RotoWire’s Shawn Hutchinson posted an Atlantic Division preview, and here’s what he has to say about the Red Wings:
It’s getting to be proving time for the Red Wings’ core after the team missed the playoffs by the thinnest of margins in 2023-24. They’ve developed players for key roles and have a few more in the pipeline, most notably defenseman Simon Edvinsson and forward Marco Kasper, as well as Nate Danielson in a few years. A playoff appearance in 2024-25 would go a long way to proving the Yzerplan is still on course.
The Red Wings let go of some veterans this offseason, allowing David Perron, Shayne Gostisbehere, Daniel Sprong and James Reimer to walk in free agency. They also traded away Jake Walman just over a year after giving him a three-year extension and dumped Robby Fabbri to clear salary for their big fish Vladimir Tarasenko. Patrick Kane and Christian Fischer were re-signed, while Cam Talbot, Erik Gustafsson, Tyler Motte, William Lagesson and Jack Campbell were added. Outside of Gostisbehere, Detroit is unlikely to feel its losses, and the club mostly broke even or better with the replacements they found.
The top six has plenty of talent between Kane, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond and Tarasenko. A combination of Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher as the second-line center feels like a temporary situation, especially if Kasper can make the leap to the NHL this year. The departure of Sprong hurts the bottom six and power play, but a player like Jonatan Berggren or Joe Veleno should be a fine replacement. Sheldon Dries was also signed for fourth-line depth after a career-best 17-point season with the Canucks last year.
Defensively, Moritz Seider continues to grow as an all-around No. 1 blueliner. Gustafsson and Edvinsson are useful players who could chip in offense and power-play production, while Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Jeff Petry and Justin Holl round out the depth. All can play a physical game, but they offer minimal scoring upside. For the second year in a row, the goaltending situation has emerged as a crowded crease. Talbot should be the starter or a 1A with Ville Husso, but Alex Lyon has proved himself as more than capable of filling a backup role. Campbell is good organizational depth as he looks to get his career back on track following a rough exit from Edmonton. If the Red Wings carry three goalies to begin the year, they’ll all be tough to trust from a fantasy perspective, especially with prospect Sebastian Cossa waiting in the AHL.
The Red Wings should benefit from their close call last year — experience brings wisdom, and the continued decline of former Eastern Conference giants could make a wild-card spot up for grabs. That said, letting restricted free agents in Raymond and Seider go unsigned this long could lead to a slow start. Getting to top-3 in the Atlantic is likely to prove tougher unless the whole roster takes a collective step forward. This should be a sneaky-good power-play team that can also hold its own at 5-on-5, though the goaltending-by-committee approach leaves a lot to be desired.
