Former Red Wings Player Keeping NHL Option Open

Former Detroit Red Wings forward Domink Kubalik was recently signing with EV Zug for a suggested $2.418 million US dollars. According to published reports, it made Kubalik the highest-paid player in European hockey. As well, it was said to be the richest contract ever agreed to in the Swiss League.

He’s refuting those reports.

“It was very exaggerated,” Kubalik told Czech website iSport. “Of course I would be happy, but I don’t think anyone is crazy enough to give me that kind of money.”

Dominik Kubalik puts Detroit ahead in the third with a tally off Lindstrom's terrific feed, 4-3 Red Wings!#LGRW pic.twitter.com/aH0AYAEfEG

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 9, 2023

There is another element to the contract that Kubalik was confirming to be 100% accurate. It contains an out clause that lets him leave immediately should the Czech forward receive an NHL offer.

“The American option is still there,” Kubalik acknowledged. Kubalik was a 20-goal scorer during his only Red Wings season in 2022-23.

Red Wings Pick Signs With KHL

The 132nd overall selection by the Red Wings in the 2020 NHL entry draft, defenseman Alex Cotton put up some impressive offensive numbers as a junior in the WHL. During the 2021-22 season, one he split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Vancouver Giants, Cotton would score 15 goals and collect 38 points.

Still it wasn’t enough to warrant Detroit offering him a contract. Said to be unimpressed with Cotton’s skating, the club was opting to relinquish his rights.

Since then, Cotton has played in Europe. He spent a season in Finland’s second division. Then he moved to the Swedish second division before making the move to Nitra MHC of the Slovak Extraliga. There he won a title in 2023-24 and accumulated 39 points last season.

Cotton is on the move again. He’ll be joining Lada Togliatti of the Russian KHL. There he’ll be joining another player familiar to the Red Wings organization. Center Riley Sawchuk, who played for the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins and ECHL Toledo Walleye from 2022-24, is leaving KooKoo of the Finnish League to join Lada.

Kawski On The Move

Finnish defenseman Oliwer Kaski was the first European free agent that Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was signing after he took over the team in 2019. However, the experiment was short-lived. After playing just 19 games for the Griffins, Kaski was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes.

He’s been a man on the move ever since. Since leaving the Griffins, Kaski has played for the AHL Charlotte Checkers, KHL Avangard Omsk, Lugano of the Swiss League and Sweden’s HV71.

Oliwer Kaski 🚨 #SHLfi #HV71 pic.twitter.com/uKwoagrjxf

— SHL Highlights 🇫🇮 (@SHLHighlightsFI) March 2, 2024

Now he’s back on the open market. HV71 is dropping Kaski, 28, after three seasons with the team.

“We thank Oliwer for his time at the club and wish him well in the future,” HV71 sports director Björn Liljander said in a release on the team’s website.

Ice Chips

Four former Red Wings players are on the move in the European ranks. Goalie Tom McCollum, Detroit’s 2008 first-round pick, is leaving the Belfast Giants and signing with Kitzbuheler EC of the Alps Hockey League . . . Center Chase Pearson, who played three Red Wings games in 2021-22, is leaving Austria’s Villacher EC to join the EIHL champion Nottingham Panthers . . . Right-winger Riley Barber, with the Red Wings for four games in 2021-22, left Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik of the KHL to join Germany’s ERC Ingolstadt . . . Following a strong playoff with Ufa Salavat Yulaev of the KHL in which he tallied nine goals and 16 points in 13 games, center Scott Wilson is leaving in seach of a new opportunity. Wilson played 17 games for the Red Wings in 2017-18.