Detroit Red Wings Recall Michal Postava
Following up on last night’s update that John Gibson wouldn’t return to the game for the Detroit Red Wings, the team provided indirect confirmation that Gibson’s short-term outlook isn’t great. Detroit announced that they’ve recalled netminder Michal Postava from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions.
As PHR’s Bradley Keith explained yesterday evening, “Gibson was run into by Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett, ending his night after 30:40 in the crease, giving up two goals on 15 shots.” Depending on the severity of Gibson’s injury, he could miss the Red Wings’ remaining three games of the regular season over the next five days.
Without Gibson, any remaining chances of making the playoffs would be significantly diminished. In late February, Detroit had over an 80% chance of making the postseason. After their third consecutive collapse in March, their chances stand at 6% according to MoneyPuck.
If they’re officially eliminated over the next few days, and Gibson remains out with injury, there is a chance Postava could make his NHL debut. After an impressive performance with HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga last season, the Red Wings signed Postava ahead of the current campaign.
Playing second fiddle to top goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa in Grand Rapids, the 24-year-old Postava has made a promising introduction to North American hockey. In 23 games for the Griffins, Postava has managed a 15-6-0 record with a .935 SV% and 1.78 GAA, including three shutouts.
Assuming the Red Wings let veteran Cam Talbot pursue greener pastures this summer, and Cossa makes Detroit’s roster out of training camp, Postava should assume the starting role in Grand Rapids. If his early signs are any indication of what’s to come, he should have no issue managing a heavier workload next year.
Red Wings Assign Jesse Kiiskinen To AHL
According to a team announcement, the Detroit Red Wings have assigned Finnish prospect Jesse Kiiskinen to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Kiiskinen will play the brief remainder of the 2025-26 regular season and Calder Cup playoffs with the Griffins.
In Scott Wheeler’s updated prospect rankings list on The Athletic, Kiiskinen clocked in as Detroit’s 15th-ranked prospect in a top-five farm system. He is one of the few on that list who wasn’t drafted under Steve Yzerman‘s regime.
Kiiskinen was drafted by the Nashville Predators with the 68th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft. He was moved a year later in a peculiar trade with the Red Wings, who sent defensive prospect and recent second-round pick Andrew Gibson to the Predators for Kiiskinen and Tampa Bay’s 2024 second-round pick.
The jury is out on which team ultimately won the rare prospect-for-prospect trade, but the early returns are good for Detroit. Although Gibson has had a solid start to his AHL career, Kiiskinen tore up the Finnish Liiga with HPK the last two years.
During his age 19 and 20 seasons, Kiiskinen scored 31 goals and recorded 72 points in 100 games, achieving a +2 rating. For many North American fans unfamiliar with Finnish hockey, his breakout performance a few years ago at the IIHF World Junior Championships stands out. While playing for Team Finland, he scored six goals and recorded seven points in seven games, contributing to Finland’s silver medal finish in the tournament.
Still, as solid as his production in the Finnish professional circuit has been, he’ll have to continue that trajectory in Michigan. The Red Wings have a glut of forward prospects in the AHL with similar potential, with only so many spots on the roster. If he wants to get an edge on his coworkers, he’ll have to continue his impressive scoring pace.
John Gibson Leaves Due To Injury
In desperate need of a win to keep playoff hopes alive, the Nashville Predators will have to do so without a top player. Just before puck drop in Utah, the team shared that captain Roman Josi won’t play, listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The news comes as a surprise, but Josi played just 15:31 on Tuesday against Anaheim, far below his team-leading 24:50 average usage. In his place comes Jordan Oesterle, who was recalled earlier in the week with Nicolas Hague also out.
Oesterle, 33, will make his season debut having played over 60 games in the AHL for the first time since 2014-15. As far as fill-in defenders go, teams can certainly do worse than the Michigan native and his over 400 games of NHL experience. Never known for offense at the NHL level, he’s put up 46 points in 65 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, good for second on the team and by far his highest output as a pro.
