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Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Every Former Red Wings Player In The Cup Final
Troy Stecher (Sergei Belski-Imagn Images) The hockey community can feel small. All of the recycled coaches and management members going around the NHL like a massively convoluted game of musical chairs can be exhausting. However, when the team that you cheer for is the Detroit Red Wings, an original six team, there is bound to be someone who was connected to the franchise in some capacity. Advertisement Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. The 2025 Stanley Cup Final begins on Wednesday, June 4th. In honor of that commencement, here is every former Red Wings player in the Cup Final. (Spoiler alert: they all play for one team.) Trending Red Wings Stories Every Expiring Detroit Red Wings Contract Every Expiring Detroit Red Wings Contract All good things come to an end. 3 Red Wings Prospects Ready For The Big Leagues 4 Free Agent Defenders Yzerman Has To Actually Avoid Could Jonathan Toews Become Latest Ex-Blackhawk to Jump to Detroit? Advertisement 3 Special Red Wings Prospects That Are Untouchable Three Potential RFA Offer Sheet Candidates for the Red Wings Three Potential RFA Offer Sheet Candidates for the Red Wings On Tuesday, the NHL revealed the offer sheet compensation levels (based on the AAV of potential RFA poachings) for the 2025 offseason. With that in mind, here's a look at some potential options for the Detroit Red Wings to reel in some added depth this summer. Jake Walman Jake Walman, it's going to be difficult for Red Wings fans to forget you. The current Edmonton Oilers defender was infamously traded from the Red Wings to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations. At the same time, the Sharks received a second-round draft pick for their troubles. Advertisement As I've previously written about, Walman has been a great addition to the Oilers since his arrival. However, when he was in Detroit, you could see the same tools at play. Walman was a stabilizing presence for the young Moritz Seider and endeared himself to fans with his outgoing personality. Troy Stecher Another defender, Troy Stecher, has been an excellent piece for the Oilers during this playoff run. He was able to come in and perform at a high enough level to make the coaching staff want to play him more. Stecher played for the Red Wings during the 2020-21 season and part of the 2021-22 season. The team wasn't very good during that time, and he was a combined -19 over 60 games with the team. Calvin Pickard The Red Wings were the last NHL stop for Calvin Pickard before signing with the Oilers. He was used sparingly in the NHL – 12 games across three seasons. Advertisement Pickard came in for Stuart Skinner after the latter had a shaky start to the 2025 playoffs. Pickard went on a six-game heater, got injured, and then Skinner came back and has been lights-out. What a world. Mattias Janmark Bet you couldn't have guessed that Mattias Janmark (Mattias Janmark-Nylen) was a Red Wings draft pick. The 79th overall selection in the 2013 draft played two games for the Grand Rapids Griffins during the 2013-14 season. The Swedish forward was traded to the Dallas Stars on March 1st of 2015, along with a second-round draft pick, for the likes of Eric Cole and a third-round pick. Advertisement With all of the former Red Wings on the Oilers, it makes it clear to this writer who Red Wings fans should cheer for during the Stanley Cup Final. It's a small hockey community, after all. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.
New York Times
4 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Red Wings offseason fan survey: How do you feel about Detroit's direction?
