Eduards Tralmaks, a Detroit Red Wings player assigned to Grand Rapids, was named today to play next month for Latvia at the Winter Olympics at Cortina and Milan, Italy,
This was not a surprise: Tralmaks was Latvia’s leading points producer at the World Championships last spring.
The Latvian team (see below) boasts a handful of NHL players, including goalies Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Arturs Silovs (Pittsburgh Penguins). The third Latvian goalie is Kristers Gudlevskis who played three games for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The roster for Latvia at the #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics is here! 🇱🇻 pic.twitter.com/wLLHtekuRM
— NHL (@NHL) January 6, 2026
He joins Moritz Seider (German), Dylan Larkin (USA) and Lucas Raymond (Sweden) as Red Wings-contracted players competing in the Winter Games.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Tralmaks is tied for second on the Griffins with 14 goals in 31 games. At 27, Tralmaks is beyond prospect age. But he is a player the Red Wings might consider calling up if they ran into trouble with multiple injuries.
The Red Wings signed him last summer after he led the Czech League in goal scoring. He was no stranger to North American hockey when he signed. He played in the United States Hockey League with Chicago Steel before playing college hockey at Maine (2017-21). Tralmaks played parts of three seasons in the AHL with the Providence Bruins before signing a deal to play in Czechia.
Tralmaks told a Czechia media outlet last month that he still possesses dreams of playing in the NHL. “Even at this age, at this stage of my career, there is still a chance,” Tralmaks told ISport Blesk.