The Detroit Red Wings are heading into the 2025-26 season with high expectations since it's the pivotal centennial season. They also haven't made the playoffs in nine years, but you can argue that this is the best version of the Wings that we've seen since 2015-16, when they last made the playoffs.
With those high expectations and more talent, it means that any bold prediction made about the Wings this season has a realistic chance of manifesting. Whether it's milestones from players or the team accomplishing an amazing feat, there isn't a single prediction out there too far-fetched for the Red Wings in 2025-26.
Moritz Seider finishes with 60 points
The burning question is: When will Moritz Seider finally break out and transform into the elite two-way player we know he is? The answer is when the Wings get better defensively, and he doesn't need to rescue them every time he skates onto the ice.
And this year Seider finally has help in front of him, with forwards who can put up a good defensive game like James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton in town. Both can contribute defensively, while Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson now know what to expect at the NHL level.
Seider will have more freedom this season than he has since he first played for the Red Wings in 2021-22. He'll still land body checks, get in front of scoring lanes, and play a respectable brand of defense. That all defines his game.
He hasn't hit 50 points since that season, but he's in a more-than-optimal state to crush through the 50-point barrier and set a career high with 60 points. Look for most of these to come from assists, and it wouldn't surprise me if he reached the 50-55 assist mark, shooting pucks toward the net so a forward can score on a deflection.
Red Wings finish top 10 in goals scored
This is essentially the same Red Wings lineup we saw in 2023-24, and Todd McLellan proved he can get through to these guys better than Derek Lalonde. Last season didn't end the way fans in the Motor City wanted it to, but McLellan still led this group to a pair of seven-game winning streaks, and the Wings dominated in that stretch, averaging four goals per game across those 14 wins.
The Wings also scored 150 goals across the 48 games McLellan coached in, giving them 3.125 per game. Across 82 contests, that would have equaled 256 goals scored, and put the Red Wings in 11th place last season, 21 more than what they really ended up with.
Now, with a full 82-game slate and knowing they can be a high-octane unit under McLellan, and that they have a year under them in his system, expect Detroit to finish with 265-plus goals. That number will be good enough for a top-10 ranking.
John Gibson shows off his vintage form
John Gibson was the Red Wings' biggest risk/reward this offseason. Sure, he's been great in the past for the Anaheim Ducks when he had a good team to play behind, but he couldn't even come close to saving them when they started losing.
Last season, he looked like his old self, finishing with a 0.911 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA, and if injuries didn't slow him down, maybe he would have finished with better numbers and more games in the net than the 29 he played in.
Heading into 2025-26, Gibson's the clear-cut No. 1 goaltender for the Wings, barring injury, and even if Detroit's lineup isn't spectacular, he's playing behind a better group than what he had in Anaheim. Gibson showed how effective he is when he has a good team in front of him, and we'll see shades of that this season.
I'm not saying he'll finish with the 0.926 save percentage and 2.44 GAA he averaged between 2014-15 and 2018-19. But for a team with superstar-caliber talents like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider leading the way? He'll finish with a 0.915 save percentage, and a 2.50 GAA with five shutouts.
For the first few years of his career, Seider had to play so much defense that it limited his offensive production, and that won't be the case in 2025-26 with a more experienced blue line. When you add Todd McClellan into the equation and recall how well the Wings scored since his arrival, Seider's not the only player who will benefit. And with a better team in front of Gibson, a player who had to deal with so much in Anaheim, if he stays healthy, he could be in for a big year.