Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Add Trail Mix to Mix
Detroit Signs Czech Scoring Leader
The Detroit Red Wings are certainly taking that old saying if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again to the extreme when it comes to signing European free agents.
Friday, the Red Wings announced the addition of free-agent forward Eduards Tralmaks. The 28-year-old Latvian was the leading scorer in the Czech Extraliga this season. Playing for Kladno – Jaromir Jagr’s team – Tralmaks accounted for 23 goals and 28 assists in 48 games.
And yes, in case you were wondering, his nickname is Trail Mix. In fact, Tralmaks’ Instragram account is edtrailmix.
He took that account to post a video of him signing his two-way contract with the Red Wings and to say goodbye to Kladno fans.
“I have one more message for you,” Tralmaks says in the video. “Thank you Kladno for two incredible years. It was an honor to play in the Kladno jersey and I will never forget it.
“Kladno will always be my second home, but now I need to move forward and fulfill my dream. Thank you to the Kladno fans for the support. It was a blast.”
His contract with the Red Wings begins with the 2025-26 season.
Tralmaks Has North American Playing Experience
Tralmaks brings some size to the ice at 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds. He’s a left shot who plays both the wing and center. He played youth hockey in Boston, later spending four seasons in the NCAA with the Maine Black Bears. Tralmaks previously played in the North American pro ranks with the ECHL Maine Mariners and AHL Providence Bruins. During the 2021-22 season, Tralmaks scored 14 goals in 51 games for Providence.
He also plays for the Latvian national team. Earlier this season, Tralmaks helped his homeland qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, collecting one goal in three games. He also played for Latvia at last year’s IIHF World Championship.
No Luck For Red Wings With European Free Agents
Tralmaks is the latest European free agent to sign on the dotted line with Detroit. Up until this juncture, it’s proven to be a real rogues gallery of failure.
UPDATE: The #RedWings have signed Eduards Tralmaks to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2025-26 season. pic.twitter.com/AmVCygNpfT
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 21, 2025
Last summer, Detroit added Czech forward Jakub Rychlovsky after he’d led the Extraliga in goals. With the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins this season, Rychlovsky has scored three goals in 38 games.
In 2022, the Red Wings were signing Swedish free agent forward Pontus Andreasson. He was also coming to North America off a tide turning European campaign. During the 2021-22 SHL season, Andreasson netted 18 goals for Lulea.
He’d scored 12 goals for the AHL Griffins in 2022-23, then head home to Sweden. Before Andreasson, Mathias Brome scored one goal in 26 games for Detroit in 2020-21. Slovak defenseman Libor Sulak was minus-four during a six-game Red Wings stint in 2018-19.
Slovak goalie Patrik Rybar, Czech goalie Matej Machovsky, Finnish goalie Jussi Olkinuora and and Finnish defenseman Oliwer Kaski never played a single NHL game for Detroit.
