Detroit Red Wings

Patrick Kane said that there is mutual interest between him and the Detroit Red Wings ahead of NHL free agency, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.

The 36-year-old Kane posted 21 goals and 38 assists for 59 points in 2024-25, his second season with Detroit.

Last offseason, Kane signed a one-year, $4 million contract extension to remain in Detroit. He had previously inked a one-year, $2.75 million deal with Detroit in November 2023 after recovering from hip resurfacing surgery in June of that year.

The three-time Stanley Cup winner and nine-time All-Star has played 18 NHL seasons, mostly with the Chicago Blackhawks. He spent 15-plus years in the Windy City before being traded to the New York Rangers during the 2022-23 campaign. He's now spent two years with Detroit, with the possibility of more time on the Red Wings.

For his career, Kane has posted 1,343 points (492 goals, 851 assists) while adding 53 goals and 85 assists for 138 playoff points.

Given his production since coming back from injury, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Kane and Detroit reach a deal here, although it's also possible another team makes a good offer, given his 2024-25 success.

The Detroit Red Wings announced a coaching change on Thursday, with Todd McLellan replacing Derek Lalonde as their head coach.

The move comes with the Red Wings sitting on 30 points, the second-fewest in the Eastern Conference, through 34 games. They're on pace to finish much worse than last year, when they narrowly missed out on the playoffs.

Detroit collected 91 points in 2023-24 and lost the final wild-card spot through a tiebreaker with the Washington Capitals.

Nobody was putting the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup conversation entering the year, but Patrick Kane returned and Vladimir Tarasenko arrived on a two-year deal. Those are the kinds of moves you make when you want to end an eight-year postseason drought.

Instead, Detroit is anchored near the bottom of the standings. The team is averaging 2.56 goals per game while ranking 25th in goals-against average at 3.27. Lalonde's ouster coincides with a particularly tough stretch defensively. The Red Wings have allowed four or more goals in five of their last seven games.

The fans made their voices heard midway through Monday's 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues as they booed the team inside Little Caesars Arena.

Swapping out the coaches is both warranted with the Red Wings' performances and reflects the level of pressure on general manager Steve Yzerman. The franchise legend came aboard in 2019 and has little progress to show since then.

Whether McLellan arrests Detroit's slide could make or break Yzerman's tenure.

This is the fourth stop of McLellan's coaching career. He got off to a roaring start as the San Jose Sharks made the playoffs in each of his first six years, including back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals in 2010 and 2011.

However, McLellan's teams have tasted the postseason in just three of his last 10 years on the bench.

Calder Trophy-winning defenseman Moritz Seider is set to anchor the Detroit Red Wings' blue line for the next seven seasons.

The Red Wings signed Seider to a seven-year, $8.55 million deal that will keep him in Detroit through his age-30 season in 2030-31.

The 23-year-old was previously a restricted free agent.

Seider has played 246 straight games since his NHL and Red Wings debut in 2021. He recorded nine goals and 33 assists for 42 points while averaging over 22 minutes of ice time in 82 games last season.

The blueliner previously became the first Red Wings player since Roger Crozier in 1965 to win the Calder after leading all rookies with 43 assists during this 2021-22 campaign.

His shutdown defense was a key reason Detroit came within one point of making the playoffs last spring, which would have marked the team's first postseason berth in eight seasons.

Now that Seider is locked in for the long term, the Red Wings' focus will turn toward settling on a defensive partner to join him on the top pairing this fall.

Seider spent the majority of last season skating alongside Jake Walman, who was traded to the San Jose Sharks in June.

Veteran blueliner Ben Chiarot, who has played alongside Seider for stretches of both his seasons in Detroit, is a likely option. Chiarot finished out the 2023-24 campaign with Seider when Walman was injured.

The Chiarot-Seider pairing has been separated in the past after struggling to limit high-danger chances against, however, so the Red Wings could also test out other options including 21-year-old Simon Edvinsson on the first pairing.

Edvinsson, the 2021 No. 6 pick, will need to earn a roster spot after being limited to 25 appearances through his first two NHL seasons. The 6-foot-6 defender would add even more size and shot-blocking potential to a pairing already dominated by 6-foot-4 Seider, and Seider told reporters in April he hopes to someday get the chance to play with Edvinsson.

The Red Wings could start testing out these pairing options during training camp, which began Thursday in Traverse City, Michigan.

Seider was not present for the first day of camp, which captain Dylan Larkin told reporters was "strange" to see. Now that he is set to return to the ice, the Red Wings can start finalizing the defensive depth chart ahead of next Wednesday's preseason opener on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko is on the move once again.

Tarasenko signed a two-year, $4.75 million AAV contract with the Detroit Red Wings after helping the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup.

Acquired in a midseason trade by the Panthers, Tarasenko finished out the regular season with 14 points in 19 games before becoming a key depth piece in the Panthers' playoff run.

He went on to score the conference finals-winning goal in Game 6 against the New York Rangers to send the Panthers to the Final.

Tarasenko, a 2010 first-round pick by the St. Louis Blues, was in the middle of his 11th season in Missouri when he was traded to the New York Rangers for their 2023 playoff push.

He signed a one-year deal with the Ottawa Senators prior to the 2023-24 season, then agreed to waive his no-trade clause in order to finish out the campaign with the Florida Panthers.

Tarasenko's shooting volume has decreased from his days as a consistent 30-goal scorer in St. Louis, but he was able to contribute offense on the Panthers' third line on the team's way to the Cup.

