The Athletic’s Max Bultman makes 10 predictions regarding events which he believes will happen over the course of the Red Wings’ 2026-2027 season. Let’s start at the top:

1. Dylan Larkin is traded by Dec. 1

The Larkin situation is hard to handicap. Even beyond Larkin’s trade list, which will continue to play a big part in the process, the Red Wings have to be willing to make a deal knowing the return likely won’t be players who can match Larkin’s Day 1 impact. Realistically, there’s going to have to be a futures component to this.

And yet, eventually, the distraction factor is impossible to avoid for both parties. While the Red Wings are indeed a better team with Larkin in their lineup, everyone will still benefit from a fresh start. Both sides will have to work together to close the book on this saga, and I bet a few weeks of seeing it play out will be enough incentive to wrap it up.

I’ll say Larkin is dealt within the first two months of the season.

Bultman is not so optimistic about the team’s attempts to battle through the season and earn a playoff spot, however:

According to MLive’s Ansar Khan, coach Todd McLellan has spoken with Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond regarding shooting the puck more, and he’s hoping that Raymond takes heed:

Raymond averaged 2.16 shots per game [last season], down slightly from 2.34 the season before. He’s scored 25 and 27 goals in each of the past two seasons after producing a career-high 31 in 2023-24. McLellan believes he can flirt with the 40-goal mark if he unleashes his shot a little more.

“He’s got a tremendous shot,” McLellan said. “When I sat with him and we looked at numbers and the amount of shots, he is a 30- goal-scorer who gets compared to the 40-goal scorers like DeBrincat. The difference between the two — and they get equal opportunity — I think Razor can get his number up there.

“You take simple shooting percentage. If he can run it at 11, 12 percent, just keep firing away. Now, it’s not done erratically where it makes no sense. Hold on to the puck then. But if he has it, I’d rather him shoot it than defer to anybody else. Maybe to Cat, that’s it.”

Raymond suggests that he understands where McLellan is coming from:

“If you can keep the same shooting percentage and increase your shots, you’re going to score more goals,” Raymond said. “For sure, I want to shoot the puck. I like my shot, but I play my game and I’m not going to shoot for the sake of it, but for sure want to get my shot volume up.

“You set goals coming into a year, maybe not so much stat-based, but maybe your play-wise and what you want to get out of game. You look at shots, that’s one of those things, trying to increase the shots.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the Red Wings’ opportunity to respond to the chaos surrounding the team by winning hockey games, duly noting that the “weirdness” surrounding the team remains a roar of white noise:

“As simple as it is, I think that just calms everything,” Moritz Seider said. “Calms a lot of noise, calms a lot of weirdness that maybe came with the summer. Points on the board is a really good answer to a lot of those things.”

…

“Since camp has started, it’s been pretty normal for us,” Andrew Copp said. “We’ve been worried about our systems, figuring out linemate chemistry, how our own individual games are going, our team game, all that kind of stuff. I would say that it was tumultuous for a while there in the summer, but since we had Larks talk to the team, and [Shawn Horcoff] was named GM and he talked to the team, and since then training camp started, it’s been pretty normal.

“Now we need to get off to a fast start and build confidence and get everything focused on hockey.”

St. James quotes coach Todd McLellan extensively in her long article, and his bottom line is the team’s bottom line: