Yesterday afternoon, Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko spoke about potentially playing on the same line as members of the Red Wings, and this morning (to his credit), The Athletic’s Max Bultman attempts to project the Red Wings’ entire 2024-2025 opening-night roster.
Bultman discusses what the Wings’ top two lines might look like, whether we’ll see Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper or Carter Mazur in the lineup, how Erik Gustafsson will fit in, and how the goaltending situation will get sorted out:
The Red Wings made sure not to leave a spot open that would have defaulted to one of the rookies, but that doesn’t mean one can’t surprise in training camp and win a job (although Simon Edvinsson’s performance from last preseason, which still ended in an assignment to Grand Rapids, poses some real questions over just how high a bar they’ll have to clear).
To me, Mazur is the one to watch, as the oldest of the bunch and with a fearless game that looks naturally suited to succeed on this type of third line. He’ll need to gain some muscle this summer, which is really the last remaining question for him, but if he can then it’s not hard to picture him slotting in next to Rasmussen and Copp — and bringing a nice scoring threat — with Fischer dropping down to the fourth line.
In the scenario where a surprise rookie makes the team, one of Veleno and Berggren could find themselves on the outside looking in when everyone is healthy. Veleno’s game is more tailored to a classic bottom-six feel, and a line with him, Fischer and Motte would have legit tough-matchup potential, while Berggren has more natural scoring and power-play utility.
Historically, the Red Wings coaches have trusted Veleno more, but Detroit does have a lot of goals to make up for, and Berggren has the most obvious special teams fit on the power play. If both are playing well, perhaps Detroit has enough penalty killers to bump Motte out on occasion, though the reliability he should bring — especially in difficult assignments — should not be underestimated.
Bultman continues at length (paywall). It’s always a fun experiment to try to sort out the Red Wings’ personnel machinations in July, but come September, injuries and preseason performances always yield surprises in terms of the composition and order of the team’s roster.
Ultimately, the Red Wings are approximately as “deep” as they were last season, though they could use an upgrade on their “right D” (and is Aaron Ekblad “that guy?”), so we should witness some really excellent battles for roster spots on the big club–and some good battles in Grand Rapids as well.
What does your Red Wings roster projection look like?
Update: Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen weighs in on the Wings’ third and fourth lines:
The recent signing of Christian Fischer provides a more complete picture of what the Red Wings’ third and fourth lines. Andrew Copp will be the No. 3 center, with Michael Rasmussen on wing and perhaps Jonatan Berggren on the other. That would leave Tyler Motte, Joe Veleno and Christian Fischer on a rambunctious high energy fourth line. All three of those players should be in the 100- to 125-hit range. But don’t rule out Fischer playing with Copp and Rasmussen. That trio looked sharp when they played together briefly last season. That situation also will be heavily dependent on how well Berggren is playing, particularly away from the puck.
