The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan names 6 Red Wings players who must “bounce back” from difficult 2025-2026 campaigns this upcoming season. Not all of the players he lists are offensive contributors, like J.T. Compher, Michael Rasmussen and Mason Appleton…
Mason Appleton
The free-agent signing from the previous summer had a poor first season, not giving much of the lift to the Wings’ bottom-six forward group. Appleton, 30, had one goal and two assists in his final 34 games, after a decent first half of the season. If Appleton can play at that first half level for 84 games, the Wings will be the better for it.
Appleton might be in a battle for playing time, after the acquisition of Keegan Kolesar and Carter Mazur’s expected promotion to the NHL. Maybe that’ll elevate Appleton’s performance.
But Kulfan does discuss two youngsters who need to improve in Marco Kasper and Axel Sandin Pellikka, as well as…Dylan Larkin?
Marco Kasper
Arguably, no Wings player had a more disappointing season, especially after Kasper had such a promising and productive rookie season. Kasper only had 19 points in 81 games, a sophomore slump for the ages, though there might be a key reason.
Kasper disclosed after the season he was playing with a knee injury that apparently slowed him physically most of the season. If Kasper is sound and healthy heading into training camp, along with the fact many metrics and analytics showed Kasper was fine analytically and Kasper had a lot of bad shooting luck, there’s reason to believe Kasper will bounce back.
A production level of 15-20 goals and about 40-45 points would be a nice rebound season for Kasper.
Axel Sandin-Pellikka
Be it if Sandin-Pellikka is with the Wings, or down in Grand Rapids, Sandin-Pellikka needs to get acclimated to the North American pro game. At times, it appeared he might been rushed to the NHL, struggling particularly on the defensive end.
With seven goals and 21 points, Sandin-Pellikka showed a glimpse of his offensive potential. He handles the puck well and is confident with the puck on his stick. But the physicality of the NHL, defensive awareness and when to take chances are areas Sandin-Pellikka will get comfortable with over time.
Unless injuries occur early the Wings’ defense looks set, meaning Sandin-Pellikka could begin the season in Grand Rapids.
Continued; I don’t know whether Compher or Rasmussen can improve at all over their current levels of play, but it’d be nice if they could; I would like to believe that Appleton is a “bounce-back candidate,” and I’m most optimistic about Kasper and Sandin Pellikka to improve as they continue to learn the game.