For Josi to miss such a critical game, it raises the question if he’ll have to miss more of the team’s three remaining contests. Until that’s determined, Nashville must march ahead in their quest to hold off the Kings for a spot in the postseason. They’d be rewarded with a matchup against the league’s top team in Colorado. It would be an unfavorable matchup, to say the least, but a nice ending nonetheless for retiring general manager Barry Trotz.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Top defender Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars left with an apparent lower body injury. He was listed as questionable by the team, but still has not returned, enough cause for concern. The superstar absorbed a routine hit from Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman, but as he fell down, his skate got caught and caused an awkward leg bend. As deep as Dallas is on the back-end, losing Heiskanen now would be devastating as they have a roster quite capable of hoisting the Stanley Cup this spring. It’s the worst fear of any top team in April. The 26-year-old leads all skaters with nearly 26 minutes a night, and fourth in team scoring with 63 points in 76 games. Still not officially ruled out, his status will be watched urgently for updates, as the Stars will be back on Saturday against the Rangers.
- Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson left tonight’s contest against the Flyers with an apparent injury, listed as questionable from the team, and didn’t return. Gibson was run into by Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett, ending his night after 30:40 in the crease, giving up two goals on 15 shots. It would take a relative miracle for the Wings to make the playoffs at this point, but they did themselves favors with a win tonight. Losing Gibson for an extended time could sink remaining hopes, as the 32-year-old has outperformed Cam Talbot all year. Often injured, Gibson has managed 54 games in his first season as a Red Wing, winning 28 of them with a 2.63 goals-against-average. He’ll hope to be back by Saturday, as Detroit hosts New Jersey.
- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Connor Dewar is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per the team, and was unable to go against New Jersey. Playing without the 26-year-old for the first time this season, the Penguins still took care of business and officially clinched a playoff spot. In 78 games on the season, Dewar has enjoyed a breakout campaign with 14 goals and 30 points, career bests by a wide margin. He has quickly found a home in Pittsburgh, playing the highest minutes of his career and anchoring the penalty kill. With three games left, Dewar figures to be back in time for the playoffs, and could return as soon as Saturday against Washington.
Mehlenbacher Enters Transfer Portal For Second Straight Year
- Red Wings prospect Owen Mehlenbacher is entering the NCAA transfer portal, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 22-year-old center was a seventh-round pick by Detroit back in 2022 and has played three college seasons so far. The first two were spent at Wisconsin where he managed 10 points in 51 combined games. This season, Mehlenbacher played at UMass after going through the portal last offseason, tallying three goals and six assists in 32 appearances. At this point, it seems unlikely that Detroit would want to sign Mehlenbacher based on how things have gone so far so he’ll be banking on finding a landing spot where he can have a big senior season.
Michael Rasmussen Leaves Due To Injury
The Calgary Flames revealed mid-game that Kevin Bahl would not return in Dallas due to a lower-body injury. Bahl went in to deliver a routine check on Thomas Harley, catching an edge badly on his right leg. He completed the hit but immediately favored his knee.
The 25-year-old is hardly a household name, but he’s been a steady presence in Calgary all year. Bahl leads all Flames skaters in ice time at 22:13 a night, serving as a top pairing minute-eater, playing in 75 games and missing just one to this point. His efforts are worthy of a long term extension in Calgary which was inked last June.
Hardly expected to drive offense, Bahl has set a career high with four goals as part of his 18 points across the campaign. His 46.8% corsi for at five-on-five is respectable considering the 6’6” lefty’s workload on a bottom feeding team.
Calgary will hope he’s back for a tall task on Thursday in Colorado, but firmly in the basement, the priority will be Bahl reaching full health as they look ahead to 2026-27.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen left against Columbus with a lower-body injury and won’t return, per the team. It’s not immediately clear what happened, but his night ended after 10 shifts at 7:57. Turning 27 in 10 days, it’s abundantly clear that the 6’6” center won’t live up to his 9th overall selection billing. However, Rasmussen has also struggled in a grinder role, even point totals (14) aside. With his Red Wings facing the likely disappointment of another year missing the playoffs, they could benefit from exploring a change of scenery for Rasmussen, but he’s signed for two more years at $3.2MM per season. Regardless, the British Columbia native will hope to be back for the team’s four remaining regular season games.
