In the opening portion of our review of the top Red Wings legends who initially began their NHL careers with other clubs, Detroit fans got the chance to reminisce about the contributions that household names like Brendan Shanahan, Igor Larionov, Kris Draper and Larry Murphy made to multiple Stanley Cup runs. 

All four players combined to win the Stanley Cup 12 times while wearing the Winged Wheel, and three of four of them have since been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. 

We'll continue our glimpse at the past by looking at some iconic names that arrived in the Motor City in that unforgettable summer of 2001 that was part of the construction of arguably the greatest NHL roster ever assembled.

Dominik Hasek

Arguably the best goaltender in NHL history, Hasek had earned the well-deserved nickname of "The Dominator" after nine seasons with the Buffalo Sabres which included winning the Hart Trophy in 1997 and 1998 as NHL MVP, and six Vezina Trophy wins as the NHL's top goalie.

But not many people remember that Hasek actually got his start in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, who drafted him with the 199th pick in 1983. Eventually the odd-man out of Chicago, who wanted to move forward with the tandem of Ed Belfour and Jimmy Waite, Hasek was traded to the Sabres in 1993 for Stéphane Beauregard and future considerations.

The deal is regarded as one of the most one-sided in NHL history considering the impact that Hasek made on the Sabres and the sport itself as a whole. 

Hasek won the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in his first season with the club, and then decided to retire. However, Hasek decided to return to Detroit before the start of the 2003-04 season, creating an extremely awkward situation with Curtis Joseph (signed to replace Hasek in 2002) and Manny Legace. 

Eventually, Hasek decided he was unable to play in February of 2004 and eventually later played a season for the Ottawa Senators in 2005-06 before ultimately coming back to the Red Wings in 2006 as a free agent. After two more season with the Red Wings that included another Stanley Cup as the backup to Chris Osgood in 2008, Hasek retired from the NHL for good. 

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first season of eligibilty. 

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Luc Robitaille

A longtime icon with the Los Angeles Kings, Robitaille was selected 171st overall in the 1984 NHL Draft and later earned the Calder Trophy after scoring 45 goals as a rookie in the 1986-87 NHL season. 

Robitaille played the first eight seasons of his career with the Kings, and also had stints with the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins before coming back to Los Angeles in 1997.

Robitaille helped the No. 7 ranked Kings upset the Red Wings in six games in the opening round of the 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but chose to sign with the Red Wings the day after they acquired Hasek from Buffalo.

After scoring 30 goals for the Red Wings in the 2001-02 season, Robitaille finally got his name on the Stanley Cup after Detroit's victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. 

Robitaille struggled heavily the following season, scoring only 11 goals and seeing his ice time greatly reduced under coach Dave Lewis. He would then return to the Kings for a third time in his career and played two more seasons before retiring in 2006, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibilty. 

Brett Hull 

Most assumed that the Red Wings were finished for the offseason after acquiring both Hasek and Hull, but they surprised many by snagging Hull in August 2001 after Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom all unanimously agreed to defer salary to accomadate Hull. 

Hull began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames, who drafted him 117th overall in 1984. His tenure with Calgary ended in 1988 when he was traded with Steve Bozek to the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Rob Ramage and goaltender Rick Wamsley. 

Hull instantly became one of the best goal scorers in the NHL with St. Louis. In his first full six seasons with the Blues, Hull enjoyed campaigns of scoring 41, 72, 86, 70, 54, and 57 goals, respectively. 

Hull and the Blues were defeated three straight postseasons in a row by the Red Wings (1996, 1997, 1998), and later signed with the Dallas Stars in 1998. Winning the Stanley Cup in his first season in Dallas, Hull scored perhaps the most controversial goal in NHL history against his future teammate in Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dominik Hask.

The Stars chose not to re-sign Hull in the summer of 2001, and while he was reportedly leaning toward signing with the Montreal Canadiens, he instantly changed his mind when he got a call from Red Wings GM Ken Holland. 

Hull scored a total of 67 goals in his first two combined seasons with the Red Wings, which included the Stanley Cup victory of 2002. 

After a final full NHL season with the Red Wings in 2003-04 in which he scored 25 goals, Hull would sign with the Phoenix Coyotes for the start of the 2005-06 season, but promptly retired after only a handful of games. 

Like Hasek and Robitaille, Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. 

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The Los Angeles Kings were hoping they could land a defender who had been involved in trade rumors for weeks, but unfortunately, he re-signed with the Buffalo Sabres, the team announced on Monday (Jul. 14).

