Of note from The Athletic this morning:

First, Shayna Goldman examines 10 players who become eligible for contract extensions on July 1st, lest they become unrestricted free agents a year from now:

Alex DeBrincat, Detroit Red Wings

A rising tide lifts all boats, so the [Martin] Necas, [Kyle] Connor and [Adrian] Kempe contracts should all benefit DeBrincat. Kempe’s contract carries the lowest AAV of the three and will take up 10.1 percent of the cap this season. That shakes out to $11.6 million in 2027-28 with an $113.5 million cap. Connor’s $12 million cap hit would be comparable to an $13.1 million salary. AFP Analytics projects something in between: a seven-year deal carrying a $12.2 million AAV.

The real question, in his situation, is where that contract will be signed. The Red Wings clearly need his scoring ability and play-driving. But the Dylan Larkin situation could change the Red Wings’ timeline. If it forces Detroit to reset and take a step back, it may not make as much sense to sign a 29-year-old to a contract of that value. It may not make sense for DeBrincat to extend there, either.

This is not to say DeBrincat is on his way out of Detroit. It’s that both sides have options here. Players capable of scoring 40 goals don’t grow on trees in the NHL, so there will be demand if he’s available. This situation will likely take more time and depend on how the chips fall around Larkin first.

Continued (paywall); DeBrincat definitely wants to remain in Detroit for the balance of his contract, but whether he signs an extension remains up in the air.

Second, Harman Dayal, Sean Gentille and each NHL team’s beat writer discuss the salary cap situations of every NHL team, including Detroit:

Continue reading Two things: On Alex DeBrincat’s next contract, and the Red Wings’ salary cap situation →

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

First, DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted his second-day-of-the-draft article on Sunday afternoon, and the most interesting part thereof comes in the form of some draft philosophy from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman:

Yzerman highlighted the decision-making process that occurs during the later rounds of an NHL Entry Draft, outlining how there’s a healthy mix of strategy and communication.

“We look a little bit at our depth chart maybe closer in those later rounds, maybe who we’ve picked in the previous rounds today and last night,” Yzerman said. “And then just kind of go through and see does anybody really stand out? Who do we really want? What specific traits or skills that each prospect has do we think can help our organization or give us belief that player is a legitimate prospect? It all seems to work itself out and ultimately, we kind of make these decisions more as a group and based on the individual scouts or area scouts who they really feel excited about, who they really want from their particular area.”

Detroit’s 2026 Summer Development Camp begins later today at the BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena, and assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper previewed what the prospects can expect to experience over the course of the 4-day camp…

Continue reading Two overnight things: On the Red Wings’ later-round draft philosophy, and a thought experiment in Ferrari’s Wings picks →

The Red Wings posted two videos on Sunday afternoon: one “reel” affording fans an introduction to JP Hurlbert, and a second video featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the Red Wings’ prospects at the 2026 NHL Draft:

Continue reading Videos: Red Wings post ‘getting to know you’ reel of JP Hurlbert, behind-the-scenes look at the 2026 Draft →

The Detroit Red Wings will hold a 4-day Summer Development Camp at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center between Monday and Thursday of this week. This afternoon, the Wings released their roster of participating players:

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings release 2026 Development Camp roster

Twenty-seven recent draft picks on roster, including seven from 2026 draft

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today announced the roster for their 2026 Development Camp, which will be held at the BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena starting Monday, June 29 to Thursday, July 2. The camp roster currently consists of 20 forwards, 11 defensemen and six goaltenders.

Continue reading Red Wings release 2026 Summer Development Camp roster →

The Detroit Red Wings are holding their annual Summer Development Camp at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center between Monday and Thursday.

The Wings always emphasize that this camp is an educational endeavor, and not a time of player evaluation, but I can also tell you that the entire management team does watch every second of the on-ice activities, if only for the sake of getting a feel for their new and returning prospects (as well as the free agents who will join the roster).

