- Despite being drafted 169th overall by the Detroit Red Wings back in the 2023 NHL Draft, netminder Rudy Guimond has finally committed to a collegiate program for the upcoming season. Guimond announced on his Instagram that he will be attending Harvard University this fall, after playing the last two years with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. He had an outstanding season in Moncton last year, finishing with a perfect 16-0-0 record in 16 games, a .940 SV%, a 1.73 GAA, and three shutouts.
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Red Wings Rumors
Red Wings’ Jonatan Berggren Set For Watershed Season
There aren’t many holdovers from the Ken Holland era for the Detroit Red Wings. Even though the long-time General Manager is only six years removed from leading Detroit’s front office, Dylan Larkin, Michael Rasmussen, and Jonatan Berggren are the only three who have survived the transition to Steve Yzerman. Given that the former two already have concrete spots on the Red Wings’ roster moving forward, Berggren is gearing up for what could be a make-or-break season in HockeyTown.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Berggren was considered one of Detroit’s better prospects. The Red Wings selected the Uppsala, Sweden native with the 33rd overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft out of the SHL’s Skellefteå AIK program. It took a few years for Berggren to make the jump to professional hockey in his home country, but he capped it off with an impressive 12-goal, 45-point effort in 48 games for them in the 2020-21 SHL season.
Having a dire need for offense, the Red Wings brought Berggren overseas for the 2021-22 campaign, starting with their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. He rewarded Detroit for their confidence in his abilities, scoring 21 goals and 64 points in 70 games during his rookie season, finishing second in rookie scoring behind JJ Peterka, then of the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
Finishing as one of the worst offensive teams for the 2021-22 campaign, the Red Wings recalled Berggren for his NHL debut during the 2022-23 season. Unfortunately, despite a higher-than-normal shooting percentage and quality CorsiFor% at even strength, Berggren finished his rookie season with 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games with a -14 rating, averaging 13:28 of ice time per game.
Adding several forwards during the following offseason, Berggren quickly lost his spot on Detroit’s roster. He failed to make the team out of training camp and became the subject of trade rumors with the Red Wings looking to take a step toward contention. For some reason or another, no trade materialized, and Berggren finished the campaign with 24 goals and 56 points in 55 games at the AHL level, with another two goals and six points in 12 NHL contests.
The trade speculation regarding Berggren continued into the offseason before finally signing a one-year, $825K contract with the Red Wings a week before training camp. Unlike the previous campaign, he made the team out of camp and finished the 2024-25 season with 12 goals and 24 points in 75 games, averaging 12:59 of ice time per night. Although he had been known for his offense throughout his days as a prospect, Berggren was a defensive bright spot for Detroit last season, finishing with a 91.1% on-ice save percentage at even strength, one of the highest marks on the team considering his ATOI.
Still, with the Red Wings again looking to take a step toward contention, and Berggren becoming arbitration-eligible next offseason, his future in Detroit may rely on the quality of his 2025-26 campaign. Berggren acknowledged as much in a recent interview with team correspondent, Jonathan Mills, saying, “Last year was a good year for me. I feel like I got more opportunity after Todd [McLellan] became head coach, and I think I played better. This one-year deal is a prove-it-deal for me. I want to show what I can do.”
Putting more pressure on Berggren this season, Detroit has numerous forward prospects looking to make the full-time jump to the NHL level. Nate Danielson, Amadeus Lombardi, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, and Carter Mazur, to name a few, are pushing hard to get to the next level, and Berggren could be one of the first casualties.
There’s always a need for defensive-minded forwards at the NHL level. Still, there is a not-so-subtle expectation that Berggren will become more of an efficient point producer with the Red Wings. If he’s unable to do that this upcoming season, there’s a decent chance he’ll be removed from any of Detroit’s future planning.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.
John Miszuk Passes Away
Former NHL defenseman John Miszuk passed away on Sunday at age 84, the NHL Alumni Association announced.
Miszuk played parts of six NHL seasons with the Red Wings, Black Hawks, Flyers, and North Stars from 1963-70 before reemerging in the WHA in the mid-70s, playing a full-time role for the Michigan Stags/Baltimore Blades and Calgary Cowboys from 1974-77. While he sparingly played a full-time role in the NHL, he was a physically dominant two-way force in the minors, where he was a routine All-Star in the AHL, an early iteration of the Central Hockey League, and a senior/professional version of the Western Hockey League.