- The AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, affiliates of the Utah Mammoth, announced that their lease with the City of Tucson has been extended through 2027-28. Next season will mark a decade for the franchise in Arizona, coming over from Springfield, Massachusetts in 2016. Of course, the Roadrunners’ neighboring NHL club unfortunately departed their state two years ago. However, they thankfully remain as the primary professional hockey organization in Arizona, still adoring the classic former Coyotes color scheme as they develop the next members of the Mammoth, an NHL team also not far away geographically. The Roadrunners are currently 19th in the AHL this season, led by Ben McCartney, and supplemented by several standout prospects from Utah such as Dmitri Simashev.
Faulk, Appleton Game-Time Decisions
- After the Detroit Red Wings’ deflating loss to the New York Rangers yesterday, head coach Todd McLellan told the media that veteran defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Mason Appleton are both questionable to play in today’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Faulk did not play Saturday in New York as the result of an upper-body injury, while Appleton sat out Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury. Appleton’s fourth-line right wing role was taken on by veteran Dominik Shine yesterday. Jacob Bernard-Docker was elevated onto the second pairing to fill Faulk’s shoes, allowing rookie Axel Sandin-Pellika to draw back into the lineup.
Red Wings Sign Noah Dower-Nilsson
The Detroit Red Wings have signed prospect forward Noah Dower-Nilsson to a three-year entry-level contract, according to a team announcement. The deal is set to begin in the 2026-27 season.
Dower-Nilsson has spent the last two years playing for the senior team of Frölunda HC in the SHL. Frölunda fell to Luleå in six games in this year’s SHL quarterfinals, ending Dower-Nilsson’s season.
The Red Wings’ press release announcing the signing did not contain any language indicating Dower-Nilsson has signed any sort of tryout agreement to spend the rest of 2025-26 in the AHL with the playoff-bound Grand Rapids Griffins. Unless something changes, that would indicate the 20-year-old is likely to cross the Atlantic and make his North American debut later this year, rather than on a more immediate basis.
As previously mentioned, this season was Dower-Nilsson’s second as a full-time player in the pro ranks. He played in 35 games for Frölunda last season, scoring 10 points while averaging 10:49 time on ice per game. This season, Dower-Nilsson saw his ice time rise to 12:20 per game, and his production rose with it. He scored six goals and 16 points this season, and added four points in six games in the quarterfinal series loss to Luleå.
Although Dower-Nilsson was not ranked among the top 24 prospects in the Red Wings’ system by Elite Prospects entering the season, it appears he has taken a real step forward in his game. The outlet’s Swedish scout Jimmy Hamrin wrote in an early-season game report that “it looks like [Dower-Nilsson] has taken his game another step ahead.” Hamrin assigned Dower-Nilsson a middle-six NHL projection.
Before he can reach that point, though, he’ll likely need to begin by developing in Grand Rapids. The Red Wings have an extensive track record of success developing European prospects at the AHL level, and they will hope to continue that track record with Dower-Nilsson.
Red Wings Recall Axel Sandin-Pellikka
The Red Wings recalled defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka from AHL Grand Rapids on an emergency basis Saturday, per a team announcement. He will be an option to step into the lineup for today’s matinee against the Rangers in place of Justin Faulk, who will need to miss at least one game with the lower-body injury that knocked him out of Thursday’s big win over the Flyers.
The Wings’ defense has been a bit of a pain point all season, with starting goalie John Gibson doing some legwork to cover up their flaws. Sandin-Pellikka, who appeared in 63 consecutive games to begin the season but was replaced in the lineup by Faulk’s acquisition from the Blues at the trade deadline, was a top-four piece through much of it.
