Red Wings Offseason 2025

[lordstanley]

Christian Fischer, UFA, retires.

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/christian-fischer-retires-from-nhl-at-28-after-nine-seasons-1.2331496

[Jason_R]

Per Reddit’s summary of Friedman’s podcast, Ehlers wouldn’t even take a pitch from Detroit. Got nowhere with Arvidsson or Marchment

Ehlers was the only FA that Steve would consider on a 4-5 year contract. Doesn’t want to block the prospects on whom he is “betting his reputation.”

Just saw the same summary here: 

 

[slothfacekilla]

Was just coming to post the same info from that podcast: Friedman says Detroit wanted to make a pitch to Ehlers but were told no. He says Detroit is “a hard sell” because it’s been too long without playoffs.

 

I wouldn't think this would be a shock to people but well...

[ben9753]

What a disappointment the Yzerman regime has been. Playing the long game, playing it safe has led to stagnation and we've gone nowhere. you look up and its been the better part of a decade without a playoff appearance, and the team now has the stench of losing organization. That comes with consequences, like not being able to get premier free agents to even listen to you. The blame lays squarely with the people at the top.

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, ben9753 said:

What a disappointment the Yzerman regime has been. Playing the long game, playing it safe has led to stagnation and we've gone nowhere. you look up and its been the better part of a decade without a playoff appearance, and the team now has the stench of losing organization. That comes with consequences, like not being able to get premier free agents to even listen to you. The blame lays squarely with the people at the top.

Yup. Hindsight is 20/20 but in retrospect this org was so depleted the only possible strategy was to keep losing until they were able to put together a bigger, better core through the draft. The first round picks have been fine, but not good enough or fast enough to turn the org around. In turn that has meant that all the money spent on FA fillers has been pretty much a waste. Lose/lose all the way around.

Even assuming ASP and Danielson make the team next season and get them to playoff level, they still won't be a serious challenger to win a Cup and once those two are on the team where is the next increment going to come from  to get them to another level?

Edited Sunday at 05:02 PM by gehringer_2

[buddha]

good.  i dont want to bust the bank for ehlers, another small and not physical player.  we already have debrincat, kane, and raymond.  no need to have ehlers on a 7 year deal making as much money as larkin.  he's not as good as larkin.

i'm fine with the offseason considering how things went around the league.

my criticism is that they havent accumulated enough assets to trade for a guy like dobson.  dobson would have been perfect for detroit but montreal could offer multiple firsts and we didnt/couldnt match.  that's the one deal i regret they didnt make.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

If Yzerman is banking his career on these prospects as Friedman said then it would be nice if Cossa gets a real shot next year. It looks like he certainly won't to start the season. I'm guessing it will take a significant injury to Gibson or Talbot to see him for anything beyond a couple of games next year. Which is disappointing because he'll be 23 and we spent a disk round pick on him. 

[buddha]

1 hour ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

If Yzerman is banking his career on these prospects as Friedman said then it would be nice if Cossa gets a real shot next year. It looks like he certainly won't to start the season. I'm guessing it will take a significant injury to Gibson or Talbot to see him for anything beyond a couple of games next year. Which is disappointing because he'll be 23 and we spent a disk round pick on him. 

goalies take time.

i wouldnt be disappointed to not see cossa until an iniury hits, and with gibson and talbot in net, it will hit.

i'd be more disappointed if a couple of mazur, danielson, wallinder, buium, asp dont break through next year.

[Jason_R]

Edvinsson, AlJo, Kasper, and Soderblom all solidified their spots on the roster last season. What makes anyone think Yzerman is not going to play the kids when they are ready? 

If Cossa does not get any starts in the NHL this season or if some of the other prospects don’t break through, it will say a lot more about their progress than it will about Yzerman. 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

4 hours ago, buddha said:

goalies take time.

i wouldnt be disappointed to not see cossa until an iniury hits, and with gibson and talbot in net, it will hit.

i'd be more disappointed if a couple of mazur, danielson, wallinder, buium, asp dont break through next year.

I was looking through the list of first round goalies drafted over the past 10-15 years. There aren't many of them as we already know. But I read looking to see when I'm their careers and at what age these goalies got called up and asked to play serious minutes. It looks like Andre Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger and Ilya Samsanov have thus far been the most successful.

Vasilevskiy came up with Tampa and got serious ice time in the 14-15 season at age 22 it looks like. The next season he got more playing time and stayed up for most the season at age 23. Oettinger was called up at age 22, in the 21-22 season, when Dallas had some injuries. He stayed on the main roster thereafter. For Samsanov he was 22 turning 23 when he got called up with Washington in the 19-20 season. 

Cossa will be 23 next season and may not get any NHL minutes unless an injury occurs. While all goalies mature and come into their game differently during their careers, for Cossa to potentially be pushing 24 and not get any real NHL ice time just disappoints at some level. If he simply isn't ready and this is what's best for his development, then so be it. I'll trust Yzerman, his scouts, and his coaching staffs, for now. If he isn't a good player then we're opening up a whole other issue regarding our scouting and drafting of goalies as an organization and Yzerman's decision making to use a first on one. 

Edited yesterday at 12:47 AM by Mr.TaterSalad

[buddha]

21 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

I was looking through the list of first round goalies drafted over the past 10-15 years. There aren't many of them as we already know. But I read looking to see when I'm their careers and at what age these goalies got called up and asked to play serious minutes. It looks like Andre Vasilevskiy, Jake Oettinger and Ilya Samsanov have thus far been the most successful.

