NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale and Pete Jensen offer a 5-article set which examines the summertime changes by the Detroit Red Wings.
We all know by now that the Red Wings believe that they will improve upon the team’s up-and-down 2024-2025 season, but Morreale’s “Inside Look at [the] Detroit Red Wings” asks the same questions most of us have for the team’s players and management:
The Detroit Red Wings feel they have the pieces in place to be the most competitive group in seven seasons under general manager Steve Yzerman.
“[Our team] is maybe constructed a little better than it was at this stage last year, so I’m hopeful that we take a step,” Yzerman said. “Overall, I think we’re a little bit better. How many points does that translate to in the season? We’re going to find out.”
The biggest reason for optimism is the addition of goalie John Gibson, who was acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 28. The 32-year-old is 204-217-63 with a 2.89 GAA, .910 save percentage and 24 shutouts in 506 NHL games (494 starts) since 2013-14, all with Anaheim.
“Obviously we make that [trade for Gibson] with the intention that we’re better in net and we stop more pucks,” Yzerman said. “It makes us a better team and we’re expecting that of John and Cam (Talbot) as a pair.”
Detroit took a step back last season following a steady improvement since Yzerman became GM on April 19, 2019. After hitting rock bottom with 39 points (.275) in 2019-20, Detroit’s points percentage improved steadily each of the next four seasons — .429, .451, .488, .555. It dipped to .524 last season, when the Red Wings finished with 86 points, five behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
The Red Wings failed to qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, extending the longest drought in the team’s 99-season history.
“You grow up playing hockey and you play to win stuff,” forward Lucas Raymond said. “Obviously, not being able to do that is frustrating. It’s not fun at all. I think I speak for everyone when I say that. Everyone is very determined to change that and take that next step very soon.”
Continued, with discussion of the team’s coaching change this past season, the additions and subtractions to the roster, and the team’s yin-and-yang special teams play…
With that, we’re going to kind of skip to the end here, with Morreale asking “3 questions facing [the] Detroit Red Wings” a month before training camp.
The biggest question is a little repetitious here, but we have to ask it:
Will a full season under Todd McLellan and his coaching staff, utilizing a very similar roster to last year’s team, manage to “move the needle” as teams like Ottawa and Montreal more aggressively attempt to improve?
Are the Red Wings better now than a season ago?
Detroit gets a full season of coach Todd McLellan and that alone should help provide a bit more stability and competition from the outset. The club is in a different position than it was five years ago in that there’s a good young nucleus of players already in the lineup and those looking to make their mark, and also some savvy veterans capable of leading by example. After adding several new pieces this offseason, general manager Steve Yzerman said he might not be completely done, either, but Detroit does look primed for more consistency in 2025-26.
The biggest acquisition was goalie John Gibson in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, and his presence alone should boost confidence and solidify a position that has seen 13 different starters since the 2019-20 season.
Morreale also wonders aloud whether Gibson will stay healthy, which is a legitimate query, as well as whether the Wings’ awful penalty-kill can be improved.
Next, we change perspectives as Pete Jensen discusses the Red Wings’ top prospects, including Trey Augustine, Axel Sandin Pellikka, Carter Bear, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, and the player who, for whatever reason, is suggested to be disposable in the case of potential roster-improving trades:
Nate Danielson, F
How acquired: Selected with No. 9 pick in 2023 NHL Draft
2024-25 season: Grand Rapids (AHL): 71 GP: 12-27-39
The right-shot center (6-2, 185), 20, is a big proponent of a 200-foot game and being a complete player, but it’s his hockey IQ that really stands out. He led all Grand Rapids rookies in points last season in his first professional season, and he scored once in three 2025 Calder Cup playoff games. Danielson is very versatile, capable of playing center or on the wing.
“His best game was his last game (in a 5-4 double-overtime loss to Texas in the AHL Central Division semifinal round),” Cleary said. “He played very competitively. I know we lost in double overtime, but he was tremendous. He got to experience a must-win game. He brought it and that’s how he’s going to have to play in the fall (at training camp).”
Projected NHL arrival: This season
Continued; Marco Kasper’s status as the Red Wings’ second-line center may have made Danielson somewhat redundant, but the former Brandon Wheat Kings captain is super-competitive and super-confident in himself, and he’s my dark horse candidate to crack the roster’s top-nine forward group.
We all want to see ASP’s playmaking and MBN’s big, heavy shot on the team ASAP, but Danielson’s all-round game and almost-cocky level of self-belief merit praise as well.
NHL.com’s Jensen also examines the “NHL EDGE” stats in which the Red Wings excelled…
Elite advanced stats of Larkin, Seider
In addition to Larkin’s power-play offensive zone time, Detroit’s captain was also in the 95th percentile or better among forwards in other key EDGE stats categories:
• 20-plus mph speed bursts: 234 (97th percentile)
• Total skating distance: 274.26 miles (99th percentile; fifth among forwards)
• High-danger shots on goal: 80 (95th percentile)
• High-danger goals: 21 (97th percentile; just outside NHL’s top 10)Another advanced stats standout on the Red Wings is Moritz Seider, their defenseman cornerstone. The 24-year-old, who was the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, ranked in the 80th percentile or better at his position in eight different underlying metrics last season:
• Top skating speed: 22.88 mph (90th percentile)
• Total skating distance: 291.30 miles (99th percentile; fifth in entire NHL)
• Top shot speed: 95.54 mph (81st percentile)
• Mid-range shots on goal: 31 (91st percentile)
• Mid-range goals: 4 (89th percentile)
• Long-range shots on goal: 74 (89th percentile)
• Long-range goals: 3 (85th percentile)
• Power-play offensive zone time percentage: 62.7 (94th percentile)
And finally, Jensen discusses the Red Wings’ best fantasy hockey picks, as well as their potential point projections.
It’s not a Red Wings season preview with mentioning the Red Wings’ Dynamic Duo of Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond:
1. Moritz Seider, D
NHL.com point projection: 52
Seider was one of two defensemen with at least 40 points (46) and 200 hits (212) last season; the other was MacKenzie Weegar of the Calgary Flames (47 points; 223 hits). Seider also had an NHL career-high 24 power-play points (ninth among defensemen). The 24-year-old is ranked among NHL.com’s top five fantasy defensemen and the top 50 overall players in standard leagues.
2. Lucas Raymond, F
NHL.com point projection: 82
Over the past two seasons combined, Raymond is tied for 29th in the entire NHL in points (152 in 164 games). The 23-year-old had NHL career highs in assists (53), points (80) and power-play points (37; tied for third in League behind Nikita Kucherov’s 46, Nathan MacKinnon’s 38) last season. Raymond should be considered a fringe top 50 overall player in standard leagues and fringe top 20 option in keeper and dynasty formats.
Finally, the NHL’s YouTube channel will post a YouTube video including every goal that the Red Wings scored this past season a little later today, and I’ll embed it as soon as the code is available