The 21-year-old was the 17th overall pick in 2023 and still arguably has top-pairing upside, but the initial returns were underwhelming. He provided a 6-13–19 scoring line, but his possession impacts were subpar. He suited up primarily as the Wings’ #2 righty on a unit with Ben Chiarot. That pairing only controlled 46.5% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. Chiarot and Faulk have gotten closer to the waterline with a 49.2 xGF%. Sandin-Pellikka also spent some time with countryman Simon Edvinsson, in which they were porous defensively, allowing 3.25 xGA/60 for a 34.2 xGF%.
It wasn’t too surprising, then, that general manager Steve Yzerman saw upgrading Detroit’s bottom-four on the blue line behind Moritz Seider‘s spectacular top-pair showing as a must at the deadline. Since then, a rash of injuries has contributed to the Wings going on a 5-7-1 skid and falling out of a playoff position. They can rectify that today with two points against the conference-worst Rangers. That, combined with a loss of any kind by the Senators against the Wild, will put them back into the second wild-card spot.
Sandin-Pellikka has looked like a natural in his brief run of play in Grand Rapids over the past few weeks. The 6’0″ Swede has a pair of goals and an assist in four games with a +1 rating. It’s not his minor-league debut; the rookie came over from his loan to Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League late last season and had an assist in two games with Grand Rapids to close out the regular season.
Justin Faulk Leaves Game With Lower-Body Injury
Despite picking up a crucial two points last night against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Detroit Red Wings are heading to New York with some injury concerns. Before the beginning of the third period, the Red Wings announced that recent deadline acquisition, defenseman Justin Faulk, left the game due to a lower-body injury.
Before the injury, it seemed Faulk struggled to adapt to the Red Wings. In 12 games, the 34-year-old veteran had scored one goal and three points with a -5 rating, averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time. Additionally, his 43.3% CorsiFor at even strength indicates he has been a significant non-factor for Detroit when on the ice. Still, the Red Wings gave up a pretty penny to acquire his services at the deadline, and they’ll need all the help they can get to break their 10-year playoff drought over their next seven games.
2026 Hobey Baker Award Finalists Announced
The NCAA has announced their Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalists. University of Michigan senior T.J. Hughes, University of Minnesota-Duluth sophomore Max Plante, and Universty of Denver junior Eric Pohlkamp will be the last in the race to win college hockey’s coveted MVP award. Hughes and Plante sit second and third in national scoring with 56 and 52 points respectively, while Pohlkamp leads all defenders with 39 points.
All three were true number-ones for their teams. Hughes’ veteran presence and ability away from the puck helped a young Michigan squad rival the top ranking in the country for most of the season. Plante, a Detroit Red Wings prospect, was the motor behind one of the most explosive offenses in the country – in tandem with his brother, Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Zam Plante. Pohlkamp, a San Jose Sharks prospect, embraced the top defender on a perennial National Championship contender and added onto it a starring role on the Spengler Cup’s U.S. Collegiate Selects lineup. Hughes and Pohlkamp remain have also reached the Frozen Four, set to kickoff on April 9th.
All three have strong cases for being named college hockey’s top players. It was another difficult year for the selection committee after having to decide between Isaac Howard, Ryan Leonard, and Zeev Buium last year.
Even with the pedigree on the ballot this year, the talent left in the Top 10 is suprising. Quinnipiac University winger, and Calgary Flames prospect, Ethan Wyttenbach leads the nation in scoring, as a freshman, with 59 points. He had a breakout year on the top offense in the country, one that he will be returning to next season. Michigan State University teammates Charlie Stramel and Trey Augustine also had standout years serving as the veteran leaders on a newly-assembled Spartans squad. Even Boston College, and Boston Bruins, center James Hagens and top 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna had strong cases for MVP honors. The 2025-26 season, and the first year of CHL eligiblity, brought a wealth of talent to the college flight.