Bowen Byram, a 24-year-old defender, scored seven goals and added 31 assists for 38 points through 82 games with the Sabres last season. Throughout his career, he has scored 33 goals and added 77 assists for 110 points through 246 games, which comes out to a 0.45 points-per-game average.

The Kings will now have to pivot elsewhere, as it seems they still would like to bolster their blue line heading into the 2025-26 season, but that's another target off the board now.

Rumor: Former Ontario Reign Defender Has Interest From KHL's Avangard OmskA former defender who played for the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, reportedly has interest from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Former LA Kings Third-Round Pick Signs In SwitzerlandA former forward for the Los Angeles Kings

Kings Division Rival Trades Away Promising GoaltenderThe Los Angeles Kings haven't been overly active recently, but their division rivals, the Vancouver Canucks, made a surprising trade, moving out young goaltender Arturs Silovs to the Pittsburgh

If you're a fan of keeping tabs on Pittsburgh Penguins' prospects, you may want to circle Sept. 11-15 on your calendar.

On Monday, those four days in mid-September were announced as the official dates for the annual Prospects Challenge - hosted by the Buffalo Sabres - and the Penguins will, once again, be a participant. The Sabres, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New Jersey Devils will also showcase their prospects at the challenge.

At last season's Prospects Challenge, the Penguins walked away as the only team with a 3-0 record. They will look to do the same this year as they take on the Bruins on Sept. 12, the Blue Jackets on Sept. 14, and the Sabres on Sept. 15. 

The 2025 Prospects Challenge is set for September 11-15! 🏒

Tickets and details → https://t.co/MKssHcqVg7pic.twitter.com/yJUZCyLVuk

— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) July 14, 2025

Last year, the Penguins sent some of their top prospects - including Rutger McGroarty, Tristan Broz, Owen Pickering, and Harrison Brunicke - to the challenge, and they figure to do the same thing this season. While those players will likely all return, there will probably be several new faces.

2025 first-round picks Ben Kindel, Bill Zonnon, and Will Horcoff - among all 13 other 2025 draftees - all participated for the first time in a Penguins' uniform at development camp July 3-7. Several of them figure to feature at the Prospects Challenge as well.

Full rosters will be announced at a later date. The full schedule for the Prospects Challenge can be found here.

5 Observations From Penguins’ Prospect Development CampAfter five days, development camp for the

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Feature image credit: Charles LeClaire - Imagn Images  

The Detroit Red Wings appropriately felt slighted by the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery when they somehow fell back multiple spots and ultimately landed the No. 4 pick despite having posted the worst record of any team since the expansion Atlanta Thrashers of 1999-2000. .

The consensus No. 1 overall selection in that season's Draft was forward Alexis Lafreniere, a star with Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

The visions that danced in the heads of Red Wings fans everywhere of Lafreniere donning the Winged Wheel were dashed when Detroit not only didn't get the first overall pick, but had to watch the New York Rangers, a playoff team, select him. 

The Red Wings then turned to their Plan B and selected forward Lucas Raymond, who was playing in the Swedish Hockey League with Frölunda HC. And by all reasonable measurements, Detroit's rotten Draft Lottery Luck in 2020 turned out to be a blessing in disguise. 

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Raymond has become one of the best young players in the NHL after bursting onto the scene as a rookie, along with Moritz Seider, in the 2021-22 season.

He scored 23 goals with 34 assists in his rookie season, and while he experienced a dip in production known as the dreaded "sophomore slump" that multiple players endure, he roared back immediately. 

Raymond caught fire in the second half of the 2023-24 season, finishing with 31 goals and 41 assists for a then career-high 72 points. None were bigger than his pair of goals in Detroit's home finale against the Montreal Canadiens to tie the score late in regulation and then give the Red Wings the overtime victory, keeping their postseason hopes alive. 

LUCAS RAYMOND, TWICE IS SO NICE! 🚨🚨

After netting the tying goal, Lucas Raymond secures a MASSIVE two points for the @DetroitRedWings with the @Energizer overtime winner to keep them in the #StanleyCup Playoffs Wild Card race! pic.twitter.com/mFWrq5YdnZ

— NHL (@NHL) April 16, 2024

His output in the recently-completed 2024-25 NHL season was even higher, scoring 27 goals with 53 assists to set a new career-high in points with 80.

He was the highest-scoring player in the NHL aged 23 or younger, and he also became the first Swedish-born player aged 23 or younger to reach 80 points since Nicklas Bäckström in 2009-10 with the Washington Capitals. 

