"Super Excited" Jacob Bernard-Docker Can't Wait To Begin With Red Wings

It was an active offseason for Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, who not only traded the disappointing Vladimir Tarasenko and his $4.75 million cap hit to the Minnesota Wild but also signed several new players. 

In addition to the free agent signings of James van Riemsdyk, Mason Appleton and Ian Mitchell, along with the acquisition via trade of John Gibson, the Red Wings also signed defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. 

UPDATE: The #RedWings have signed Jacob Bernard-Docker to a one-year contract with an AAV of $875,000. pic.twitter.com/SrFmZhlrxk

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 1, 2025

Bernard-Docker, who split last season between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres, feels that the Red Wings are the perfect fit for himself as a team on the rise.

“There’s a lot of potential there, and [Detroit] is a team on the right trajectory,” Bernard-Docker said last month per the Red Wings' official website. “I’m super excited to go there, show what I got and hopefully be a contributor.”

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Originally a first round selection of the Ottawa Senators in the 2018 NHL Draft, Bernard-Docker would play the first several seasons of his career in the Canadian capital city before being dealt this past March to the Buffalo Sabres along with Josh Norris in exchange for Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert, and a 2026 second-round pick.

Having played for both teams, who are in the Atlantic Division along with the Red Wings, Bernard-Docker seems similarities between all three clubs. 

"In a way it's a similar group to where I was in Ottawa, with a real good young core,” Bernard-Docker said. “Buffalo had a real good core. [Detroit is] on that edge of breaking out. There’s a lot of real good players on the team.”

In addition to his time in the NHL, Bernard-Docker has also represented Canada on the international stage, winning a gold medal in the 2021 IHF World Junior Championship. 

He arrives in Detroit with 144 games of NHL experience, and already can see himself contributing to Detroit's penalty killing, which was dangerously close to being ranked the worst in NHL history at various points last season. 

"That's one area where I was really looking to develop and show how I played in the minors and maybe I haven't shown as much as I'd like to in the NHL yet," Bernard-Docker said. "It's an area that I think is a strong part of my game. I'm willing to block shots and I'm pretty good on my stick.”

The Red Wings will open Training Camp in Traverse City, Mich. on September 18, which will be followed by their first exhibition matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks on September 23. 

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