Miszuk’s best NHL season was the only time he played in every game in a season, as a member of Philadelphia’s inaugural roster in the 1967-68 campaign. He was 27 at the time and was selected from Chicago in the expansion draft after playing mostly a minor-league role in the preceding seasons, but he broke out for 22 points in 74 games with a plus-one rating and finished fourth on the team with 79 PIMs. He was an everyday member of a Flyers defense group that was stout out of the gate, finishing third in the league with 2.42 GA/GP in their first NHL season.
In 237 career NHL appearances, Miszuk scored seven goals with 39 assists for 46 points and a minus-two rating. He also had 72 points and a plus-seven rating in 214 WHA games, where he found more stability later in his career.
He and his family had lived in Hamilton, Ontario after his retirement, where they launched several Tim Hortons franchises. While he was raised there for a good portion of his childhood, he was born in Poland early in World War II and emigrated to Canada with his family after being forced out. He recently returned to his hometown of Naliboki, now part of Belarus, for the first time since then, the NHL Alumni Association said.
Pro Hockey Rumors sends our condolences to Miszuk’s family, friends, and loved ones.
Red Wings Activate Carter Mazur From Injured Reserve
In the rare summertime injury transaction, the Detroit Red Wings have activated center Carter Mazur off of injured reserve, per PuckPedia. Mazur sustained an upper-body injury in his NHL debut on March 6th. The injury forced a four-month stay on IR, but Mazur told NHL.com’s Jonathan Mills that he’s back to full health, and has even added 15 pounds, this summer.
Mazur grew up just over an hour outside of Detroit, and played locally for Little Caesers AAA and the U.S. National Team Development Program in youth and junior hockey. He left Michigan for two seasons in both the USHL (Tri-City) and NCAA (Denver), but returned to Grand Rapids to begin his AHL career in 2023. He quickly became a feature of the Griffins’ offense, with a combined 58 points in 86 career AHL games.
Mazur had plenty of steam headed into 2024-25- but was knocked out of the lineup by injury just three games into the AHL season. He returned in late-January and quickly got back to routine scoring, even ramping up to a point-per-game pace through 11 games between February and March. That hot hand was enough to earn Mazur his NHL debut on a Spring road trip to Utah. But bad luck struck once again, when Mazur suffer an awkward, upper-body injury just a few minutes into the game. The injury would prove season-ending, limiting Mazur to 15 points in 20 AHL games and just a couple of shifts with the Red Wings.
The 23-year-old prospect told Mills that strengthening up has become a core focus of his development plan in the months since, including a detailed nutrition and conditioning plan. Mazur said:
I was called up for a reason. My game is still there… Gaining strength was always a big part of probably why I’ve gotten hurt a lot. I’m on the smaller side, but [Griffins Strength and Conditioning Coordinator] Marcus [Kinney] and [Griffins Physical Therapist] Zack Harvey put me in a good spot heading into the summer.
Some added bulk, and emphasized persistence, could take Mazur to new heights in the 2025-26 season. He’s found his way into a top-six role and strong scoring numbers at every level he’s played at – often on the back of gritty and fearless forechecking. He’ll be a candidate to shape the Griffins’ top-line to start the season, but could win out a depth roster spot, or top call-up consideration, with a strong training camp.
Red Wings Might Not Be Done With Their Back End This Summer
- Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now speculates that the Red Wings might not be done with moves on the back end this summer. They added Jacob Bernard-Docker and re-signed William Lagesson but with the tendency to carry eight defensemen under GM Steve Yzerman, a bit more depth would be useful so that they don’t necessarily have to bring up a youngster from AHL Grand Rapids at the first sign of injury. Alternatively, they could stand to benefit from trying to upgrade their current top six, a group that largely struggled last season and has pretty much been untouched over the offseason.
Michal Svrcek Expected To Remain In The SHL
At least one prospect from the Detroit Red Wings’ 2025 draft class has decided where he will play next season. According to a report from Mattias Persson of Hockey News (Sweden), forward Michal Svrcek will remain with the SHL’s Brynäs IF for another year.
For clarification, although there was a non-zero chance he’d make Detroit’s roster next season, there was no expectation he was going to. The OHL’s Windsor Spitfires had drafted Svrcek in the 2025 OHL Import Draft, which would have only required Red Wings’ staff to cross the Ambassador Bridge to watch him play.
The Red Wings selected Svrcek with the 119th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft after spending a large chunk of the season with Brynäs IF J20 of the J20 Nationell. He performed well for his age group, scoring 14 goals and 30 points in 30 games, with a +9 rating. Despite the team not advancing very far in the postseason, the Zilina, Slovakia native performed well, scoring two goals and adding four points in three postseason contests.
