{"id":36448,"date":"2025-07-03T22:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T22:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/36448\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T22:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T22:33:09","slug":"red-wings-thoughts-could-steve-yzerman-have-another-move-in-store-plus-prospect-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/36448\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Wings thoughts: Could Steve Yzerman have another move in store? Plus prospect notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

DETROIT \u2014 Two years ago, the biggest move of the Detroit Red Wings\u2019 offseason did not come in the first week of free agency. It was not until July 9 in 2023, that the Red Wings made their big summer splash, acquiring winger Alex DeBrincat, who quickly became one of the team\u2019s most important players.<\/p>\n

Will that be the case again this year? That\u2019s the big question right now, with two of the Red Wings\u2019 key needs still up in the air after a quiet free agency period. Detroit\u2019s big move so far is trading for goaltender John Gibson during the draft, and Gibson has plenty of potential to be an upgrade in the crease. Beyond that, they\u2019ve added a pair of wingers in James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, plus depth defender Jacob Bernard-Docker. But as for the top-four defenseman and top-six winger the Red Wings wanted and needed coming in? Those have not been meaningfully addressed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible, frankly, that they won\u2019t be. General manager Steve Yzerman held his press conference Thursday, which certainly doesn\u2019t rule out any other moves, but generally tends to be an indication there\u2019s nothing imminent in the hopper.<\/p>\n

Yzerman said that over the next week or two, though, it was possible something could emerge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout going into detail or elaborating, there are a couple teams looking to do some things that we do have some interest in, and are possibilities,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething might come up over the summer, for whatever reason, in another organization. But what I intend to do is, once things settle down here \u2014 we\u2019ve got the holiday weekend \u2014 would be to circle back next week with everyone to see what their plans are for the offseason, if they have any holes to fill, or players, for whatever reason, they want to move. So we\u2019ll see if anything comes up here in the next week or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the last real kernel of intrigue remaining in this offseason, vague and open-ended as it may be.<\/p>\n

Some thoughts on where it all leaves Detroit:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. At this point, it\u2019s hard to know what those trade possibilities could even be. The two defensemen that arguably made the most sense for the Red Wings, K\u2019Andre Miller and Nicolas Hague, have both already been dealt. Forward Mason Marchment, another potential fit, went off the board early to Seattle.<\/p>\n

Assuming Jason Robertson doesn\u2019t get traded \u2014 and it doesn\u2019t look like Dallas will need to, at this stage \u2014 the big forward names thought to be on the trade market are a pair of Penguins veterans, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, both coming off career years. Both are in their early 30s now, so they\u2019re not long-term core pieces, but they do each have three years remaining on contracts in the $5 million AAV range.<\/p>\n

On defense, there\u2019s RFA Bowen Byram, but you do wonder about the fit, specifically if he\u2019d be happy going to another situation where he\u2019s not guaranteed to run the top power play.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, what\u2019s out there? Surely, there are names that haven\u2019t leaked being discussed by general managers, but it\u2019s not like there\u2019s a robust trade market to draw from.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. I\u2019ll have a more thorough depth chart analysis coming early next week, but let\u2019s take a stab at a projected forward lineup.<\/p>\n

Right now, I\u2019d guess something like:<\/p>\n

James van Riemsdyk \u2013 Dylan Larkin \u2013 Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat \u2013 Marco Kasper \u2013 Patrick Kane
Andrew Copp \u2013 J.T. Compher \u2013 Mason Appleton
Elmer S\u00f6derblom \u2013 Michael Rasmussen \u2013 Jonatan Berggren<\/p>\n

Yzerman talked about Appleton giving head coach Todd McLellan the chance to put together a checking line that contributes offensively, as well, so the question is really who else is on that line. We can safely assume the center will be one of Compher or Copp, and Yzerman has talked in the past about the possibility of both being on a line together, alternating faceoff responsibilities by side of the ice. So that\u2019s what I\u2019m going with here.<\/p>\n

That being said, I also wonder if that fourth line could benefit from a more offensively inclined center than Rasmussen. Do you swap him for either Copp or Compher, in that case? Rasmussen, after all, can play both center and wing, and certainly fits a checking role. And either Copp or Compher could perhaps facilitate more offense for the two skilled wingers S\u00f6derblom and Berggren.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also not positive that it\u2019ll be van Riemsdyk up top. That spot, too, could certainly go to either Copp or Compher, S\u00f6derblom, or even Berggren \u2014 with van Riemsdyk then slotting as more of a depth scorer. My thought here was that his net front presence and size would play well with Larkin and Raymond, but van Riemsdyk has averaged 13:30 and 12:24 in ice time the last two seasons, so the top line could be a big jump for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think we have a lot of flexibility that he can go up and down the lineup,\u201d Yzerman. \u201cAnd if you check his usage in Columbus, that\u2019s exactly what he did. He could play up on their first line at times, up and down, he\u2019s a useful power play guy. \u2026 There\u2019s some flexibility for Todd now, and with his line combinations. He can be equally effective up and down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Red Wings signed James van Riemsdyk to a one-year contract with a $1 million cap hit. (Nathan Ray Seebeck \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

As for the \u2018D,\u2019 since there have been no major changes, I\u2019d think you\u2019re still looking at a top pair of Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider, a second pair of Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson, and a third pair that is a sort of rotation between Bernard-Docker, Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Regardless of the line combinations, if that is the roster, and the Red Wings aren\u2019t able to make another add, the obvious question is: is this a better team than Detroit had a year ago?<\/p>\n

