Predicting the Red Wings Opening Night Roster: Prior to FA Edition

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Now that the NHL Draft has concluded, the offseason is officially underway. And for the Red Wings, this is going to be a very interesting couple months.

The Detroit Red Wings and the rest of the NHL have already begun preparing their rosters for this upcoming season. And in that, it has already been eventful.

There has already been a couple huge trades, some big potential free agents re-signing with their respective clubs, and movement in the Draft. All of this happened in the couple short weeks since the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Cup. And it’s not going to slow down either, with free agency opening this coming Wednesday, July 13.

This could be the offseason that really brings the Wings back into contention for a Playoff spot. With tons of cap room and a stable of assets, Steve Yzerman has the opportunity to make this team substantially better.

So as a fun way to document that projected improvement, I am going to project what I think is the best available opening night lineup with the players currently under contract (not including unsigned free agents), then we will come back and revisit/update at various points through the offseason to hopefully watch the team improve before our very eyes.

For the record, the Red Wings currently unsigned players are Zadina, Stephens, Elson, Gagner, Juolevi, Walman, Dekeyser, Staal, Greiss, Helberg, Pearson, Barber, Renouf, Fulcher, Larsson, and Pickard.

Without further ado, let’s get to it (all contract info via CapFriendly).

Dylan Larkin. (Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images) /

The Detroit Red Wings Current State

The Red Wings currently have 16 roster players under contract, and 33 within the organization as a whole. This does not include players currently on IR: Robby Fabbri and Carter Rowney (pending UFA). Let’s assume Fabbri is not ready for opening night after suffering another ACL tear back on March 10. Beginning to fill out the roster with players under contract who played significant roles last season is pretty easy:

Vrána, Larkin, Bertuzzi
Raymond, Suter, ?
Erne, Rasmussen, ?
Smith, Sundqvist, ?

Oesterle, Seider
?, Hronek
?, Lindström

Husso, Nedeljkovic

The addition of Ville Husso for a 3rd round pick in the draft will go a long way to stabilizing the goaltending situation. We now have 2 goalies under 28 who have shown promise and are looking to establish themselves as legitimate starters. Nothing against Thomas Greiss, but this combination should give the Wings a legitimate chance to win every single night. Plus, signing Husso to a 3-year deal ensures primo prospect Sebastian Cossa won’t need to be rushed to the NHL just to fill a roster spot.

Next, we’ll bring up some of the kids to fill out the lineup.

Jonatan Berggren of the Detroit Red Wings. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

The Future is Now for the Detroit Red Wings

Now let’s take a look at the non-NHL players currently under contract who have a shot to make the team this year, assuming no changes to the current contract situation. I would say that group of players is as follows: forwards Berggren, Veleno, and Söderblom; defensemen Edvinsson, Johansson, Sebrango, McIsaac. Obviously there are too many names for the amount of available blanks here, so I will fill out my team as follows:

Vrána, Larkin, Bertuzzi
Raymond, Suter, Berggren
Erne, Rasmussen, Veleno
Smith, Sundqvist, Söderblom

Oesterle, Seider
Edvinsson, Hronek
Johansson, Lindström

Husso, Nedeljkovic

I don’t know about you guys, but I am excited to see all four of these young Swedes crack the lineup and see what they can do. I have Edvinsson on the 2nd pair for now, but who doesn’t want to see an Edvinsson-Seider pairing? If all goes well, that could be an extremely imposing presence to lead the Wings back end for years to come.

One of the best parts about this exercise I think, is that it shows clearly where improvement is most needed. We all know we need some real top-4 defensemen; I think with Seider and Edvinsson we have 2, but we need 2 more. And up front, the top line is good, but there’s not enough scoring below that, particularly from the 2nd line.

I could see packaging one of these NHL-ready Swedes and a deeper prospect for a proven asset from a cash-strapped team (Shea Theodore, anyone?). The possibilities are endless.

light. Related Story. The Marco Kasper Selection Was the Right Choice

Future scenarios aside, there you have it. Based on the current players under contract, I think that would be the roster come October 14 vs. Montreal. We will undoubtedly have lots of movement and ins and outs not only in the next week, but the rest of the offseason as well. Comment below if you would assemble a different team, or what moves you’re hoping to see this offseason. We will revisit this projection throughout, and see how the team improves through this crucial offseason.

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