The Detroit Red Wings will be looking to add some much-needed scoring depth this offseason. The club sorely missed some offensive punch beyond the usual suspects like Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Moritz Seider.
While the trade market is always a possibility, it isn’t always feasible to find a top-six, 20-goal scorer. And even if such a player became available, the acquisition cost could be too high to stomach.
With that said, the free agent market could well be the solution for the Red Wings this offseason. But with a paper-thin UFA class, Detroit will have to think outside the box.
That’s why former second-overall pick Patrik Laine could make sense for the Red Wings.
Laine is coming off a very disappointing season in 2025-26. After scoring 20 goals the year before, the Finnish forward played just five games before undergoing core muscle surgery. He has not returned to game action since.
The Habs forward will become a UFA this season. And given the way things have gone for him, it wouldn’t be surprising to see teams hesitate to sign him this summer.
But that’s where the Red Wings could take a flyer on Laine. At 28, he is still young enough to where he might have some tread left on his tires. But signing him to a multi-year deal just isn’t feasible. That’s why something like a one-year, incentive-laden contract could make sense for both sides.
For Laine, the opportunity to take a one-year deal with something like a $1 million base salary plus performance bonuses would allow him to show the rest of the league he can still play. Whether that’s in Detroit or elsewhere is ultimately beside the point.
For the Red Wings, such a deal would be a low-cost, low-risk proposition. If he pans out, the Wings get depth scoring at a reasonable price. If he doesn’t, the two sides can shake hands and walk away.
Laine can offset loss of Red Wings veterans
Last summer, the Red Wings pulled off a similar move by signing James van Riemsdyk to a one-year deal laced with performance bonuses. van Riemsdyk worked out all right, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be back next season.
The same goes for Patrick Kane. Kane will also be a UFA after his one-year deal ends this summer. While there's mutual interest from both parties, there's still no guarantee it'll be a fit.
With that said, the Red Wings could be losing two serviceable veteran forwards this summer. They’ll need to find a replacement for their production somewhere. And while there may be other potential upgrades (i.e., Alex Tuch), Detroit will be looking for as much depth as it can get without breaking the bank.
That’s where Laine could become a replacement for one of Kane, van Riemsdyk, or even both.
In a perfect world, Laine would return from surgery to full strength and potentially recapture the form that made him a dangerous goal scorer.
In the worst of cases, Laine would become a failed experiment that cost the organization next to nothing.
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