Breaking down the Detroit Red Wings opening night roster for 2023-24

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Detroit Red Wings, Red Wings, Alex DeBrincat

Oct 4, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) looks on at the face-off circle against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Detroit won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

Breaking down the Detroit Red Wings 2023-24 forward core

The document the Red Wings released lists Zach Aston-Reese on the roster, as the team signed him and then was assigned to Grand Rapids the day after the roster was announced. So, very technically, the Red Wings 23-man roster stands at 22 for now.

But, for the rest of the forwards, the players on the roster who made the cut were pretty true to the expectations. It’s not like any of the big-name players were magically going to be cut or holding out with contract negotiations/trade talks or whatnot. The Red Wings core is stronger, for obvious reasons, given Steve Yzerman’s moves this off-season.

There are five new faces on the team’s front end, with 12 total forwards on the roster. Alex DeBrincat headlines that a new group of forwards will look to bring more depth to the Red Wings organization.

In the final round of cuts, four different forwards were assigned to the minors or sent back to their respective junior teams. In the case of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft first-rounder Nate Danielson, he was sent back to his juniors squad. There was some thought he could make the NHL roster out of training camp, but he will head back to the Brandon Wheat Kings.

On top of that, there was some surprise when Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Söderblom were both re-assigned to Grand Rapids. There was some hope that Berggren would be kept around to build off of his 2022-23 performance, but he will start the year in Grand Rapids after being re-assigned to the minors due to his waiver-exempt status. Södeblom, who spent a chunk of the 2022-23 season with them after playing with Detroit early on, will also join him.

Cross Hanas was a longshot to make the team, but he went through the motions of training camp and the pre-season, hanging on until the end. But he will head back to Grand Rapids as well. The Red Wings also officially announced that Carter Mazur and Matt Luff will head to the Injured Reserve to kick off the 2023-24 season.

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