The Free Press’s Helene St. James examines the Red Wings’ 5 unrestricted free agents-to-be and 3 restricted free agents ahead of the start of free agency:
F Patrick Kane, UFA
Kane has said he wants to come back. (The biggest fan of his doing so: His four-year-old son, also named Patrick.) General manager Steve Yzerman also wants Kane back. Kane, 36, has topped 20 goals in each in each of his first two stints with the team, and was their leading scorer after the 4 Nations Face-Off break this past season, with 28 points in 27 games. He had a $4 million cap hit last season, on a bonus-laden contract.
G Alex Lyon, UFA
Lyon, 32, was a career minor-leaguer with spots of NHL success when he signed for two years at $900,000 per season with the Wings two years ago. He emerged as their starter in his first season, but had a rougher time showing consistency in 2024-25. Yzerman has said there’s interest, as the Wings still want a third, proven NHL guy to complement newcomer John Gibson and Cam Talbot, but Lyon may well find more lucrative offers exploring free agency.
D Albert Johansson, RFA
Johansson, 24, was a bit player under Lalonde. Then McLellan came in at Christmas, and in early January, Petry suffered an injury, and voila, as McLellan put it, “we found Albert.” Johansson had nine points in 61 games overall; eight of the points came in the 44 games under McLellan. He’ll get a raise from the $775,000 he signed for last summer, when he was coming off his entry-level contract.
Continued; Craig Smith, Tyler Motte and Jeff Petry are the Red Wings’ other unrestricted free agents, and Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Soderblom are the Wings’ other restricted free agents.
