Another NHL season has come and gone without the Detroit Red Wings anywhere near a Stanley Cup celebration, and as the confetti falls for another organization, it presents yet another opportunity for the Red Wings to study what separates contenders from pretenders. 

This past season, the lessons come courtesy of the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights and, more importantly, the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.

The Golden Knights offer perhaps the most instructive case study in modern NHL roster construction as General manager Kelly McCrimmon has built a culture of aggressive, calculated risk-taking, consistently flipping draft assets and prospects for proven impact players at exactly the right moments. 

Almost no players on the Vegas roster is homegrown, yet the Golden Knights have remained perennial contenders by making their organization appear as an irresistible destination, the kind of place where players know the front office is serious about winning at all costs. That reputation attracts talent, and that talent helps the team continue to win games.

That culture of urgency is precisely what Detroit has severely lacked in recent years as the situation has reached a boiling point when franchise captain Dylan Larkin requested a trade, citing in the past that their is a lack of organizational vision when it comes to genuinely contending for a Stanley Cup. 

The Red Wings possess more than enough assets to make the kind of aggressive moves Vegas has made repeatedly. However, the difference is that general manager Steve Yzerman has not viewed those swings as the right fit for where the franchise stands. 

Rather than pursuing players like Robert Thomas or Quinn Hughes, players who are home run talents and could genuinely elevate the roster, Yzerman has tended toward singles and doubles. This past season, Justin Faulk and David Perron are useful additions, and Faulk in particular looks like he could be a meaningful contributor going forward, but on a true contender he would be the third or fourth addition when making a run towards a Stanley Cup.

Vegas built its identity by going all in, with Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, Mark Stone and most recently Mitch Marner being acquired not by playing it safe. They were acquired by selling assets aggressively and timing those moves with precision. It is worth noting that the financial model matters just as much as the boldness of the moves. 

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The only players to win the Stanley Cup while carrying eight-figure cap hits are Eichel with Vegas and Sergei Bobrovsky and Aleksander Barkov with Florida. Keeping individual salaries at or around the $10 million range allows organizations to build the kind of roster depth that survives a two-month playoff grind and the Hurricanes are the clearest proof of that principle. 

Carolina won the Stanley Cup without a single player earning eight figures, with Sebastian Aho serving as the highest-paid player on the roster at $9.75 million. They also enter the off-season with close to $12 million in available cap space, a testament to how methodically the organization has been constructed. They didn't build their roster overnight as they developed some homegrown talent but also made aggressive moves for impact players when the moment called for it. 

They went out and added Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency, traded for superstar winger Mikko Rantanen and later landed Logan Stankoven from Dallas in a follow-up deal, brought in experienced contributors like Taylor Hall at the right price, and filled their bottom six with reliable, cheap depth pieces in William Carrier, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson, Mark Jankowski and Jordan Staal, who has never been easy to overlook regardless of where he plays. They also added K'Andre Miller via trade and signed Sean Walker to shore up the back end.

Every one of those moves was calculated and added a different touch to a roster that would go on to slowly develop into a Stanley Cup champion.

The concern in Detroit is that Yzerman's approach, while patient and methodical, does not appear to be trending in that direction with enough urgency. Additions like John Gibson and Justin Faulk make sense as finishing pieces for a team already on the cusp of contending. 

But they cannot be the headline moves for a team still trying to establish itself as a legitimate threat. Taking swings at players like Robert Thomas or Quinn Hughes, players who push a roster forward rather than merely maintaining the status quo, is what separates the organizations hoisting trophies from the ones watching them do it. Until Detroit starts making those kinds of moves, the gap between the Red Wings and the league's elite will likely remain exactly where it is.

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On Monday morning, the Winnipeg Jets announced that they have extended Walker Duehr, the fifth leading scorer of their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. Less than a year ago, the 28-year-old undrafted right winger signed as a free agent with the Jets, only skating in three NHL games last season.

According to the press release, Duehr's new deal is two years in length and worth $1.75 million, with a $850,000 salary in the NHL.

South Dakota’s favourite NHLer is back ✍️

We have signed forward Walker Duehr to a two-year contract! pic.twitter.com/7EKEXe8Mpw

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) June 15, 2026

After four seasons in the NCAA with Minnesota State University, Duehr joined the Calgary Flames organization, skating five games with the Stockton Heat and making his NHL debut on Nov. 14, 2021. He'd spend parts of four seasons with Calgary before the San Jose Sharks claimed him off waivers on Jan. 22, 2025. Instead of staying on the main roster, he played only eight games with the Sharks and 16 with the Barracuda in the AHL. 

Interestingly, since turning professional in 2021, Duehr actually skated the most games last season, suiting up 62 with the Moose, tallying 17 goals and 34 points, and going pointless in three contests with the Jets. The 2025-26 campaign also marked the first time in his hockey career, since AAA hockey, that he scored more than 15 goals and 30 points.

