The Detroit Red Wings have yet to address their needs for a top-six forward and/or a top-four defenseman over the course of the last 15 days’ worth of free agency, and it’s assumed by Red Wings partisans that the Wings will at least make one trade this summer, if not two, to shore up their roster.
That being said, the Wings’ offseason has been a bit underwhelming, and it is no surprise that Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon suggests that the Wings’ 2025-2026 season will be worst than its 2024-2025 campaign:
Detroit Red Wings
Last season: 86 points (39-35-8)
Picking any teams outside of the top three or four in the Atlantic Division to say they’ll be better or worse is like playing with fire. So many things could break right or wrong for all of them and those occurrences will have a domino effect on everyone else in the race. But when you look at what the Detroit Red Wings have cooking for next year compared to last year, it’s a little uncomfortable.
Their biggest move was, ideally, shoring up their goaltending by adding John Gibson in a trade with Anaheim. Gibson’s ability is great, but if he’s unable to stay healthy, the Wings will be right back to where they’ve been before.
Detroit’s biggest additions up front were 36-year-old James van Riemsdyk and bottom six forward Mason Appleton. Re-signing Patrick Kane was virtually automatic all things considered. On defense they got depth help with Jacob Bernard-Docker and Ian Mitchell.
The Wings needed answers in a few areas and got their biggest one, goaltending, addressed…only with a player whose injury history will have everyone on pins and needles hoping he avoids any further issues.
If Gibson stays healthy and plays like we’ve seen in the past, we’ll look really dumb for saying the Red Wings will have a worse record than last season. But if he’s average and the depth issues that seem apparent for the rest of the team come true, we’ll probably be correct in our analysis even though we won’t be terribly happy about it.
Continued; I believe that the Red Wings’ youngsters will “take a step” forward this upcoming season, and that the veterans will play well, too…
But my bottom line is that the Wings really do need another goal-scoring top-six forward, and they need a top-four defenseman to alleviate some of the pressure on Moritz Seider to serve as both the Wings’ offensive catalyst and resident shut-down defender.
Those needs should be addressed via a trade or two, and I’m expecting at least one of those needs to be addressed by the season opener in October.