The Wings will release their camp roster this afternoon, and ahead of the “news drop,” the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a notebook article which offers Wings assistant GM and director of player development Kris Draper’s emphasis on the learning aspect of the team’s Summer Development Camps:

“We want to bring them in, enjoy it and give them an incredible amount of information, for on and off the ice,” said Kris Draper, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting. “If these guys have any questions throughout, we have, to me, the best development staff in the league, and they create relationships with everybody.

“Whatever they need, we’re here to help them maximize their potential.”

The Wings’ skill development coaches, including Dan Cleary and Niklas Kronwall, help instruct the players on the ice, but the Red Wings emphasize off-ice education as well, and they really flood the players with off-ice information.

As far as the Red Wings’ brass is concerned, sometimes the off-ice information is more important than the on-ice activities:

Players in attendance will take part in classes and presentations designed to help players transition to pro hockey. The importance of sleep, nutrition and dealing with media are classes usually covered. Players also get feedback from Wings coaches and management on what prospects need to improve upon and how to improve in those given areas.

“What we want with these guys is basically give them as much information as possible,” Draper said. “The importance of training on and off the ice. They’re going to get a full body analysis of how they move and what they need to do and what they need to improve on. This is the important time for hockey players. You have two to three months to train, so that’s something that is very important.”

Kulfan also reports that Red Wings draft pick Beckham Edwards will return to a familiar location when he steps on to Detroit’s practice rink tomorrow:

Continue reading Detroit’s Summer Development Camp emphasizes education over player evaluation →

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen and Bob Duff posted a pair of articles this morning, discussing the Red Wings’ present state, as well as the team’s training camp plans.

First, Allen discusses the Red Wings’ lack of urgency to make moves over the course of this weekend’s 2026 NHL Draft…

Forwards J.J. Peterka, Mason McTavish, Pavel Dorofeyev and Andrei Nichushkin were all traded Friday. And none of them ended up on the Red Wings roster. With the Dylan Larkin trade request clouding the team’s future, it’s fair to say the fan base is looking for something, anything really, that sends the message that they are taking steps to improve the situation.

Fans are waiting for them to trade Dylan Larkin for a strong return, trade for a center, re-sign Patrick Kane, make an aggressive offer to Columbus for Kirill Marchenko, hear that Alex DeBrincat plans to stay in Detroit and add a veteran scorer like Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust or move Michael Rasmussen and Mason Appleton to make room for more physical players.

If they could start working off that checklist, fan morale would likely improve.

And second, Bob Duff took note of GM Steve Yzerman’s remarks as to why the team chose to hold their 2026-2027 season’s training camp at Little Caesars Arena:

Continue reading DHN on fan morale, as well as holding training camp in Detroit this upcoming season →

This morning, The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman and Aaron Portzline discuss potential trade “fits” for Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who’s reportedly told Blue Jackets GM Don Wadell that Werenski will not re-sign with the team when his contract expires in the summer of 2028.

In offering “Eight Possible Fits” for Werenski to be traded to, they include the Red Wings, who are (of course) Werenski’s “hometown team“:

Detroit Red Wings

If Dylan Larkin hadn’t requested a trade out of Detroit, the Red Wings would have been one of the most interesting teams on this list. Werenski’s ties to Michigan run deep; he’s from Grosse Pointe and went to the University of Michigan. Playing for the Red Wings with Larkin could be a full-circle moment and would address a major need in Detroit, but that possibility seems remote.

The Red Wings have their franchise defenseman in Moritz Seider, whose all-around game put him right in the thick of the Norris conversation with Werenski. But another dynamic threat on the back end could be an absolute game-changer for a team that has ranked in the bottom half of the league in five-on-five scoring chance generation over the last couple of seasons.

