Alex DeBrincat’s new seven-year extension with the Detroit Red Wings gave Hockeytown plenty to smile about this week, but it also put him in some rare company. Last season’s 41-goal scorer is now one of just four Red Wings players over the past 20 years to hit the 40-goal mark in a season.
That list is a short one: DeBrincat, Marian Hossa, Henrik Zetterberg and Brendan Shanahan. And as it turns out, all four have had eventful weeks.
Hossa is the name Red Wings fans will always remember with a twist of frustration. Back in 2009, after a 40-goal season and a run that helped Detroit reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, he left as a UFA.
He signed a 12-year, $63.3-million deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, a move that didn’t sit well in Detroit. Fans never really let it go, booing him every time he returned to Joe Louis Arena.
Now retired and having won three Stanley Cups with Chicago, Hossa is still trying to build something bigger - just in a very different arena. According to Forbes Magazine, the 41st-richest Slovak in the world runs a frozen potato pie business in Slovakia that is popular, even if it is not yet especially profitable. Hossa says business is a different kind of challenge than scoring goals in the NHL.
“It’s not easy,” Hossa told Czech website iSport. “Today I might have made a different decision.
“I believe it will get better. One has to survive difficult things in order to move forward.”
Zetterberg’s big moment comes Saturday, when his Swedish club Timra retires his No. 20 and raises it to the rafters. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the same season the Red Wings captured their most recent Stanley Cup in 2007-08, finishing with 43 goals that year. The man who took over as Red Wings captain from Nicklas Lidstrom in 2012 said the ceremony has him a little uneasy.
“Of course it’s a little nerve-wracking,” Zetterberg told Swedish website Sportbladet. “That’s how it is, and I’m maybe not made for standing in front of people and talking. There might be a tear.”
Zetterberg is now a sports advisor for Timra, the club that also employs top Red Wings prospect Eddie Genborg. Former Detroit teammates Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen are expected to be there for the retirement ceremony.
Shanahan, meanwhile, has also found himself back in the hockey world. On Thursday, he was named Kilmer Sports Ventures’ new strategic adviser on the Professional Women’s Hockey League. Kilmer is run by former Maple Leafs co-owner Larry Tanenbaum, who also overlapped with Shanahan during his 11 years as president and alternate governor of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kilmer Sports Ventures became a PWHL capital partner earlier this year, and the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo are also under the company’s umbrella.
In Other News...
Red Wings Prospect Update Puts Two Young Names In The Spotlight
Max Plantes season has hit a brief snag at a time when Detroit has every reason to keep close tabs on its prospects. The reigning Hobey Baker winner and Red Wings prospect is out with an upper-body injury, leaving his status in the week-to-week range while the organization waits for word on when he can get back on the ice.
There was still some good news in the Plante family pipeline, though, as younger brother Victor Plante, another Detroit 2026 draft pick, had a goal and two assists in Minnesota-Duluths 7-1 win over Minnesota, with older brother Zam adding two assists of his own for the Bulldogs. Elsewhere in the system, prospect Adam Levac is serving a four-game suspension in the Ontario Hockey League after a match penalty, another reminder that the Red Wings developmental watch list can change quickly from week to week. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Enter Sharks Matchup With One Lineup Issue Getting Urgent
The Red Wings are heading into their home meeting with the San Jose Sharks with the kind of lineup decision that can linger over a young season. Detroit has already had to juggle injuries and performance questions while sorting through its first seven games, and the coaching staff is still weighing how to keep the roster both competitive now and flexible later. Thats where the conversation around Carter Mazur has started to matter, because his usage has been limited and the team cannot treat every move as a simple paper transaction.
Mazur has appeared in only three of Detroits first seven games, which has added a little urgency to a decision the Red Wings would rather not rush. With the Sharks coming to town, the matchup offers another opportunity to evaluate the bottom of the lineup and the ripple effects of any change, especially when roster management is part of the calculus. For a team still trying to settle into the season, this is the kind of issue that can shape more than one night on the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Lucas Raymond Is Facing An Early Red Wings Question Again
Lucas Raymond is still searching for his first goal of the season as the Red Wings turn from a win over the Philadelphia Flyers to a home date with the San Jose Sharks, and the early-season dry spell has become one of the quieter storylines hanging over Detroits strong start. For a player who has been central to what the Red Wings want to do offensively, the lack of a breakthrough has naturally drawn attention, even if the mood around him has not turned bleak.
Raymond has kept the right posture publicly, and both Alex DeBrincat and Todd McLellan have backed up the idea that the offense will come. McLellans read is that the winger is frustrated more than anything else, but still confident enough to shake it off, which is usually the kind of combination a team would rather see than panic this early in the year. The question now is less about whether Raymond will finish chances and more about when the first one finally opens the door. [Read more 🡒]