Mid-day Red Wings mash-up: Jersey sales, McLellan interview highlights, playoff predictions and power rankings

Of mid-day Red Wings-related note:

1. This does not surprise me:

Here's where the jersey sales standings sit at the start of the season. Who are you rocking for game 1? 🥅 🏒 pic.twitter.com/wy48XWBhvk

— Fanatics (@Fanatics) October 7, 2025

2. If you missed Red Wings coach Todd McLellan’s interview with 97.1 the Ticket this morning, Will Burchfield offered some highlights from the interview:

Other highlights from McLellan’s interview on 97.1 The Ticket

On the evolution of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider: “No doubt they’re not young guys anymore. From an age perspective they may still be considered that, but from an experience perspective they’ve been around long enough they’ve been through many games and seen all different situations. They know the league well and we expect a lot from both of them. Obviously a lot is made about Dylan Larkin being the captain and so be it — he’s a really good captain, he does a real good job — but he needs help and those two are his lieutenants, the first line of support. But it doesn’t end there. We’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of experience. Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, I think of the teams they played on in Chicago and the situations they were put in. There’s a lot of guys that can offer, and a lot of guys that need to be leaned on, when it comes to leadership.”

On making the playoffs: “That’s obviously the goal coming into the season. I was lucky enough to be part of teams that made it here every year (as an assistant coach). It was automatic. You were that good and that strong and believed in it. That’s obviously gotten away from us for a number of different reasons, but we’ve got to find a way to bring that belief system back in the locker room. Now, that’s a long-term goal. We’re not quite in that mode yet. We’ll have some short-term focus to begin with and we’ve got to find some consistency in our game. Last year from Christmas on, we had some real good spells and then there were some ugly ones. We’ve got to solve those problems and then that might give us a chance to reach that long-term goal.”

3. Three of four Detroit News sportswriters suggest that the Red Wings can very well make the playoffs this season:

▶ John Niyo: The rookie roster infusion should give the Wings some extra energy to start the season. Ideally, it’s more than that, though, with Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Axel Sandin-Pellikka in particular adding some missing ingredients offensively. But the key to this team making a leap in the standings still may rest on questionable blue line depth and getting more consistent goaltending. It took 91 points to make the playoffs in the East the last two years. I think there’s enough talent here now to get there, and a better start after a full preseason with Todd McLellan might be the difference in the end. Points prediction: 92. Playoffs: Yes

4. The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted short biographical introductions for the Red Wings’ players:

F Michael Brandsegg-Nygård

Age: 20.

Salary cap hit: $942,500.

2024-25 stats: 5 goals, 6 assists, minus-2 rating in 42 games with Skellefteå (SHL).

Buzz: Made the team after outstanding camp. Strong and skilled, can score from anywhere.

5. And the Red Wings receive the following comment in the Hockey News’s Jason Chen’s power rankings:

21. Detroit Red Wings (0-0-0, even. PR: 22)

The Red Wings are again one of the most intriguing teams entering the 2025-26 season as we enter the next phase of the Yzerplan after acquiring John Gibson and bringing in rookies Emmitt Finnie, Nate Danielson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin-Pellikka. Finnie, in particular, will be interesting to watch as a seventh-round pick who will start the season on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Did they just find another Zetterberg?!