Svrcek spent a brief period with Brynäs IF’s professional team, scoring one goal and three points in 17 games, with a -1 rating. His lack of size was noticeable, but he sustained his high motor and remained a nuisance against the opposing team’s defense.
Detroit is making a gamble that Svrcek will be better served in the SHL, which is widely regarded as the second-best league outside of North America. There will likely be some growing pains, but it’ll be a shorter step to the NHL if he continues his development. In an interview on the Slovak television channel TVNoviny, Svrcek was quoted, saying, “This week I agreed with my agent and Detroit’s management that I will stay in Brynäs for another season, where I will try to start the season in the A-team.”
Sebastian Cossa May Benefit From More Time in AHL
- While Detroit Red Wings’ goaltender Sebastian Cossa, 22, may be ready for a spot on the opening night roster, he might be best served starting the season in the AHL, where he can get consistent playing time, suggests The Athletic’s Max Bultman. Selected 15th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, Cossa has performed well over two full seasons with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. He’s compiled a 43-24-14 record, recorded a save percentage at or north of .910 in both years, and registered three shutouts. Cossa also appeared in his first NHL game last season, recording the win while stopping 12 of 14 shots. And while Cossa has the pedigree and AHL experience to warrant a full-time opportunity in Detroit, the Red Wings traded for presumable starter John Gibson and have veteran Cam Talbot signed for one more year. As Bultman notes, the plan may be for Talbot to back up Gibson this upcoming season, with Cossa stepping into that role in 2026–27, just as Gibson’s contract is set to expire as well.
Red Wings Sign First-Rounder Carter Bear
The Red Wings have officially signed No. 13 overall pick Carter Bear to his first NHL contract, the team confirmed today in an announcement on X. It’s a three-year entry-level deal.
Bear, a relatively early birthday for the class in November 2006, is coming off his second full season of major junior hockey with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. The Winnipeg native posted 40 goals, 42 assists, 82 points, and a +33 rating in 56 outings to lead the team in scoring. He served as an alternate captain and was named to the WHL’s Western Conference Second All-Star Team at season’s end.
The 6’0″ left winger put up those numbers before a partial Achilles tear ended his season in March. Since he’s still rehabbing from that, it’s unclear whether he’ll be available for training camp – although Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects reported in May that Bear’s recovery was ahead of schedule and he could be ready for the World Junior Summer Showcase for Canada later this month.
While there’s likely room for fluctuation in his performance bonuses, Bear presumably signed a maximum-base salary entry-level deal that gives him a cap hit of $975K out of the gate. That cap impact could be reduced if he’s subject to an entry-level slide in 2025-26 by playing in fewer than 10 NHL games since his signing bonus for this season will be paid out regardless.
Bear is the 10th player from this year’s draft class to sign his ELC and the eighth first-rounder to do so.
Red Wings Hire Michael Leighton As Goaltending Coach
Former NHL netminder is joining Todd McLellan’s staff in Detroit and will serve as the Red Wings’ goaltending coach, according to a press release from the team.
It’s Leighton’s first NHL job and just his second coaching job. The 44-year-old ended his playing career in 2019 before serving as the goalie coach for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires from February 2022 through the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
He succeeds Alex Westlund, whom general manager Steve Yzerman said had been relieved of his duties in April. Westlund was Detroit’s goalie coach for the last three seasons and also held the role for the United States at the 2024 World Championship. Detroit had the only documented goalie coach vacancy in the league, so it’s unlikely he’ll find another NHL job for this season.
Leighton joins McLellan’s staff ahead of his first full season behind Detroit’s bench as head coach. He serves alongside assistants Alex Tanguay and Trent Yawney and video coordinator Jeff Weintraub.
The Ontario native was a No. 3 option for most of his NHL/AHL career but famously stepped into playoff action for the Flyers in 2010, leading them to the Stanley Cup Final. He surrendered the championship-winning goal to Patrick Kane, with whom he’ll now be in the same organization. The Ontario native posted a 37-43-14 record, four shutouts, a 2.97 GAA, and a .900 SV% in 110 NHL regular-season games for the Blackhawks, Predators, Flyers, and Hurricanes from 2002 to 2017.
Pradel Unsure Of Where He'll Play Next Season
- Red Wings prospect Michal Pradel is undecided about where he’ll play next season, notes Dennik Sport’s Matej Derak (Twitter link). The goaltender was the 75th pick in last month’s draft and can choose between returning to USHL Tri-City or moving on to WHL Regina. Pradel had a 2.41 GAA and a .899 SV% in 14 games with Tri-City after joining them in January and at this point, college hockey is not an option as he still has a year of high school remaining.