of note via RWP: Dylan James named alternate captain at University of North Dakota

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Wings prospect Dylan James has been named an alternate captain for the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks:

A bit about the Prospect Games and the demise of the Red Wings’ Prospect Tournament

The Prospect Games start tomorrow (Saturday at 8 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and Victory+; Sunday at 7 PM EDT on DetroitRedWings.com and Victory+) between the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan discusses the demise of the Traverse City prospect tournament, which involved teams’ desires to host their own tournaments–and cost:

The Wings and Stars played two games last year and will do so again this weekend, although not in Traverse City. They’ll play at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, the Stars’ practice facility.

The plan is to alternate between Traverse City and Frisco hosting the event.

The Traverse City-based prospects tournament began in 1998. At its peak, the eight teams played four games in five days with many of the daily sessions at Centre ICE Arena sold out or close to it.

More than 700 players who participated in the tourney played at least one NHL game, a testament to its quality. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Lucas Raymond, Marco Kasper, Jamie Benn, Rick Nash and Jason Robertson are just a few of the players who competed as unproven young players and grew into NHL stars.

But as years passed, many NHL organizations began to have options closer to their own cities with similar tournaments born across the league landscape. The cost of housing some 20-25 prospects and staff in most markets was much cheaper than Traverse City in mid-September.

“Over the last three or four years, we’ve gone from eight (teams) down to two for different reasons,” general manager Steve Yzerman said last year after the two Dallas games in Traverse City. “Teams wanted to do different things. Some didn’t want to play four games. Some wanted to save the expense and not have to travel to Traverse City. They’re able to do different things.”

Continued (paywall); it’s just a big disappointment to those of us who believed in the TC prospect tournament to see it go elsewhere.

Tweet of note via KK: Patrick Kane offers an Olympic sales pitch

Via Paul Kukla of Kukla’s Korner: Red Wings forward Patrick Kane gave his sales pitch to Julie Stewart-Binks and Nate Thompson regarding his desire to make Team USA’s Olympic team:

Also: Stewart-Binks and Thompson have posted an audio podcast (available on many platforms) in which Kane and agent Pat Brisson discuss a number of topics from the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in Las Vegas earlier this week:

Tweet of note: Ken Kal, Daniella Bruce reveal guests for Red Wings’ ‘Hockeytown Centennial Fan Fest’

Per the Detroit Red Wings…

So Scotty Bowman, Tomas Holmstrom, Igor Larionov, Joe Kocur and Doug Brown among the attendees…And you can find more information about the Centennial Fan Fest here.

Sportsnet previews the 2025-2026 Red Wings

Sportsnet’s David Morassutti has posted a Red Wings season preview for the 2025-2026 NHL season today. He spotlights players to watch in John Gibson and Mason Appleton, he dishes some praise onto Trey Augustine as the Wings’ top prospect, and Morassutti asks three “Burning Questions” of the team:

Three Burning Questions

1. Will the goaltending be good enough to reach the playoffs?
For all of the progress Detroit has made in recent seasons, the team wasn’t going anywhere with the goaltenders they were trotting out. Last year’s goaltending tandem ranked 21st in the NHL with a 3.16 goals-against average and 20th with a .896 save percentage. That’s not going to be good enough against an Atlantic Division that had four teams (Toronto, Tampa, Florida and Ottawa) finish in the top 10 in goaltending stats. Bringing in a netminder like Gibson is certainly a worthwhile gamble for this team in the short term. At his best, Gibson has been capable of carrying a team but at his worst, he’s looked worn down from years of heavy workloads behind some below average defences. At the same time, the Red Wings will need to be better defensively to help Gibson.

2. Does the team have enough secondary scoring that can deliver?
Detroit’s top line is set. Dylan Larkin remains one of the NHL’s most underrated two-way centres, Alex DeBrincat is a proven finisher, and Lucas Raymond is blossoming into a bona fide top-line winger. Patrick Kane, if healthy, still provides bursts of elite vision and playmaking. But the story of Detroit’s season may come down to whether the players behind them can chip in enough to keep the offence rolling. They are rolling the dice on James van Riemsdyk while also relying on young players like Michael Rasmussen, and Jonatan Berggren to take steps forward. If Appleton, J.T. Compher, and Elmer Söderblom can chip in consistently, the Wings will have a more balanced attack that can take some pressure of the top players.

Continue reading Sportsnet previews the 2025-2026 Red Wings

Praise for Marco Kasper’s fantasy hockey potential

Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin names Red Wings forward Marco Kasper as one of his fantasy hockey “sleeper” picks:

Marco Kasper | Detroit Red Wings | C/LW | ADP: 160.0

As recently as Jan. 7, Kasper was mired in a 15-game pointless streak. It looked like the offensive side of the prospect’s game wasn’t translating to the NHL level. But he scored at a 25-goal, 59-point pace from that point onward, not only breaking out but showcasing versatility, first as Dylan Larkin’s winger and then centering Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane on the second line. Now Kasper is entrenched as a top-six forward. My favorite breakout picks in redraft leagues are often guys who did their damage in the second half and therefore don’t have overly sexy full-season stat lines from the year before. Casual drafters may overlook Kasper, but he could easily deliver 25-plus goals, 55-plus points and 150 hits. The ceiling might be higher than that.

Continued