3 players who are entering their final season with the Red Wings

You can’t not like what the Detroit Red Wings are doing right now, and once they sign Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond - it’s coming, don’t worry - they will have quite a core that also includes Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, Andrew Copp, JT Compher, Joseph Valeno, and Simon Edvinsson, and with more on the way. 

But to sign and keep that core long-term, the Wings will be making concessions. Below, two of the three players will make up those concessions to free up some much-needed cap space for 2025-26 and beyond, while another could be gone in a trade package as early as the 2025 trade deadline. 

Jonatan Berggren

Jonatan Berggren has yet to sign for the 2024-25 season at the time of publication, but let’s assume the Wings will work out a deal with him before camp starts. Still, is Berggren impressing anyone at this point, and does anyone in the Motor City seriously think Berggren will make an impact positive enough to keep him around longer?

Even if Berggren signs for multiple seasons, it only means he’s more likely to be used in a trade package so the Wings can take their next steps forward. Overall, it wouldn’t surprise me if Steve Yzerman moved him at some point around the 2025 trade deadline to a non-contending team for what might just be the missing puzzle piece to take Detroit to the postseason. 

Justin Holl

What’s funny is that all three of the players listed in this piece are your classic Captain Obvious players - and when you read about the next player listed, it’ll drive this point home. Anyway, Justin Holl is the second player in this piece who could be gone by the deadline as well, and yeah, there’s even a chance he may not even be in town when the regular season begins should Steve Yzerman find a way to move him.  

He’s someone who could provide value as a full-timer on the bottom-pairing of someone’s defensive rotation not just this year, but even as the decade reaches its second half. It won’t happen in Detroit unless he comes into camp, surprises everyone, and continues to shock the NHL world throughout the first few months of the season. 

Ville Husso

This will sound like a paradox, but I’m every bit as surprised Ville Husso is still with the Red Wings every bit as much as I’m not surprised he’s still in town. Husso has the potential to at least factor in as a 1A with a team that will go nowhere in 2024-25, but he’s played so poorly that, well, he’s not invigorating a single fanbase that would end up with him. 

So he remains in the Motor City for now, at least, but with Cam Talbot penciled in as the 1A and Alex Lyon factoring in as a high-end 1B, organizational depth may be Husso’s calling in 2024-25 while Steve Yzerman just pays a buried cap penalty. 

But then again, there’s also Jack Campbell and Sebastian Cossa…this is an awkward situation. Hey, at least, in a worst-case scenario, Husso’s contract is up in the 2025 offseason.