As a much-anticipated offseason approaches for the Detroit Red Wings, we want to hear from you. Is Detroit on the right track as it looks to take the next step out of its rebuild? What's your confidence level in Red Wings management? How about your urgency level for the team to return to the postseason after nine years on the outside looking in? Advertisement Here's your chance to make your voice heard on those questions and more in The Athletic's 2025 Red Wings fan survey. Fill out the survey below, and we'll compile the results for an upcoming story. Explanations for your answers are optional, but encouraged, as we try to take the pulse of the fans at what feels like a key moment for the franchise. Let's get to it. Note: If you have any problems loading or filling out the survey below, you can access it directly by clicking here. Loading…
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-Red Wing Tomas Tatar Signs in Switzerland
Nov 2, 2017; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Detroit Red Wings left wing Tomas Tatar (21) skates with the puck in the third period against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: (Marc DesRosiers, Imagn Images) Former Detroit Red Wing Tomas Tatar has inked a two-year contract with EV Zug of the Swiss National League, seemingly signaling the end of a 14-year NHL career for the Czech scoring forward. Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. Tatar spent the first seven years of his NHL career with the Red Wings, accruing 115 goals and 107 assists for 222 points in 407 games. He was ultimately traded to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2018 Trade Deadline for a first, second, and third round draft pick (that first would become Joe Veleno). Advertisement After Vegas, Tatar made stops in Montreal, Colorado, Seattle, and enjoyed two tenures in New Jersey, including what seems to have been his final NHL season—seven goals, 10 assists in 74 games this year for the Devils. Trending Red Wings Stories Could Aaron Ekblad Help the Detroit Blue Line? Can Ex-Red Wings Coach Blashill Turn it Around in Chicago? Former Coach Derek Lalonde Discusses Red Wings Exit Kasper Enjoying Star Turn as Austria Marches Through Worlds With His Days in Toronto Likely Numbered, Could Mitch Marner Be a Missing Piece to the Red Wings Puzzle? From a Red Wings perspective, Tatar was part of a generation of players that (through no fault of its own) couldn't manage to live up to the lofty standard Detroit had set for itself, amidst a steady exodus of Hall of Fame–caliber talent. Advertisement After 14 seasons, Tatar played 927 games, scoring 227 goals and providing 269 assists for 496 points. That he's just shy of a few milestones (1,000 games played and 500 points) suggests perhaps Tatar might harbor fantasies of a return to fight across those lines or perhaps Tatar is satisfied with the work he's done and keen to continue his career in Europe. Do you have a favorite memory of Tatar in Detroit? If so, let us know in the comments. Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Red Wings offseason scenarios: 3 potential paths for Detroit's summer
As the days tick by, the meat of the NHL offseason draws ever closer for the Detroit Red Wings. The NHL playoff field is down to just four teams now, the draft combine is only a week away, and before you know it, the race to July 1 will be on. This is shaping up to be a fascinating summer for the Red Wings, who have every reason to be aggressive as they look to end a nine-year playoff drought. Advertisement But what could that look like? That's the question this article will seek to answer, diving into three potential scenarios for what general manager Steve Yzerman's offseason could look like. Detroit has roughly $22 million in cap space going into the summer, depending on whether or not you count Austin Watson (who was extended last season, and finished the year up with the big club, chipping in three goals). These are just a handful of the many permutations for what Detroit could do, but are meant to illustrate the range of options on the table. That said, there were three moves taken as a given in every scenario: re-signing Patrick Kane, Albert Johansson and Elmer Söderblom, all of whom were productive contributors in 2024-25. That left just under $15 million in salary cap room, as the Red Wings' remaining baseline. That's certainly plenty of room to make moves, but in a year where player salaries could soar with the expectation of a rising salary cap, it may not go as far as it might sound. With that said, here are three potential ways the Red Wings could approach this crucial summer. The first scenario tried to spread the money around Detroit's three big needs — the top-four 'D,' a top-line winger, and a harder-nosed 'identity' forward down the lineup. Buying out Vladimir Tarasenko was part of that, freeing up $3.16 million in cap savings, and in this scenario, the big addition was Aaron Ekblad — one of the top two defensemen on the free-agent market. I'd imagine Ekblad and Vladislav Gavrikov will cost about the same, so you can imagine him in that top four instead if you'd like, but I felt Ekblad's local ties (he's a Windsor native) made him a little more realistic. Certainly, this defense corps is immediately more imposing. Ekblad is a former No. 1 pick who plays 23 minutes a night on the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. He's a 6-foot-4 defenseman who can play physical and bring offense. In this current playoff run, he's been especially productive with 10 points in 12 games. He could be an excellent partner for Simon Edvinsson. Advertisement The big question is how he will age. He's already had a hard time staying healthy in his career, and late this season, he was suspended 20 games for violating the terms of the league's performance-enhancing substance program. Carrying around