Michigan, Harvard men among next generation of Red Wings hopefuls

Rudy Guimond likes the appeal of being able to call himself a Harvard man. For J.P. Hurlbert, it's all about the University of Michigan.

For the Detroit Red Wings, it's about a path that ultimately leads to their locker room.

To that end, the team personnel spent the better part of last week indoctrinating three dozen young players, most of them from the 2025 and 2026 NHL drafts, plus a few free agents, on how to develop at a peak level. Besides on-ice testing and skills drills, there was a focus on nutrition, sleep habits and, for that matter, bonding.

For Hurlbert, whose camp began three days after the Wings drafted him at No. 23 in the 2026 draft, it was an illuminating experience.

"It's been great," Hurlbert said on July 2. "First of all coming in and kind of getting to know everybody, meeting all the staff, getting to know the city a little bit. Then coming in and competing with all the prospects and learning where I need to keep getting better to hopefully crack the lineup here one day and be a difference maker."

More: How Plante brothers Max and Victor plan to take over Detroit Red Wings

Here's a look at select players from the event.

J.P. Hurlbert

When Hurlbert (6 foot, 190 pounds) was available as the first round of the draft rounded into the 20s, the Wings set about finding a way to acquire a selection after using their own in the trade for Justin Faulk. They found a willing taker for goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa in the Utah Mammoth. Hurlbert has scored at whatever level he's played at - and now the next challenge is to do so for the Wolverines, where Hurltbert will matriculate in the fall. He joins a program that's also produced Dylan Larkin, Quinn Hughes, and Zach Werenski, among many.

"I'm super excited to go to Michigan," Hurlbert said. "I think Michigan's a great college. There's a lot of skill there, tremendous staff. So when I got the opportunity, it was a no-brainer for me. I'm just super excited to go there."

Hurlbert's decision to play in Ann Arbor is great news for the Wings, as he'll be right down the road and under the guidance of coach Brandon Naurato, a former development consultant with the Wings.

"Every time, as soon as we draft a guy, the first thing I think of is, where does he play?" Cleary said. "So J.P. going to Michigan is going to be great. We've got a great relationship [with Naurato), and J.P., he's going to be spending a lot of time in the state of Michigan this summer."

Rudy Guimond

The highlight of camp for 21-year-old Guimond (No. 169, 2023) was meeting former Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard.

"He was the reason I got into goaltending," Guimond said. "He had these Vaughn pads with icebergs on them. I thought it was really cool, the gear and stuff. I wanted to get into goaltending. My dad didn't want to pay for custom stuff when I was that age, so I never got those Vaughn iceberg pads. But he's the reason I got into goaltending."

Guimond's dad (and mom) are also the reason he's going to Harvard.

"I was always a really good student, and I guess it also came from my parents, too.," Guimond said. "They were big on school, my dad being a doctor.S o it was kind of instilled in me, and ... you watch movies, and it's like, they're a Harvard man or a Yale man. It's just really cool to be able to say that you are a Harvard man."

Guimond (6-4, 187) is coming off a very good season in which he played 50 games (2.27 goals-against average, .922 save percentage) plus 21 games in the playoffs (2.42, .910) with Moncton in the QMJHL.

Carter Bear

Drafted at No. 13, in 2025, Bear (6 foot, 177 pounds), Bear, 19, is coming off a very long season, having helped take the Everett Silvertips of the WHL all the way to the Memorial Cup championship game before losing to the Kitchener Rangers. Bear, an alternate captain, had 36 goals and 41 assists in 53 regular-season games and seven goals and 15 assists in 18 playoff games.

"My season with Everett was unbelievable," Bear said. "We won the WHL but came up short of the Memorial Cup. The amount of memories I gained and the friendships I made, It's unbelievable. It was just so fun."

This was Bear's second development camp, and his progress since last year was easy to see.

"He's very competitive," said Dan Cleary, the Wings' assistant director of player development. "He's smart. He's slippery. He's not the biggest guy, but he's not small by any means, but he's very competitive on the puck. He's a nice, smart, good along-the-wall winger. He's got a really deceptive shot. He can score."

Bear is slated to begin his pro tenure next season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. She’s co-authored “Red, White & Gold: How American men and women became the kings and queens of Olympic hockey” (order at USA.ChampsBook.com.) Her books: “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of Hockeytown,” and “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.