The Athletic’s Max Bultman issues a 3-roster set of educated guesses as to what the Red Wings’ opening-night lineup might look this October. We’ll start at the beginning of Bultman’s article, in which he explains why he offers three versions of the 2025-2026 roster:
The Detroit Red Wings’ offseason might or might not be done.
When general manager Steve Yzerman met with the media last week, he still alluded to the possibility of trade opportunities that could arise in the wake of free agency. He even mentioned there were “a couple teams looking to do some things that we do have some interest in and are possibilities.”
In the days (and possibly weeks) to come, we’ll find out whether any of those will materialize into anything more than tire kicking. If not, perhaps a 13th forward or third goaltender will come into the mix instead.
For what it’s worth, I think that it’s highly probable that the Red Wings will add a Max Pacioretty up front, a Matt Grzelcyk on defense, and/or a third goalie to push the Wings’ incumbents in John Gibson and Cam Talbot (and to support Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava as necessary) than it is that the Wings manage to cobble together a roster-changing trade or two.
In my opinion, the Wings may have to wait until the regular season, if not next year’s trade deadline, to truly address their roster issues.
But as of now, as the dust begins to settle, Yzerman and the Red Wings have a roster in place. And that means the rest of us have a chance to start imagining how the pieces could fit together.
Granted, coach Todd McLellan doesn’t have to pick just one arrangement. Throughout the long NHL season, there are all kinds of combinations he can experiment with — more than we can realistically project here. And the new lineup players the Red Wings added — wingers James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker — give McLellan plenty of flexibility.
So today, even acknowledging the possibility of one more move, it’s worth examining what kind of options Detroit is looking at with its new depth chart.
Continued (paywall); it’s also important to remember that Bultman’s three rosters suggest that the Wings will be fully healthy after an 8-games-in-12-nights exhibition season.
While he offers a roster with a “surprising rookie” making the roster in Nate Danielson, it’s entirely probable that the Wings will have to recall a Grand Rapids Griffin or two to fill in for a player or players that suffer preseason injuries.
The Wings’ roster probably won’t truly establish itself until the team is fully healthy, which it hopefully will be at some point early in the upcoming season.
Anyway, in the absence of Bultman’s rosters, I’d be very interested if you would share your roster estimations in the comment section. Let’s have some fun with this one!