Additionally, Raymond's 254 career points are 61 higher than the 193 career points for Lafreniere, and are the second-most by any active NHL player aged 23 or younger, behind only Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stützle. 

The Red Wings recognized the special talent that they had on their hands when Raymond was extended for eight years last offseason, and he's in Hockeytown for the long haul. 

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It won’t take long for new Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan to face his old team. 

The NHL announced on Monday afternoon that the Blueshirts will play host to the Penguins on  Oct. 7 at 8:00 p.m. as part of an Opening Night tripleheader.

This will be Sullivan’s first time facing off with Pittsburgh since the 2013-14 season. 

The veteran headman spent the past 10 years behind the bench with the club, helping them reach the postseason eight times including a pair of Stanley Cup victories. 

He’ll now look to carry that success over to the Big Apple, where the Blueshirts are coming off an extremely disappointing 2024-25 campaign. 

This meeting will also be a homecoming for Sullivan’s replacement Dan Muse, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant on Peter Laviolette’s coaching staff. 

Florida will host the Blackhawks (5:00 p.m.) and the Kings will host the Av’s (10:30 p.m.) to round out the slate. 

The rest of the NHL schedule is set to be released on Wednesday afternoon.

The Buffalo Sabres are a team that's still a ways off from being a true Stanley Cup playoff frontrunner. However, in The Hockey News' 2025 Future Watch edition, writer Bill Hoppe broke down the talent that's in the Sabres' system. Below, you'll find our ranking of Buffalo's top-10 young prospects:

BUFFALO SABRES

GRADE: B+

RANKING: 11TH

By Bill Hoppe

As he rebuilt the Sabres early in his tenure, GM Kevyn Adams refused to take any shortcuts and trade his top prospects for a quick fix. These days, Adams operates differently. The Sabres graduated to a new level in 2022-23, entering win-now mode when they missed the playoffs by one victory. As he illustrated in dealing Matt Savoie to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Ryan McLeod following last season’s disappointing 12th-place finish in the East, anyone could be in play. The Sabres need immediate help as Adams works to end the NHL-record 13-year playoff drought that hangs over the franchise.

TOP SABRES PROSPECTS

1. KONSTA HELENIUS

C, 18, 5-11, 189

Rochester (AHL)

42–7–13–20–18

2024 draft, 14th overall

OVERALL: 15

Helenius arrived in Rochester this season as a polished youngster, having spent the past two years in Finland’s Liiga. “An all-around, good two-way center that’s probably benefited from playing with men in Europe because he’s not overwhelmed, and that’s pretty rare,” Adams said. Helenius put up huge numbers for a 17-year-old – 14 goals and 36 points in 51 games – with Jukurit last season. The Sabres want Helenius to play faster as he adapts to a different brand of hockey.

FUTURE WATCH 24 | new NHL | 2026-27

2. NOAH OSTLUND

C, 20, 5-11, 171

Rochester (AHL)

27–5–9–14–12

2022 draft, 16th overall

OVERALL 60

Rochester coach Mike Leone said Ostlund, who’s in his first full season in the AHL, is as talented and detailed as anyone he has coached. In fact, he believes the Swede is perhaps the most responsible player in the defensive zone who has ever played under him. Ostlund possesses a maturity rarely seen in rookies. Still, it hasn’t translated into offense, with just five goals in his first 27 games this season. “If he learns how to finish, he’s going to be a really good player in the NHL,” Leone said.

FUTURE WATCH 24 | No. 2 NHL | 2025-26

3. ANTON WAHLBERG

C, 19, 6-4, 198

Rochester (AHL)

39–8–12–20–0

2023 draft, 39th overall

OVERALL 91

Wahlberg has quickly established himself as an aggressive and physical presence capable of parking himself around the net to score or disrupting plays by forechecking. “He has the ability to play with the top-line guys because he can see the ice and skate,” Leone said. “When he’s driving pucks to the net…he has an ability to protect pucks and extend plays in the O-zone because he doesn’t get hit and pinned a lot.” Leone wants Wahlberg to play with more urgency.

FUTURE WATCH 24 | No. 6 NHL | 2026-27

4. ADAM KLEBER

D, 18, 6-5, 210

Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC)

25–2–2–4–11

2024 draft, 42nd overall

OVERALL 97

When Adams watched Kleber at this year’s WJC, he noticed the youngster had taken “massive steps” over the last year. “He looks like a guy that is getting better and better with the puck,” Adams said. “He needs to work on his puck skills and work on his feet, but he has a big, long frame, and he handled himself really, really well at the world juniors.” Adams is also impressed with Kleber’s play in his first year at Minnesota-Duluth: “He’s done a really nice job in college as a true freshman.”

