At 5 p.m. on Monday, all 32 NHL teams finalized their rosters for opening night.
That said, "finalized" is a bit of a loose term. In the words of Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan, the roster the team submits Monday can change before Friday's home opener against the New York Rangers. Factors like the health of players like Dylan Larkin and Jacob Bernard Docker or Simon Edvinsson's yet-unsigned contract can affect the final product.
Still, this is about as close to the opening lineup as we'll get before puck drop.
With that said, here's what the Red Wings are entering the season with:
Forwards
Alex DeBrincat - Andrew Copp - Lucas Raymond
Emmitt Finnie - Marco Kasper - Viktor Arvidsson
Mason Appleton - Nate Danielson - Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Michael Rasmussen - J.T. Compher - Keegan Kolesar
Extras: Carter Mazur, Dylan Larkin (injured)
Defense
Albert Johansson - Moritz Seider
Anton Johansson - Justin Faulk
Ben Chiarot - Axel Sandin-Pellikka
Extras: Andreas Englund, William Wallinder, Simon Edvinsson (still unsigned)
Goaltending
John Gibson
Daniil Tarasov
Lineup leans into uncertainty of season
The biggest thing that pops out about this lineup are the new faces. When compared to last season's opening night lineup. this one features four new names. Free agent signees Viktor Arvidsson and Daniil Tarasov join Keegan Kolesar as the outside replacements, while Anton Johansson pulled an Emmitt Finnie and forced his way onto the roster. While not necessarily newcomers, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur get another crack at a lineup in desperate need of help.
They'll have all the opportunity they can get in a season of mixed expectations.
Is this a playoff lineup? Probably not. Can the team still make meaningful progress? Absolutely. This season shouldn't be looked at as a "lost" season; rather, it's a foundation of what's to come.
All in all, a third of the lineup wasn't there during last season's March Sadness. That alone should signal that change is in the air, as uncomfortable as it may seem.
Questions regarding veterans, injuries
The biggest question on this lineup has to do with two things: the veterans and the (current) injuries of Jacob Bernard-Docker and Dylan Larkin. It looks as if the Red Wings are trying to use waiver claim Andreas Englund as the temporary replacement for Bernard-Docker as the extra skater. But what happens if he plays well enough to warrant that spot? Is Bernard-Docker waived or traded?
More importantly, what happens when (or if) Larkin returns?
An odd man out is almost certainly inevitable. Currently, the Red Wings are rolling with four centers: Andrew Copp, Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson and J.T. Compher. One would need to move to the wing (or off the lineup) in order to fit Larkin back in the picture. Would the Red Wings truly send Nate Danielson back down to Grand Rapids knowing how important this season is for him? Or will they finally break tradition and move J.T. Compher off the lineup?
Until we see that opening night lineup, we won't have our answers. For now, it appears as if mutliple young players have made the lineup. More change may come if Sandin-Pellikka and Johansson continue to impress as they have early on. After all, there's really no value to keeping one (or both) players on the bottom pairing if they're deserving of more minutes.
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