The Red Wings prospects opened their tournament slate with a finish that had to be earned the hard way. Detroit erased a late deficit, pushed the game to overtime and then won it in the shootout, with Kienan Draper delivering the decisive goal.
Dan Watson said Draper had been calling his shot before stepping up.
“He called his shot. He told us, ‘I’ve got the next one, guys.
And he delivered. So good for him.’
Said Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson.”
Detroit’s young group spent much of the night looking composed, but the Stars prospects flipped the momentum with back-to-back second-period goals to grab a 3-1 lead. The comeback started in the third, when Noah Dower-Nilsson and Theo Rochette each scored to pull the Red Wings back even.
Trey Augustine made his first start in net for the Red Wings prospects and settled in after the second period. He bounced back from that stretch and was perfect in the shootout, giving Detroit the edge.
Augustine is one of the more intriguing names in Grand Rapids this year as he begins his first full pro season after a standout career at Michigan State University.
Carter Bear also made a strong impression in the prospect pool. Detroit’s 2025 first-round pick fired 10 shots on goal and generated several dangerous looks, but finished with only an assist. The former Everett Silvertips captain continues to look like a player ready to turn pro, with his next step depending on how the rest of training camp unfolds.
Elsewhere, former Anaheim Ducks center Chris Kreider is now with the Montreal Canadiens after terminating his contract with Anaheim. That move gave Montreal a veteran 20-goal scorer and helped settle the Atlantic Division’s offseason winners-and-losers conversation, at least from the Canadiens’ side.
In Other News...
Red Wings Prospects Just Put Early Roster Pressure On Detroit
The annual prospect tournament gave the Red Wings a first look at a few names that could eventually squeeze into the picture in Detroit, and there was plenty to like in the showing against Dallas. Carter Bear was active throughout the game, Trey Augustine looked sharp in goal, and the young group left with a shootout win that provided an encouraging start for the organizations next wave.
Nate Danielson was back on the ice after a season-ending injury and looked comfortable skating alongside Bear, which is the sort of early chemistry the Red Wings will keep watching closely. For a club trying to sort out who might be ready sooner rather than later, performances like this do not settle anything, but they do make the roster conversation a little more interesting. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Ex-Player Watch Just Took A Tough Turn Abroad
Several former Red Wings are already finding work overseas as NHL training camps open, a reminder of how quickly the offseason can turn for players on the outside of the league. Dmytro Timashov has landed with HK Nitra in the Slovak League, while Jacob de la Rose is reportedly set to extend his stay with HC Fribourg-Gottron. Elsewhere, former Grand Rapids Griffin Radek Simek and Jakub Rychlovsky have become important pieces for Liberec in the Czech Extraliga, giving Detroit fans a few familiar names to track from afar.
The sharper concern, though, has come with Dominik Kubalik, who left a preseason game for EV Zug in the Swiss National League after a lower-body injury. For a player trying to keep momentum going abroad, any setback this early can complicate everything from rhythm to readiness, and it adds another uneasy note to a group of ex-Red Wings whose seasons are already trending in very different directions. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Need To See If Danielson Can Fill A Huge Void
Nate Danielsons return to game action offered the Red Wings a useful early look at a prospect they hope can eventually help solve one of their more familiar roster problems. Detroit needs more offensive production down the middle, and Danielson entered the NHL Rookie Tournament carrying the added weight of a season interrupted by a hip injury that kept him out for much of the year.
He made his first competitive appearance since last seasons injury-affected stretch and came away with an assist while getting pucks to the net throughout the weekend. For a player the organization is trying to gauge in the context of that center-ice void, the tournament was less about the box score than about whether Danielson can keep building toward the kind of role the Red Wings need him to fill. [Read more 🡒]