The Detroit Red Wings have been consistently close to a playoff spot the last couple of seasons. While the rebuild has taken much longer than anticipated, the team has made strides. Last season, the Wings finished sixth in the Atlantic with 86 points.
That total was close, but not close enough for a playoff spot. The Wings finished five points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final postseason ticket, and, well, another offseason on tinkering ensued.
But this time around, the Wings could take the next step much like the Ottawa Senators did in 2024-25. If anything, the Sens are a much better comparison for Detroit than the Canadiens.
The Senators went through the rigors of building a young team through drafting and developing. They’ve built a solid, young core with a strong leader in captain Brady Tkachuk. The missing piece for Ottawa last season was a proven starting goaltender.
That’s exactly the path the Red Wings are on this season. The Wings have a solid young core with a strong leader in Dylan Larkin. The Wings have the makings of a tremendous blueline group.
But they just needed a bona fide starting netminder.
That’s what John Gibson is meant to be. While Gibson has been hurt over the last couple of seasons, he isn’t far removed from his last healthy, productive season. It could be that Gibson is just what the Red Wings need to push them over the top this season.
Red Wings have more young guns graduating to the NHL
This season, the Red Wings have three more young guns poised to make a significant impact. Let’s start with the top line and Emmitt Finnie. Finnie is the type of player that no one really saw coming.
The 20-year-old former seventh-round pick will get the chance to play on the top line with Lucas Raymond and Larkin. He proved to be the sort of complementary piece that can dig for pucks and generate chances for his linemates.
While there may not be a Calder Trophy in Finnie’s future, he could be a sleeper pick for a nomination. Finnie evokes thoughts of Michael Bunting or an up-and-coming Zach Hyman before he became a 50-goal scorer.
Another interesting forward is Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. He’s a former first-rounder and comes with plenty of high hopes. He could make his way into the top six sooner rather than later. For now, he’ll be on the third line with veterans J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp. But that may not be the case for long.
If Brandsegg-Nygard can prove he’s ready for prime time, he could push some like Patrick Kane for a top-six spot. That may not necessarily happen right away. But the talent is there.
Lastly, Axel Sandin-Pellikka is arguably the most tantalizing prospect in the Red Wings’ pipeline. He has the potential to be a top-pairing defenseman. While Moritz Seider is firmly entrenched as the number-one guy on the right side, there’s no reason why Sandin-Pellikka couldn’t anchor the second pairing.
With two top-pairing, right-shot blueliners, the Red Wings' lineup could be an embarrassment of riches.
If everything goes well, that is, the rookies can hit the ground running this season, the Red Wings could become a hard team to play against. The youth and hunger to win could give coach Todd McLellan the arsenal he needs to nuke the Atlantic Division.
Of course, that’s a big if at this point. There will surely be growing pains this season. It could even be that the Red Wings struggle out of the gate. Fans shouldn’t be disappointed to find the Wings even miss the playoffs again this season.
But the foundation could be set for the club to emerge as a serious contender in the next two to three seasons.