Heading into free agency, concerns arose about the Detroit Red Wings' level of activity. During an interview before the start of free agency, Steve Yzerman warned that he was not optimistic about the team's chances in free agency and would focus more on the trade market.
With a few holes on the roster, this was the last thing fans wanted to hear; however, they held out hope that Yzerman would make a blockbuster deal during the opening days of free agency.
However, after the initial rush of free agency, the Red Wings were not overly aggressive. They signed several veteran players and made one trade, but did not make a splashy move to shake up the roster. The Wings are not much better than they were at the end of the 2024-25 season, which is something that should worry fans.
The Red Wings are not much better than last year which should concern fans
The major get of the offseason so far for the Red Wings has been John Gibson. He will be an upgrade over Petr Mrazek, who was sent to Anaheim as part of the deal.
Even after 12 years in the league, Gibson is still an extremely reliable goalie. In 29 games last year, he had a save percentage of .911 and a goals against average of 2.77. He, alongside Cam Talbot, should create a decent goalie tandem that will put the team in a position to win games.
However, outside of Gibson, there were no other upgrades on the roster. Sure, they signed guys like Jacob Bernard-Docker and James van Riemsdyk to one-year deals. They also re-signed contributors like Patrick Kane and Albert Johansson to new deals.
These are low-risk, high-reward deals for Detroit. Although these players are older or have underachieved, the hope is that the Red Wings can identify their issues and extract the last bit of quality hockey from them.
But these deals are not the big moves that fans were expecting them to make. There were rumors that they would acquire a young impact defenseman like K'Andre Miller; however, they failed to do so.
A trade like this would be a significant upgrade for the team, despite the struggles Miller has faced over the past few seasons. He would have slotted right into the top four and would have provided a much more stable upgrade.
Instead, fans have to hope that all these aging veterans or underachieving players will have a career year—a recipe for disaster. Putting so much stake into older players turning it around is usually what causes teams to struggle. They are typically unable to live up to the hype they once had and often become a black hole on the roster—someone who is frustrating to watch and frequently catches most of the frustration of the fanbase.
After this offseason, fans should be particularly concerned about how the upcoming season will unfold. Even with the upgrade at goalie and just barely missing the playoffs, this team still feels like it's missing something to get them over the top. Yzerman better have something up his sleeve; otherwise, it'll be another lost season for Hockey Town.
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