The Detroit Red Wings keep talking about the future, but the future is already knocking on the door. The problem is figuring out whether the organization is ready to let it in.
That’s the real point behind the growing case for the younger players on this roster: when they produce, they should stay in the lineup. When they make an impact, they ought to be rewarded, not parked in the press box while older options keep getting the minutes.
William Wallinder is the clearest example. The rookie defenseman stepped into the lineup against the Ottawa Senators and then followed it up against the Seattle Kraken with two steady performances.
He picked up a point in both games and drew rave reviews. In just his second career game, he scored his first NHL goal.
“We’re always keeping an eye on the younger ones, but they’ve done well,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said of his kiddie corps of rearguards.
And yet Wallinder has not played since. He’s now sitting out consecutive games as a healthy scratch while Andreas Englund, a journeyman veteran, takes the ice instead.
The same kind of head-scratcher has played out in goal. Danill Tarasov made his first start of the season in Montreal and didn’t allow a goal until the sixth round of the shootout.
McLellan called it the team’s best goaltending performance of the season. Tarasov’s response for that showing?
More bench time. John Gibson returned for Tuesday’s 5-4 OT loss to New Jersey, even though Gibson has given up 13 goals in his past three starts.
That’s the kind of pattern that sends the wrong message, not just to the players trying to earn trust, but to a fan base that has watched the Red Wings lean on middling veterans for too long.
The concern is not that every young player deserves a permanent job. It’s that when the kids show they can handle it, the team should stop blocking the path.
That’s how Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson, and Emmitt Finnie have started to fit. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Anton Johansson also appear to be trending in the right direction.
At the same time, Detroit has already let some names go without giving them a real shot to prove they belonged. Sebastian Cossa, Amadeus Lombardi, and Antti Tuomisto never got that legitimate chance, and that raises the obvious question: what is the point of building through the draft if the draft picks never get a runway?
The contrast becomes even sharper when you look at last season. How much worse would the Red Wings have been if Wallinder or Tuomisto had stayed with the big club instead of Travis Hamonic?
That’s the fork in the road now. Detroit can keep cycling through veterans like Michael Rasmussen, JT Compher, Mason Appleton, and Andrew Copp and hope for a different result. Or it can lean into the young players who are showing they’re ready.
What’s the worst that could happen? The Red Wings miss the playoffs again?
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