The first month of the National Hockey League (NHL) season is already over, and there is a familiar sight for Detroit fans. The Red Wings have gotten off to a blistering start, posting 18 points in 13 games and sitting near the top of the Atlantic Division. It has not been all pretty, but most would have taken a 9-4-0 record to start the year.
It is easy for the Red Wings faithful to feel some pessimism, however. The team started 11-5-4 in 2022-23 and 11-6-3 in 2023-24. Even last season, although the Wings started slow, they rattled off two seven-game win streaks after coach Todd McLellan took over.
The Red Wings were firmly in playoff spots following all three of these strong starts, then choked down the stretch and missed the postseason each time.
So, what makes 2025-26 different? Here are five reasons for Red Wings to believe the early season surge is not just an anomaly.
The offense is not as reliant on the power play
In the hot starts of years past, the Red Wings relied nearly entirely on their power play to develop scoring. They stacked the top power play unit with their top-end guys, who more times than not would find the back of the net.
However, Detroit struggled significantly during 5-on-5. Their strong top lines were not as impactful and their lack of depth was a huge detriment. Once the whistles stopped going their way and the power play cooled off, the Red Wings began losing games in bunches.
Through 13 games, 2025-26 appears to be different. The power play is still 10th in the NHL at 23.8 percent, but more encouraging is the 5-on-5 numbers have improved. They are tied for 17th with 24 goals and sit 10th with 286 shots at 5-on-5. These are not groundbreaking feats, yet a league-average unit is far better than what Detroit has been deploying the past few seasons.
Additionally, the Red Wings expected goals for (30.45) and shooting percentage (3.77) suggest their offense has more potential than the counting stats show. With the improved depth from players like Mason Appleton and the continued emergence of young talent like Emmitt Finnie, there is reason to believe the offense will only get better.
Detroit is winning in spite of goaltending and defensive woes
Another staple of Detroit’s strong starts has been near-perfect goaltending. Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, Cam Talbot, and even James Reimer looked like prime Patrick Roy at the beginning of the last couple seasons.
Unfortunately, they then all suffered the same fate. The Wings overrelied on them, ran them into the ground, and by February the goalies would be a shell of themselves. Detroit’s poor defense did not help matters either.
This season, it has been the opposite. The Red Wings’ goalies are 25th in GAA (2.83) and 29th in save percentage (.885). John Gibson has been abysmal to start his Red Wings tenure, posting a .875 save percentage and 3.32 GAA in seven games. Talbot has been better, but still sits at a .897 save percentage and 2.76 GAA in seven games.
It is not entirely on the netminders, as Detroit’s defensive woes have continued and the team is still searching for consistent defensive pairings.
All hope is not lost. Gibson can easily shake off the rust and look like the goalie Detroit traded for this offseason. The defense has also looked better in spurts, and should only keep improving as Simon Edvinsson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and Albert Johansson develop.
The Wings may need to look outside of their current roster for reinforcements, though. Obviously, general manager Steve Yzerman could finally make a trade to acquire a top defensemen or even another goalie. Another option may be prospect Sebastian Cossa, who has a .939 save percentage and a 1.75 GAA in his first four games with Grand Rapids this year.
While Detroit has been concerning on the backend, it is somewhat promising that they have won in spite of it.
The youth movement gives the Wings more upside
Detroit’s front office has long implored fans to trust in the prospect system, and finally that patience is being rewarded.
Finnie is in Calder Trophy-consideration with four goals and eight points to start his career. Sandin-Pellikka has had some growing pains, but has already shown flashes of why he was a first round pick in 2023. Despite being sent back down to Grand Rapids, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will likely return to the NHL club once he gets a little more seasoning.
Along with Cossa, top prospects Nate Danielson, Max Plante, and Amadeus Lombardi could be joining the Wings sooner rather than later.
Aside from the rookies and prospects, Edvinsson needs to become more consistent, but already has three goals and five points. Pre-season breakout candidate Marco Kasper has actually gotten off to a slow start, so expect him to become more of a factor as the year progresses.
Considering they have been in Detroit for so long, Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond’s ages (24 and 23, respectively) fly under the radar. They will only further evolve into superstars as they inch closer to their primes.
With all this promising youth, Detroit should only continue to get better, which will prevent a late-season collapse like in years past.
Detroit survived a tough opening schedule
The Red Wings benefited the past few years with having a relatively soft opening schedule, something they have not enjoyed to start this season.
So far in 2025-26, they have played only four non-playoff teams from last year, with one of those teams being the much-improved Anaheim Ducks. Detroit has also played the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, which was last year’s Stanley Cup Final matchup.
In addition to the stiff competition, the Wings are in the midst of the dreaded five-game West Coast road trip that hurts even the strongest of teams.
The Red Wings have already gone through the gauntlet, and are somehow at the top of the toughest division in hockey. In theory, this should bode well for the rest of the year.
Detroit’s schedule softens up the next month and a half. Until late-December, they will face only four teams that made the postseason in 2024-25. As long as they take care of business, they could be firmly in a playoff spot by the turn of the new year.
The Wings’ leadership has improved
Simply put, the Red Wings’ players did not respect or respond well to former coach Derek Lalonde. As soon as the team cooled off after their strong starts, Lalonde was not able to get the team back on track.
The same cannot be said for their new coach, McLellan. With him coming in mid-season last year, it is hard to put all the blame on him for the late season struggles. He turned the team around as best he could after the Lalonde debacle.
Now that it is fully McLellan’s team, he has already proven to be able to get his message across better than Lalonde. This is best exemplified by him calling out the Wings after their disappointing loss to the Montreal Canadiens on opening night, which was directly followed by a five-game winning streak.
The Wings clearly respect McLellan and the coach’s experience should help the hot start continue over the course of the season.
Another promising development is the growth of Dylan Larkin as a leader. The tension between Yzerman and Larkin in the offseason over Detroit’s trade deadline and the overall state of the team seems to have awoken something. The two’s relationship is now stronger, and Larkin has been more extroverted with his leadership.
On both ends of the ice, the Detroit captain is playing at a higher level and with more swagger than ever before. This has trickled down to the rest of the team as it appears that Larkin will refuse to let Detroit fall short of the playoffs this year.