What will the Detroit Red Wings defense pairings look like next season?

Johansson and Holl are probably gonna get cozy in the press box

Albert Johansson is in a weird situation. He just signed a new deal and is no longer waiver-exempt. This means that if he gets sent back down to Grand Rapids, he will have to clear waivers, which he likely won't. Steve Yzerman said he has to make moves to create room for Johansson on the team. While he did move Walman, that open spot was quickly taken by Gustafsson, once again leaving the team with far too many defensemen. Being left-handed also doesn't help, as the team has an abundance of them.

Johansson does have a bit of an artificial advantage over some of his defensive piers on the bottom pair in that he regularly played the right side in Grand Rapids while he was paired with Simon Edvinsson. Now, whether Derek Lalonde will see that and put him there with Gustafsson is yet to be seen. But it's safe to say he will be on the team in the 2024-25 season.

Justin Holl, on the other hand, is a far different issue. Being a right-handed defenseman, he has a bit of an advantage over guys like Johansson and Määttä. Honestly, I would personally prefer Holl on the bottom pair with Gustafsson just so that the Red Wings have all three pairs with a left-hand/right-hand pairing. But he didn't make a great impression last season and was scratched for more than half of it.

Odds are there will be a rotation between Määttä, Johansson and Holl to start the season. The odds of the Red Wings having the same amount of luck remaining healthy as they did last season is low, so at least two of these players will get a fair amount of ice time this upcoming season.