that big body certainly comes with physical wear and tear, so giving out this kind of contract to the 29-year-old would have to mean confidence from the Red Wings that they can build a winner in the first half or so of the deal to make the most of it. That is the case (at least to some degree) for most top free agents, though, and there's no doubt Ekblad would improve this blue line right away. So in this scenario, Detroit takes the plunge. That contract takes up just under half of Detroit's remaining space, after the Tarasenko buyout, so the next step was looking for a top-line winger. There wasn't enough money to get both a high-profile 'D' and the top free agent forward, Mitch Marner. But there were still some intriguing options available, headlined by Sam Bennett, Nikolaj Ehlers and Brad Marchand. The key in this scenario, though, was to try and address all three needs, which meant spending all of it on Bennett or Ehlers wasn't an option, though both are excellent players, and Bennett might just be the single best stylistic fit for Detroit on the market. Marchand is a very good alternative, especially with the playoffs he's having, but instead, the Red Wings go with a trade for Mason Marchment, a 6-5 winger coming off consecutive 22-goal seasons in Dallas. The Stars are coming up on a legit cap crunch, especially if they plan to keep both Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn, which seems to be the plan. If that's the case, they'll need to shed salary, and Marchment (who has one year left at $4.5 million) would make a lot of sense for Detroit to target at the cost of a second-round pick and a young, cheap winger in Jonatan Berggren. Advertisement Marchment certainly won't make a Bennett-level impact physically, but his size would still provide a dimension Detroit lacks in its top-six, without sacrificing offense in the process. Marchment has been in the Stars' top-six during this playoff run, playing with Duchene and Tyler Seguin. Slotting him with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, then, should be a fairly easy fit. Yzerman has shied away from using high draft picks on rentals, but this would be for at least one full season, with the option to either extend Marchment or trade him for a potentially similar return at the deadline (as he previously did with Nick Leddy). That leaves the hard-nosed identity forward, and in this case, it's Brandon Tanev, whose 168 hits in 2024-25 would have trailed only Moritz Seider (212) on the Red Wings. Hits certainly aren't the only stat that matters when it comes to identity, but it's an area Detroit could certainly use more of, and Tanev chipped in 10 goals as well. If Detroit were to take a cheaper option in that role, then those savings (as well as the leftover $2.7 million) could be enough to at least bid for a Bennett (or Ehlers) at the top of the lineup — though it's no guarantee either would have the Red Wings atop their list. But regardless, this scenario would make the Red Wings bigger and harder to play against, while also adding players who can contribute offensively, this scenario leaves a little extra cap space to spare. This group would certainly have a shot at snapping Detroit's playoff drought. If the Ekblad contract and cost of the Marchment trade left you feeling antsy, perhaps you'd prefer to see Detroit take a slightly more measured approach to their offseason business. In this scenario, that's exactly what they do: adding, but not committing so many years to older players, and paying a lower trade cost for that top-line wing spot while also leaving some room for a young player (in this case, Nate Danielson) to play his way onto the team. Advertisement We haven't seen Detroit leave spots for unproven prospects in the past, and I wouldn't expect the Red Wings to start doing so now. But that's where Tarasenko comes in: by keeping him, it acts as insurance. But if Danielson (or, in a longer shot, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård) is ready, it's easy enough to scratch or demote him to make room. As for the outside moves in this scenario, Chris Kreider would represent a fairly cheap (asset-wise) addition up top, with some upside if he can rebound from a disappointing 2024-25 campaign in which he still scored 22 goals. At 34 years old, that rebound is far from a guarantee — but Kreider scored 35 goals or more in each of his prior three seasons, so it is well within the realm of possibility, especially playing with Larkin and Raymond. Detroit owns the Rangers' 2025 third-round pick, and for the sake of the exercise, we'll call that the ballpark cost for Kreider, whose two remaining years at a $6.5 million AAV, New York may be motivated to move. On defense, there was room to swing a bit bigger than Brian Dumoulin, but not enough to afford Gavrikov or Ekblad. At that point, Detroit will have to decide if it thinks any of Ivan Provorov, Dmitry Orlov or Ryan Lindgren is a top-pair caliber option. If not, they're probably better served with someone like Dumoulin, who would be cheaper and — while likely best cast on the third pair — at least a candidate to play higher in the lineup if needed. This team would be betting heavily on internal growth (and that Kreider rebound year) to get into the playoffs. But it would preserve significant flexibility going forward, while still adding some fresh faces to the locker room. OK, here's the one you clicked for. If Detroit wants to be aggressive this summer, there's certainly a case for going after the biggest name on the market, Toronto's Mitch Marner. Yes, Marner would be another smaller forward in a lineup that already has a few of those. He's also a 100-point scorer (fifth in the league this season) who gets annual Selke consideration. There aren't many players like that floating around. Advertisement Raymond might have to switch sides of the ice in this