He could similarly bolster the Red Wings' forward depth as he looks to provide a veteran presence on a team led by young stars like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.

Patrick Kane, who made his successful return from major offseason surgery with the 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings, is returning to the Motor City.

The winger agreed to a one-year contract to return to the Red Wings in free agency, the team announced Saturday. The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported the deal is worth $4 million and Kane can earn an additional $2.5 million in bonuses.

Kane expressed his excitement to return to Detroit after the deal was announced:

After missing the first several months of last season while recovering from June hip resurfacing surgery, Kane signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings in November before making his Dec. 7 return to the NHL.

He went on to record 20 goals and 27 assists for 47 points in 50 games to help Detroit come within one point of making the playoffs.

Despite his late start to the season, Kane also led the Red Wings with seven game-winning goals.

That was enough to prove to Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings that Kane remains a top-six winger despite his surgically repaired hip.

Kane first established himself as a star during his 2007-08 Calder Trophy campaign with the Chicago Blackhawks.

He played 15 full seasons with the Blackhawks and helped lead the team to three Stanley Cup wins in six years.

The tanking Blackhawks traded Kane to the New York Rangers for their 2023 playoff push. Kane underwent surgery the following summer.

He may no longer be an Art Ross contender, but Kane proved in his return with the Red Wings that his stickhandling and passing abilities make him a scoring threat against the best teams in the league.

Kane spent most of his time in Detroit playing alongside Dylan Larkin and former Blackhawks teammate Alex DeBrincat. His chemistry with DeBrincat will help make the Red Wings a contender as the team looks to make its first playoff appearance in nine seasons next spring.

The Detroit Red Wings are "having conversations" with Patrick Kane's agent before the veteran winger hits unrestricted free agency Monday, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported.

Kane signed a one-year, $2.75 million contract with the Red Wings before making his successful comeback from hip resurfacing surgery in December.

He recorded 20 goals and 27 assists in 50 games as the Red Wings came within one point of making the playoffs.

Kane spent the 2023-24 season playing with Alex DeBrincat, who also skated alongside him for five seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. The chemistry between the two linemates helped Kane record his third straight 20-goal season.

DeBrincat is locked in with his hometown team through 2027. For Kane, who is just the third player in NHL history to return to the league after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery, having a consistent linemate he already knows he clicks with could be a major draw in returning to Detroit.

But Kane is heading into his age-36 campaign, and even after his winter return, he missed time last season with an injury he said was unrelated to his hip surgery.

Age and injury concerns could lead the Red Wings to prioritize younger free-agent candidates like Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, who are both restricted free agents this offseason, when budgeting contracts this offseason.

Kane, who established himself as one of the best American scorers in NHL history during his 15 full seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, was traded from the tanking Hawks to join the New York Rangers for their 2023 playoff push before signing in Detroit.

He ranks fourth among all active NHL players with 1,284 career points in 1,230 regular-season games. Although no longer an Art Ross contender, he has remained a consistent producer, scoring fewer than 20 goals just once in 17 NHL seasons.

If Detroit decides to focus on other candidates in free agency, a decision general manager Steve Yzerman said Tuesday "comes down to term and dollar," it is likely Kane will receive short-term offers from other teams looking for veteran offensive depth.

The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are headed outdoors.

The Blue Jackets will host the Red Wings in a Stadium Series matchup at Ohio Stadium, home of the Ohio State football team, on March 1, 2025, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced Saturday.

In a way, the matchup brings a longstanding college football rivalry to the ice with the team from Ohio and the franchise from Michigan going head-to-head.

Of course, in the Michigan versus Ohio State college football rivalry, the Wolverines have dominated the Buckeyes of late, winning their last three matchups dating back to the 2021 season.

Will the Red Wings be able to keep the Michigan tradition going with a win over the Blue Jackets?

The game comes at somewhat of an awkward time for both franchises.

The Blue Jackets, which sit eighth in the Metropolitan Division with a 16-26-10 record, are on pace to miss the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The Red Wings, which are fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 27-20-6 record, haven't made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season and are currently fighting for a postseason spot.

That said, both franchises boast some solid star-level talent that should make for an exciting matchup. Columbus has a lineup that includes Johnny Gaudreau, Zach Werenski and Adam Fantili, and Detroit has a roster that features Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Moritz Seider.

The 2025 Stadium Series marks the first-ever outdoor game for the Blue Jackets. They have hosted major NHL events, such as the 2007 draft and the 2015 All-Star Game, at Nationwide Arena, but haven't participated in an outdoor game.

The only other NHL franchises to have not played an outdoor matchup are the Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers.

The Blue Jackets had been clamoring for an outdoor game over the last several years, but Ohio Stadium previously wasn't an option because the university said it couldn't host an outdoor matchup deep into the winter months due to the stadium not being winterized and water being shut off to the building after the final football game of each season, per The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

However, Ohio State "recently committed to spending $600,000 to upgrade and improve the heating system in the building, and the NHL indicated that those changes would be sufficient for them," Portzline added.

The matchup is a Stadium Series game and not the Jan. 1 Winter Classic because the university did not want a major event on campus to distract from the end of the football season, per Portzline.

For the Red Wings, the matchup will mark the fifth time they've played outdoors. Detroit played in the 2009 and 2014 Winter Classics, the 2016 Stadium Series and the 2017 Centennial Classic.