This article isn’t necessarily Red Wings-related, but it’s what I’d suggest is an “essential read”:
Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen explains the changes that we’ll see this upcoming NHL season, from shorter exhibition seasons to an 84-game regular season schedule, regular “EBUGs” and some CBA changes:
Just over two months ago, the Carolina Hurricanes were winning the Stanley Cup, the Toronto Maple Leafs were drafting Gavin McKenna, and a flurry of trade action was re-shaping various teams around the league. Now, in what feels like a blink of an eye, a new NHL season is just around the corner — and it will begin a little earlier than we’ve become accustomed to.
Labour Day is next week, which will be followed by the Player Media Tour in Las Vegas, and then the opening of training camps across the league a week later. The pre-season schedule will be much shorter this year so we can get to what really matters, quicker. It’s hard to believe, but in less than a month from now, the 2026-27 NHL season will be off and running.
Continued; Boylen also discusses potential names in the 2027 free agent class, including Alex DeBrincat, who(m) I believe the Red Wings will re-sign:
Alex DeBrincat, Detroit ($7.875 million AAV): The Dylan Larkin trade request remains unresolved, and with Steve Yzerman out of a GM’s chair that has yet to be filled, it’s hard to say how it will be. Between the captain’s unhappiness and an Atlantic Division without any weak teams, the Red Wings might be in tough to snap their playoff drought. Larkin isn’t the only key player to figure out plans for, either. DeBrincat, a 41-goal scorer last season, will see his contract expire next July, after which he could become a UFA.
Detroit’s going to face an uphill battle to even be relevant in the league for sure, and the sooner the team re-signs restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson and trades Larkin (presuming that Larkin is traded by the next GM/president of hockey operations at all), the better…
But it’s gonna be a hard slough given that the Panthers and Leafs reloaded their talent bases, and that Buffalo, Montreal and even Ottawa all took strides forward. Larkin himself called the Atlantic Division the “Division of Death,” and if and only if the Red Wings compete for a playoff spot this upcoming season, it’s going to be a wild card spot.