scenario, but that would create more opportunities to use his impressive one-timer. And if Marner is going to be a primary facilitator, it becomes easier to ask Larkin to do some more dirty work for the line down low. Marner would also have the potential to help Detroit's penalty kill, the team's Achilles' heel last season. Marner's playoff track record is what it is — but he'd certainly help Detroit get back there, and perhaps getting out of Toronto would help him at that time of year. Simply put, Marner is going to get to call his own shot this summer. Odds are, it won't be Detroit. But for a player of his talent level, the Red Wings have to at least inquire. If they do win the Marner sweepstakes, it won't leave the Red Wings much room to maneuver. For that reason, Tarasenko was again bought out in this scenario, and that still only left a small amount to work with. Nick Cousins doesn't have the size of your typical hard-nosed depth forward, but his runaway victory in The Athletic's 'player you'd most like to punch' poll in 2024 suggests he's doing something right as a pest. Meanwhile, Nicolas Hague, like Marchment, is a candidate to move via trade because Vegas may not be able to justify paying him, with a deep blue line and holes to fill elsewhere. He's also younger and could be a candidate to get a look in higher deployment, as he's been a solid third-pair staple for the Golden Knights. Fans will no doubt note that I included prospect Carter Mazur in every scenario here. I don't know if that's the way it will work out this fall, and Mazur has certainly struggled to stay in the lineup. But he's another young player who can make Detroit harder to play against while still bringing offense. I do like his chances of being on the team — if he's healthy. Advertisement This scenario would feature the star power Red Wings fans have wanted for years, and would be fascinating to watch play out. Which player would come off of Detroit's elite top power play unit, for example? How would Marner look away from the star-studded Maple Leafs core? And outside the Toronto spotlight? Those are all real questions, and Detroit would be betting big on Marner being enough to elevate this group into the playoffs. But hey, that's sort of what you expect when you offer a player $13 million a year, right? (Photo of Mitch Marner and Marco Kasper: Nick Turchiaro / Imagn Images)
New York Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How Jeff Blashill's battle scars fit Blackhawks' hopes: ‘I know what it's going to take'
CHICAGO — Jeff Blashill was once the premier young and up-and-coming hockey coach. In his 30s, he rose quickly through the coaching ranks. He went from a college assistant to leading the Indiana Ice to a USHL championship, then began turning around Western Michigan's hockey program in just one year. He joined the Detroit Red Wings as an NHL assistant, later took over their AHL affiliate and won a Calder Cup with the Grand Rapids Griffins. After three AHL seasons, he was promoted to head coach of the Red Wings. Advertisement Within seven years, Blashill held five different coaching jobs, all of which had been basically promotions. He couldn't do any wrong. He quickly moved up the ladder, and the sky appeared to be the limit as he took over his first NHL head coaching position. There was optimism in Detroit that he would be the coach to maintain and build on the Red Wings' storied tradition. He wasn't. How much of the Red Wings' failures during his seven seasons as head coach fell on him is certainly debatable. Detroit's roster was stripped down within a few years and required much more time to be rebuilt than Blashill was given. Even now, the Red Wings are still searching for their first playoff appearance since 2016. Three seasons have passed since Blashill was let go by the Red Wings. Ten seasons have passed since he was named Red Wings head coach. Seventeen seasons have passed since Blashill was in the USHL. He's no longer that young and up-and-coaching coach who couldn't do any wrong. He's 51. He's been around. He's failed. There isn't that same glow around him. And that's precisely what made him attractive to the Chicago Blackhawks and why he was ultimately introduced as their new head coach at the United Center on Tuesday. The Blackhawks took a swing at the newest young and up-and-coming coach — David Carle — and thought they nearly had him. When Carle declined the Blackhawks' offer and remained at the University of Denver, the search went in another direction. That's when Blashill entered the picture and became a more viable candidate over time. As Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson likes to put it, Blashill checked a lot of boxes. Some of those boxes were his success stories — his teams' winning at other levels and his players' development. But he also brought one thing he didn't have when the Red Wings hired him: NHL experience. He knows what works, but just as important, what doesn't work in the NHL. He can draw from his player development in Grand Rapids, what went wrong with the Red Wings, or the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He's seen and done so much in the past decade and a half. He's been held accountable. He knows how functional NHL coaching staffs, dressing rooms and organizations are supposed to work. He's nearing 1,000 games on an NHL bench in the regular season and playoffs, including 542 as a head coach. He's won and lost in nearly every fashion. Advertisement Right now, that's probably what the Blackhawks need most out of their head coach. Though Davidson pursued Carle and was open to another first-time NHL head coach, the Blackhawks could use someone who isn't fully learning on the job. Blashill brings confidence and understanding that can be acquired only through time and experience. It's debatable how much of the Blackhawks' struggles over the last four seasons can be pinned on their last four head coaches — Jeremy Colliton, Derek King, Luke Richardson and Anders Sörensen — all first-timers. They weren't exactly set up to succeed. But because of their inexperience, they were unable to apply their learnings the way Blashill can. 