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The calendar has flipped to September, meaning that the Detroit Red Wings are officially less than three weeks away from the start of Training Camp, which opens at the BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena on Sept. 17.
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As of now, the Red Wings remain without a general manager following the leadership transition announced in mid-July, while captain Dylan Larkin remains with the organization despite his trade request, which he reportedly has not had a change of heart about.
The Red Wings, who lost 57 points of offense upon the departure of forward Patrick Kane, did sign UFA forward Viktor Arvidsson, who tallied 54 points (25G, 27A) with the divisional rival Boston Bruins last season.
But amid their front-office void, the Red Wings have missed an opportunity to add some badly needed secondary scoring to their lineup.
UFA forward Eeli Tolvanen has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the New York Rangers, removing another name from the free-agent market whom the Red Wings could have pursued to supplement their offense.
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Tolvanen, who has spent the last several seasons with the Seattle Kraken, now joins a Rangers team that was shut out on home ice a whopping seven times last season. He’s just one season removed from a career-high 23 goals scored in 2024-25.
While his production dipped to just 12 goals in 2025-26, signing Tolvanen would have represented a low-risk, high-reward proposition for Detroit.
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According to a report earlier this offseason from NHL insider David Pagnotta, the Red Wings were interested in the Finnish forward, although it wasn’t specified whether that interest was before or after Steve Yzerman vacated his role as general manager on July 15.
The Red Wings, who did not utilize the NHL’s buyout window earlier in the summer, will have to hope that players like Michael Rasmussen, J.T. Compher, and Mason Appleton can provide more consistent production than they did last season.
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