Detroit likely has pieces to interest Columbus, such as Emmitt Finnie, Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, among others. The Red Wings also have a deep pipeline to pull from and cap space to absorb (and extend) Werenski. But without Larkin, this team’s timeline likely gets pushed back. And that’s two strikes against Werenski’s chances of waiving his no-movement clause to end up in Detroit.

Continued (paywall); I can’t see Columbus accepting the Red Wings’ top prospects alone. They’d want a front-line NHL player, like Simon Edvinsson, in return…In addition to some top prospects and first-round draft picks.

Werenski coming to Detroit is a nice thought to bounce around in our heads, but it’s not going to happen.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article this morning which discusses the relationship between 2026 47th overall pick Victor Plante and Chris Osgood’s family.

As it turns out, the Osgoods were billet families for Plante while he played with the National Team Development Program this past season:

As soon as she found out Victor Plante had been drafted by the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, June 27, Jenna Osgood reached out.

“I told him, yay, he can now live in our basement forever,” Osgood told the Free Press. She and her husband, former Wings goaltender Chris Osgood, have billeted U.S. National Team Development Program players for years, and their most recent houseguest at their home in Plymouth – where the USNTDP is based – couldn’t been a better tenant, in every way possible.

“Vic was great for my kids, because he’s on the ice every night in my backyard,” Chris Osgood told the Free Press. “Every night they’d be out there. We love having them all around. And Victor was just an awesome kid – he gets along with anybody. When I saw him get drafted on TV, he looked like the happiest guy in the draft. We were so happy for him.”

Continued (paywall); this is a very good read…

And St. James also posted a set of prospect profiles based upon the comments made by GM Steve Yzerman and assistant GM/director of amateur scouting Kris Draper yesterday afternoon. Here’s what Draper had to say about Plante:

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: Victor Plante knows the Osgood family very well →

The Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski reacts as only “Wojo” can to Steve Yzerman’s remarks regarding Dylan Larkin’s trade demands. First, Wojnowski frames the situation well, noting that the Wings’ first-round draft pick, JP Hurlbert, said that his favorite player growing up was Larkin…

Maybe at one time, Larkin’s favorite player was Yzerman. But the link between captains is broken, and hope of a quick, amicable resolution is fading. Yzerman initially declined to address the issue until after he spoke about the draft. Then he delivered a blunt statement and took no questions. He confirmed the details of Larkin’s request, that it was made by his agent shortly after the season, followed by a short list of teams for whom he’d waive his no-trade clause. Yzerman’s options are limited and acceptable offers scarce, so far. And he doesn’t seem interested in clearing up the murkiness.

“Dylan has five years remaining on his contract,” Yzerman said Saturday. “My job as the manager of the Detroit Red Wings is always to do what’s in the best interest of the Detroit Red Wings, and I will act accordingly to that. I cannot make any guarantees and did not make any guarantees that the request could, or would, be met. There’s certainly a lot of uncertainty around that.”

And, after offering both Larkin’s probable perspective under an environment of Olympic success and what the NHL writers are calling “the era of player empowerment,” and fair criticism of Yzerman’s job steering his team’s still-on-wobbly-legs rebuild, Wojnowski offers this:

Continue reading Talking about Dylan Larkin’s looming departure via a fine ‘Wojo’ column →

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of the comments made by Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper today, after Detroit brought six new players into the prospect pipeline.

That number includes Victor Plante, brother of Max Plante:

Victor Plante had a fine season at the Plymouth Township-based United States National Development Team Program and is a similar, smart, offensive-minded player as his brother.

“Getting to know the family, it’s an incredible hockey family and we were real excited about the development,” said Kris Draper, the Wings’ director of amateur scouting. “Victor is wired the exact same way. A smart, competitive player that has a passion for the game.

“He had a real good year and the similarities, you kind of look at him as a bit of a late bloomer with the way his year went. He continued to get better throughout. He’s a passionate kid and we’re excited to have him.”

Also of note from Draper:

Continue reading Kris Draper assesses the Red Wings’ second-day-of-the-draft haul →