'I had the opportunities at different levels to come to similar types of situations. … We went in, we were able to implement a culture of accountability, create a championship standard, develop those young players and win,' Blashill said. 'I've gone through seven years of a hard rebuild in Detroit. I know the pain that this group has gone through the last couple years. I also know the pitfalls that are potentially ahead. So, we'll work like crazy to avoid those pitfalls as we go to lead this team into a better tomorrow.' It's not just his experiences. It's what he learned from them, especially the trying ones. He said he believes the Blackhawks are ahead of where he left the Red Wings, but that he can apply knowledge from those tough times. 'One of the big things as a coach, you want to help your team and you want to find answers,' Blashill said. 'So, at times, you're searching for answers — how can we put our guys in the best position to have success? And there are certainly times you go through that you can oversearch for answers. 'Maybe (you) change a system when that's not what needs to be done and sometimes you just have to stay calm, believe in the process and stay the course. I just think going through those times allows me to remain calm and stay focused on the process in the face of the adversity that you face when you're trying to go from a team that's near the bottom to being a team that's at the top.' Advertisement That was one of the things that stood out to Davidson and his staff as they talked with Blashill. He referenced moments with the Red Wings and what he'd do differently now. He reflected on how he managed time, how he managed games, how he managed his staff and how he managed young players and veterans. He also cited lessons from his time on Jon Cooper's Tampa Bay Lightning coaching staff. Davidson hadn't entered the search looking for a specific type of coach, but Blashill's experience became part of what won the Blackhawks over. 'We wanted to talk to a number of different people in our process,' Davidson said, 'but we didn't want to put a box around it with no NHL experience, (or) a lot of NHL experience. … In the end, when we got in the room with Jeff and got to know him a little bit better … it felt like a no-brainer to tap into his experience and tap into what he's lived and what he's been through in the NHL as a head coach. It just made a lot of sense from that perspective, but it wasn't something that was necessarily a deal breaker one way or another. … That time in Detroit as an NHL head coach certainly set him up for approaching this a different way and learning from that first tenure.' Davidson and Blashill were both careful Tuesday not to put any specific timelines on future success. Davidson spoke of it using the words 'in time.' When asked more directly when he expects to win, Blashill said he couldn't answer. Again, though, he framed his lengthy answer around his experience. 'I'll never put a timeline on that; I can't,' Blashill said. 'I have no way of knowing how long or how quick. I didn't know when I went to Indy if it would take us multiple years; honestly, I didn't know if I was going to make it to Christmas. That was my first head coaching job, two of my kids were 1 and 3, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But we ended up winning a championship, and we won it faster than people thought we would. I didn't know when I went to Western how long it would take to get that program back to a level of relevance; in that year, we ended up going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in however (long). I didn't know when I went to Grand Rapids how long, and we ended up winning a championship and had success after that. You just don't know for sure. 'I know what it's going to take, and I know process is the most important piece of that. What I will say is I won't rush the process for a timeline. I believe in the process. I was able to actually to see a pretty unique (example) in a different sport when I was in Detroit and watched (Lions coach) Dan Campbell, his first year, have very very little success, but I watched him continue and stay strong and build a culture. When you see those types of experiences, it's a good reminder to you as a coach: You have to make sure you get that culture in place. Once you get that culture in place, the winning takes care of itself. I don't have an answer how long, and to be honest, that's not really what my worry is. My worry is making sure we do it right from day one, and we continue to do it right on a day-by-day basis.' Blashill understands that better now than he did in his 30s. He was clear on his end goal with the Blackhawks on Tuesday. That goal was undoubtedly the same when he was hired by the Red Wings to be their head coach in June 2015. The difference now is that he has a much clearer understanding of how to achieve it. Advertisement 'All those experiences for me mean this: It means on day one of training camp, I can stand in front of our group and know exactly what it's going to take for us to get to the top. And not guess, not hope, but know,' Blashill said. 'So, I'm extremely excited about that and that opportunity. I don't want to sound like it's going to be easy because it's not. It's going to be hard. It's going to take more sacrifice and more work than most people are willing to give, but for those who are willing to give it, I think the reward's going to be great. In time, this great city of Chicago and our great Blackhawks fans, we can deliver a championship-level team, and I look forward to getting to that moment.'