I think the answer is probably yes, but not by a large margin. The only real subtraction is Vladimir Tarasenko, and by adding Gibson in net, plus another year of growth from Kasper, Edvinsson, Johansson, and even Seider and Raymond, there\u2019s the potential for some progress. That\u2019s in addition to keeping McLellan, under whom the Red Wings did look better than in their first half.<\/p>\n

That being said, Yzerman acknowledged the New Coach Bump is over now, and that \u201cit\u2019s up to the players and the coaches to show that they can sustain that level, and I expect them to.\u201d<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. The Red Wings went 26-18-4 in 48 games under McLellan, a 96-point pace over a full season. If they could do that in 2025-26, it would put them in playoff range \u2014 albeit still not a slam dunk.<\/p>\n

The last two years in the Eastern Conference, that cutoff has been 91 points. In 2023, it was 92. But the year before that, it took 100, and there are certainly teams in the race who are getting better. Montreal added Noah Dobson. The Rangers added Vladislav Gavrikov. Columbus, like Detroit, has plenty of young talent that could spur more improvement.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a crowded field, and while the Red Wings are in that group, they haven\u2019t distinguished themselves from it.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. There are also fair questions about the sustainability of what Detroit did in the second half under McLellan. The general manager clearly expects that to be the standard, but consider that under McLellan, the Red Wings still ranked 22nd in expected goals share (and 21st in actual goals share) at five-on-five in that span. Their elite power play boosted them, and could very well continue to, but this still was not a five-on-five powerhouse.<\/p>\n

Again, that speaks to the need for existing players to drive some improvement, as well as the additions like Appleton potentially slotting the lineup into more natural roles.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong>. I asked Yzerman about how, if at all, the age of some of his current key pieces shapes his approach. Kane is 36. Larkin is squarely in his prime, and will soon turn 29, and DeBrincat will be 28 in December, with just two years before he can become a free agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Brad Marchand at 37 just signed a six-year contract, so I\u2019ve got Dylan for another 15 years I figure, so we\u2019ve got plenty of time,\u201d he began, clearly joking. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to build around that same group of guys. They\u2019ve got a lot of years ahead of them, which isn\u2019t comforting at all to anybody, but I\u2019m not concerned with the age of Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat \u2014 they\u2019re great athletes, they train hard, they take good care of themselves and they\u2019re very motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also added, \u201cBelieve it or not, we are trying to improve our team, we are trying to get in the playoffs.\u201d He alluded to the younger players who grew into big roles last year \u2014 Edvinsson, Kasper and Johansson at the top of that list \u2014 and certainly it\u2019s possible another young name gets added to that list this year. Perhaps, at some point, that\u2019s young center Nate Danielson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just kind of keep sticking with it, and again, unfortunately the free agent situation this year wasn\u2019t conducive to getting a real impact player for us,\u201d Yzerman said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll keep that option open.\u201d<\/p>\n

7<\/strong>. Speaking of the young players, this week doubled as Red Wings\u2019 development camp, although it was a smaller camp than in some past years. It was a smaller camp roster to begin with, and some injuries throughout the week ultimately led Detroit to cancel its planned scrimmage on Thursday due to a lack of bodies.<\/p>\n

That event is usually the most fertile for observations, so I\u2019m light on those this year \u2014 there were very few head-to-head drills to observe, either. So I really only have a couple of takeaways.<\/p>\n

8<\/strong>. One was Jesse Kiiskinen, the prospect Detroit acquired in the Andrew Gibson trade last summer. I\u2019ve liked Kiiskinen\u2019s motor and scoring ability going back to his draft year, after seeing him with the Finnish national junior team, but seeing him throughout this week, his shot really popped. That\u2019s not a surprise, as he scored six goals in seven games at the World Juniors last year, but it was notable seeing not just how hard it was, but how often it actually found the net. The two aren\u2019t always correlated.<\/p>\n

9<\/strong>. The other was from Brandsegg-Nyg\u00e5rd, who normally, I feel like I notice more in games for obvious reasons: his big traits are his shot and his physicality, and he didn\u2019t get a chance to use the latter of those this week. But what I keyed into, while watching him, was how efficient he can be with puck touches. He\u2019s not someone who\u2019s going to dust the puck off five times before he does something with it, nor does he need to.<\/p>\n

Again, without competition to draw on, it\u2019s hard to make significant conclusions, but I just think he\u2019s a savvy player who doesn\u2019t need to overcomplicate things to be effective. That\u2019s a nice quality to have.<\/p>\n

We all saw Brandsegg-Nyg\u00e5rd come over and translate well into the AHL playoffs, putting up two goals and three points in three games. I think he\u2019ll fit really nicely in that league over a full season in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

10<\/strong>. Red Wings\u2019 2022 second-round pick Dylan James was someone I thought Detroit might have signed by now, after three years in college at North Dakota. James had a career-high 14 goals last season, and the Red Wings really like his skating and penalty killing, thanks to his anticipation.<\/p>\n

James told me he did have the chance to leave after his junior year, but he felt better about the chance to develop more with more ice time as a senior at North Dakota than turning pro.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d like to play on the power play, with the potential for more offense coming there, and \u201cdidn\u2019t want to rush out of there and kind of hinder myself at the next level. I want to make sure that I\u2019m ready before I jump to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obviously, by going back, there\u2019s the threat that James could become a free agent next August. But it sounds like the Red Wings were OK with his decision to go back for his senior year, and they are still the only team that can sign him next spring.<\/p>\n

If they are able to sign him, he certainly has some projectable traits in his game to translate into a checking role down the line.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Dave Sandford \/ NHLI via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 Two years ago, the biggest move of the Detroit Red Wings\u2019 offseason did not come in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[2993,293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-36448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-detroit-red-wings","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114791685174996357","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}