Vasilevskiy came up with Tampa and got serious ice time in the 14-15 season at age 22 it looks like. The next season he got more playing time and stayed up for most the season at age 23. Oettinger was called up at age 22, in the 21-22 season, when Dallas had some injuries. He stayed on the main roster thereafter. For Samsanov he was 22 turning 23 when he got called up with Washington in the 19-20 season. 

Cossa will be 23 next season and may not get any NHL minutes unless an injury occurs. While all goalies mature and come into their game differently during their careers, for Cossa to potentially be pushing 24 and not get any real NHL ice time just disappoints at some level. If he simply isn't ready and this is what's best for his development, then so be it. I'll trust Yzerman, his scouts, and his coaching staffs, for now. If he isn't a good player then we're opening up a whole other issue regarding our scouting and drafting of goalies as an organization and Yzerman's decision making to use a first on one. 

if you watched grand rapids in the playoffs, you'd know he's not ready.  jesper wellstadt hasnt played either.

askarov was supposed to be the next best thing.  he was drafted a year before cossa.  he's played 16 games.

then devon levi was supposed to be the next big thing, goes to buffalo and now he sucks.

goalies are weird.  that's why you dont usually draft then early, imo.  i didnt want cossa at the time, although nobody drafted behind him has really panned out either yet except wyatt johnston and i'm not sure anyone saw that coming.

but if cossa hits, he could be markstrom.  so lets hope he hits.

btw, jacob markstrom didnt become any good until he was....checks notes....26.

[Jason_R]

🤷🏻‍♂️

[gehringer_2]

34 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

🤷🏻‍♂️

The Erik Karlsson with 300 giveaways over the last 3 seasons?

[Shinzaki]

He would be better than Holl and Gustafsson...but at what cost.   Would rather throw assets at getting Bowen Byram..if that's possible 

[buddha]

elite offense.  would boost 5v5 which is a big need.

horrible defense.  would have to be paired with edvinsson.

 

[Jason_R]

10 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

The Erik Karlsson with 300 giveaways over the last 3 seasons?

Just the messenger! Not even sure the guy reporting it is credible. 

Karlsson is carrying a big salary number, so if this happens and if the Pens don't retain salary the trade better come cheap.

My main question for this potential trade or for other moves the Wings may make in the next few years, is what do the core players -- who are making ~$8 million -- think if the team trades for/signs players for $10-12 million? It would be a tough sell to tell Larkin, Seider, Raymond, "We are building our team around you" then pull in a new player (in this case an aging defenseman) and pay him a third more than you are paying them. 

[gehringer_2]

12 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

Just the messenger! Not even sure the guy reporting it is credible. 

Karlsson is carrying a big salary number, so if this happens and if the Pens don't retain salary the trade better come cheap.

My main question for this potential trade or for other moves the Wings may make in the next few years, is what do the core players -- who are making ~$8 million -- think if the team trades for/signs players for $10-12 million? It would be a tough sell to tell Larkin, Seider, Raymond, "We are building our team around you" then pull in a new player (in this case an aging defenseman) and pay him a third more than you are paying them. 

IDK, athletes in other sports deal with this all the time. I baseball it's often underpaid guys who are pre-FA that are the leaders and drivers of teams. Cade Cunningham was the Pistons' undisputed leader while still on his rookie deal. Not sure why hockey players should have more fragile egos.

Edited 12 hours ago by gehringer_2

[lordstanley]

12 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

 

My main question for this potential trade or for other moves the Wings may make in the next few years, is what do the core players -- who are making ~$8 million -- think if the team trades for/signs players for $10-12 million? It would be a tough sell to tell Larkin, Seider, Raymond, "We are building our team around you" then pull in a new player (in this case an aging defenseman) and pay him a third more than you are paying them. 

I wouldn’t even care what they think. They’ve earned nothing. Collapsed the past two years in March. Supposedly demoralized that Yzerman didn’t add at the deadline. So if he does go out and make moves they might sulk if the addition isn’t of the right age or right contract? 

[gehringer_2]

I think that whole line of argument is probably put out more in service of FOs that use it as an excuse to keep payroll down than because it's a real concern of players.

[Shinzaki]

Karlsson's cap hit this year and next is 11mil...his actual cash owed is$9 and $7.5 mil....even if the Pens don't  retain cap, those numbers fit in the current structure

Edited 10 hours ago by Shinzaki

[lordstanley]

Karlsson has played 82 games each of the past 3 seasons and put in great production in his final year with SJ and good production his two years with Pittsburgh. So I guess he is considered to be back to full health, albeit aging?

[slothfacekilla]

I've never seen that twitter account with the Karlsson rumor, is it popping up anywhere else?  Feels like a guess but who knows

[slothfacekilla]

 

[buddha]

2 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

I've never seen that twitter account with the Karlsson rumor, is it popping up anywhere else?  Feels like a guess but who knows

ive heard that rumor before too.  but it might just be one linking a team that supppsedly wants to add (detroit) with one that desperately wants to sell (pens).

if pitt retains no salary then maybe they get a 4th rounder.  if they retain some salary maybe they get a 3rd?

evander kane got a 4th and everyone knew edmonton was desperate to sell.  karlsson probably gets more than kane.  karlsson is still an excellent offensive defensiveman, he just provides zero defense.  think red wings edition paul coffey.

yzerman might have more interest in rust or rakell, but they will require more assets to acquire.

which of their prospects are still new enough to have some shine on them, but they dont actually believe in?  when i think of pittsburgh rumors my initial though is lombardi.  fast and skilled but small.  might be right up dubas' alley.

[Hongbit]

Yzerman has shown no interest in giving up any assets.   There’s no pressure on him to win so I don’t see him starting to do it now