Season preview stuff: A 7th place finish, rating the Red Wings’ forward corps, getting the plot wrong and staples for Raymond

Of 2025-2026 NHL Season Preview note this morning:

1. ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski suggests that the Red Wings will finish in 7th place in the Atlantic Division this upcoming season, ahead of only the Boston Bruins:

Detroit Red Wings: The latest amendment to GM Steve Yzerman’s “Yzerplan,” which the Red Wings have executed since 2019: Finally getting John Gibson out of Anaheim for the last two years of his contract. Detroit used four goalies last season, and Cam Talbot was the only keeper. This new goalie battery on a Todd McLellan-coached team gave me pause, but not as much as Gibson’s inability to stay in the lineup does. Otherwise, it’s another season with some young bright spots — Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Lucas Raymond and hopefully Marco Kasper, or else Detroit’s in real trouble this season. The Wings don’t have the talent to make the playoffs but have enough of it to limit their lottery odds. Which is unfortunately the most palpable result of the Yzerplan.

2. Yesterday, The Athletic’s Harman Dayal and James Mirtle suggested that the Red Wings’ defense has a slate of “question marks” ahead of it, and this morning, the duo ranks the Wings’ forward corps as “Below average, but with some potential“:

Detroit Red Wings

Emmitt Finnie – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Marco Kasper – Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp – Mason Appleton
James van Riemsdyk – J.T. Compher – Jonatan Berggren

Extras: Elmer Soderblom, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård

Another team looking for growth from within in order to take a step forward, as the additions (Appleton and JVR) were largely on the fringes.

In that sense, Kasper might be the most important name here, as the 21-year-old’s development into a second-line threat is absolutely vital this season. Whether Finnie or one of the organization’s other young players can provide an additional boost remains to be seen, as the fruits of this prolonged rebuild start to filter in more.

For now, they’re leaning heavily on Raymond and Larkin and hoping for something unexpected to push them out of the mushy middle.

3. Bleacher Report’s Lyle Fitzsimmons lists every team’s Stanley Cup odds, and he gets the plot wrong (as many have) regarding the Red Wings’ managerial situation:

1. Detroit Red Wings (+9000)

It’s good to be a Hall of Famer and a three-time Cup winner as a player in Detroit, but if the Red Wings don’t see the playoffs again, say goodbye to Steve Yzerman.

He’s not going to be fired if the Wings don’t make the playoffs. As long as Mrs. Ilitch and Christopher Ilitch are the Red Wings’ owners in charge of front office personnel, Yzerman has a job here.

4. And we’ll place this one in the “blurb” category, in which Hockeynews.se’s Adam Gunnarsson discusses an Amazon Prime Video documentary about the Swedish national team–which isn’t available in the U.S.–where Lucas Raymond had to get stitches in his head to keep playing in a game with Detroit:

At one stage in the documentary, injuries and fights are discussed. Detroit star Lucas Raymond then tells them he doesn’t see himself as a fighter.

“I try to stay away from fights, but sometimes you don’t have a choice,” he said in the documentary.

However, he remembers an injury he sustained his first season in the Detroit Red Wings – which could have gone very badly.

“Then I got into a scrum and cracked my head.”

He ended up quickly seeking care. To then finish the game.

“I got off and then they stapled my head together. So that it could fit together because you couldn’t sew it Then I put on my helmet and went out and played the next period.”

Tough guy!