As a member of the Tri-City Storm, Duehr won the USHL Clark Cup in 2015-16, and followed that up with an NCAA (WCHA) championship in 2018-19. After six seasons in the AHL, his stat line includes 59 goals and 112 points in 205, while in the NHL, he's got 11 goals and 21 points in 95 games. 

By adding Duehr's contract to the books, the Jets have roughly $21 million left in cap space with a couple of unrestricted and restricted free agents left to sign, in addition to adding a backup goalie for Connor Hellebuyck. 

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The Winnipeg Jets have spent years building toward something special, and yet when the Stanley Cup was handed out once again this past spring, they were watching from home just like the majority of the league. 

Lessons from the teams that went furthest, the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights and Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, are sitting right there for Kevin Cheveldayoff to absorb and act on.

The Golden Knights remain perhaps the most instructive case study in modern NHL roster construction. General manager Kelly McCrimmon has built a culture of aggressive, calculated risk-taking, consistently flipping draft assets and prospects for proven impact players at exactly the right moments. 

Almost no one on the Vegas roster is homegrown, yet the Golden Knights have remained perennial contenders by positioning their organization as an irresistible destination, the kind of place where players know the front office is committed to winning at all costs.

To their credit, the Jets have shown a willingness to operate with a similar mindset, locking up world-class talents like Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to long-term commitments speaks to an organizational vision that players have bought into. 

But where Winnipeg has fallen short is in making the kind of complementary moves that push a contender over the top. Instead of swinging for the fences this past offseason, the Jets brought in Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist, additions that underwhelmed and ultimately did little to move the needle behind the team's core stars. In a league where the margins between playoff teams are razor thin, those are the kinds of misses that cost you.

The consequences of those misfires have now created urgency at the highest level with Hellebuyck being vocal in the media about his desire to win a Stanley Cup, and his comments carried the unmistakable weight of a ticking clock.

Winnipeg enters this offseason with some major positives like over $21 million in available cap space and an opportunity to reshape a forward group that badly needs new blood after too many players underperformed this past season.

Carolina's blueprint is worth studying closely with no players earning eight figures, building their roster through a combination of bold acquisitions and smart, affordable signings. 

They landed Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency, traded for Mikko Rantanen and later added Logan Stankoven from Dallas, brought in Taylor Hall at the right price, and filled their bottom six with reliable contributors like William Carrier, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson, Mark Jankowski and Jordan Staal. They also fortified the back end through a trade for K'Andre Miller and the signing of Sean Walker.

Winnipeg does not need to replicate every one of those moves, but the approach is a model worth following. The Jets have an opportunity to dip into a free agent market rich in capable middle-six and bottom-six forwards. 

Names like Michael Bunting, Scott Laughton, Eeli Tolvanen, Bobby McMann, Mason Marchment, Anthony Mantha, Jason Dickinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand all represent realistic targets who could make meaningful contributions without breaking the cap bank. Adding three of these kinds of players to the mix could go a long way toward restoring the offensive depth this team has been missing.

Beyond the depth market, the Jets need to take an all-in swing on a true top-six impact forward, the kind of move that changes the complexion of the lineup the way the Ehlers acquisition changed Carolina's. Winnipeg still has draft picks and prospects to work with, and if the window is as open as Hellebuyck's comments suggest the organization believes, those assets need to be spent.

Despite a season hampered by injuries, the Jets defense is not a concern as they still have their top four anchored by Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Dylan DeMelo and Dylan Samberg. The focus this offseason needs to be entirely on rebuilding the offense.

Winnipeg is ahead of many teams around they league, with elite goaltending, proven star forwards and a legitimate defensive core that is closer to contending than most teams in the league. The gap between the Jets and the Golden Knights is not talent at the top but rather the finishing touches, the kinds of moves that create meaningful separation in the standings and genuine depth for a playoff run.

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NHL broadcaster Ron MacLean has apologized for making a comment about roofies before Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

With the game between the Hurricanes and Golden Knights taking place in Las Vegas, Sportsnet did a skit inspired by the movie “The Hangover” that showed Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard asleep on a couch next to the trophy.

After the skit, MacLean said, “The roofies, they’ll get you every time.”

MacLean apologized for the comment later during the coverage of Game 6, acknowledging his mistake.

“I referenced a scene in the movie in which the tiger is put to sleep, Mike Tyson’s tiger. The Keepers of the Cup, of course, are asleep in the skit and I used the term, the slang term for the drug which has far more serious connotations in reality,” MacLean said.

“I should have made that connection. I did not. .. I know I triggered some people, I know I offended some people with that remark, and I feel very bad for that, and I want to thank you for bringing it to my attention, to our attention. Very sorry.”

MacLean has been in the news for controversy before, staying silent during his former Coach’s Corner co-host Don Cherry’s comments that Canadian immigrants do not benefit from the sacrifices of veterans and do not wear remembrance poppies.

The Canadian also apologized for that mistake after Cherry was forced to step down.

The Hurricanes won the game 3-0 to claim their first Stanley Cup since 2006.