The Daily: Red Wings Hopeful at World Championships; Ristolainen Surgery

A Detroit fan looking for a scouting report on recent Detroit Red Wings signee Eduards Tralmaks can see for himself by tuning in Latvia Games at the World Championships. NHL Network televises the tournament.

Latvian Tralmaks, last season’s Czech Extraliga scoring champion, signed with the Red Wings last month. Since then, Latvia has named him to play for its national team at the World Championships, starting May 9 in Denmark.

Tralmaks is a big left (6-foot-4, 210 pounds) who put up 28 goals and 51 points in 48 games for Kladno. He’s a 28-year-old veteran who spent his development years in the United States. He played college hockey at Maine, and has played in the AHL.  Signings of European don’t often bear fruit, but the Red Wings will see what they have at training camp.

Right now, he is one of three members of the Red Wings organization on a roster for the World Championships.  Finnish prospect Jesse Kiiskinen is currently on Finland’s National Team. However, he could lose that spot once Finnish NHLers start agreeing to join.

Moritz Seider (Germany) is the only rostered Red Wings player scheduled to play in the World Championships. The Americans named their roster Thursday, and no Red Wings player was on it. That includes prospect Trey Augustine who played well for the team last year.

The Swedes, Canadians and Finns haven’t released a true roster.

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Rookie defenseman Albert Johansson knows he has homework to do this summer to be ready to take his game to another level in 2025-26. Don’t you feel the youngster has more offense to give?

Detroit Assistant GM Shawn Horcoff’s son Will scored the game-winning goal in USA’s come-from-behind win against Czechia at the U18 World Championships. The younger Horcoff plays college hockey at Michigan.

The Red Wings missed Andrew Copp’s versatility, especially on the penalty kill, when he was on the injured list.

Red Wings Extra

It was expected that coach Todd McLellan would want to make changes to his coaching staff this staff. It’s standard operating procedure for NHL coaches to surround themselves with people they know well. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that those changes are coming. Earlier this month, Tony Wolak of the Hockey Writers had well-reasoned speculation that Detroit might hire former Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft. He has previously worked for McLellan as an assistant.

Hockey Now Network

Boston: GM Don Sweeney’s job is safe, but there will be major changes this summer for the Boston Bruins.  

Colorado: Colleen Flynn explores how to fix the problems the Avs had in Game 3 against the Dallas Stars. Colorado Avalanche.

Montreal: This season’s playoff experience will be valuable for a Montreal team that hasn’t yet completed its rebuilding. Montreal Canadiens.

Philadelphia: Flyers reveal Rasmus Ristolainen had surgery in March. Philadelphia Flyers.

Pittsburgh: Youngsters Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen showed how high hockey IQ players can change the look of an NHL team. Pittsburgh Penguins.