FUTURE WATCH 24 | new NHL | 2028-29

5. ISAK ROSEN

RW, 21, 6-0, 180

Rochester (AHL)

45–25–18–43–8

2021 draft, 14th overall

The exploits of Jiri Kulich and other recent first-round picks have overshadowed Rosen, who has morphed into one of the AHL’s top goal-scorers in his third season. “He’s attacking the game and getting to the middle of the rink,” Leone said. “He has the ability to strip guys because he’s tenacious on the puck. He’s not going to overpower you with physicality, but he can get there quick and use his stick.” Leone said Rosen’s wall play – winning battles and advancing pucks – will help him get back to the NHL.

FUTURE WATCH 24 | No. 4 NHL | 2025-26

6. DEVON LEVI

G, 23, 6-0, 192

Rochester (AHL)

16–6–2, 2.36, .911

Trade (Fla), July 24, 2021

After early struggles in Buffalo, the agile Levi has become the Amerks’ backbone.

7. VSEVOLOD KOMAROV

D, 21, 6-4, 208 Rochester (AHL)

45–2–10–12–69

2022 draft, 134th overall

Seeing about 18 minutes a game in AHL. Has offensive skills but also plays physically.

8. MAXIM STRBAK

D, 19, 6-2, 200

Michigan State (Big Ten)

26–1–14–15–16

2023 draft, 45th overall

Adams said the Slovak teen projects to be a hardnosed two-way defender.

9. BRODIE ZIEMER

RW, 19, 5-11, 190

Minnesota (Big Ten)

30–11–8–19–21

2024 draft, 71st overall

Ziemer is an intelligent, reliable player who’s a “coach’s dream,” according to Adams.

10. RYAN JOHNSON

D, 23, 6-1, 195

Rochester (AHL)

43–0–7–7–26

2019 draft, 31st overall

Leone said the puck-mover has been perhaps the Amerks’ most consistent player.

21-AND-UNDER NHLERS | ZACH BENSON, LW, 19; JIRI KULICH, C, 20

After getting let go by the Philadelphia Flyers ahead of free agency, once-promising prospect Elliot Desnoyers has resurfaced, signing a one-year deal with the AHL Iowa Wild, the minor-league affiliates of the Minnesota Wild, on Monday.

On June 30, one day before the start of NHL free agency, the Flyers announced that Desnoyers, Zayde Wisdom, and Jakob Pelletier would all not receive qualifying offers, making them unrestricted free agents free to leave Philadelphia.

Wisdom ultimately returned to the Flyers organization, signing a one-year AHL deal of his own with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Pelletier inked a three-year pact with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 2.

Only two years ago, Desnoyers, 23, seemed on the cusp of making the NHL on a permanent basis. The Flyers' former fifth-round pick scored 23 goals, 21 assists, and 44 points in 65 games in his first professional season with the Phantoms in 2022-23, earning himself a four-game NHL cameo in the process.

But, an unimpressive training camp doomed Desnoyers to another year in the minors, during which he managed just six goals, 16 assists, and 22 points in 63 games.

Where Did These Former Flyers End Up in NHL Free Agency?Between their additions and subtractions, the

This past season saw much of the same for the 5-foot-11 forward, as he struggled to the tune of an even worse five goals, 14 assists, and 19 points. All in all, an 11-goal, 41-point output in two seasons after nearly making the NHL.

It's a shame for Desnoyers, but perhaps the new change of scenery will allow him to get his career back on track.

Winners Hockey Agency announced on July 9 via Telegram that Desnoyers had joined their clientele and was ready to continue his playing career in the KHL, but it would appear that the ex-Flyer has elected to stay in North America for the time being.

Flyers' Nikita Grebenkin Lauds 'Professional' Aleksei KolosovMark

Fans may recall that the 23-year-old was once part of the 2021-22 Canada U20 squad that won gold at the World Juniors - a team that featured Flyers teammate Tyson Foerster, Connor Bedard, Sebastian Cossa, Carson Lambos, Ridly Greig, Mason McTavish, Logan Stankoven, Kent Johnson, and Will Cuylle.

Desnoyers isn't the first player of that team to change NHL teams, of course, but he's on the verge of being amongst those lost in the crowd going forward.