With training camp set to begin Thursday, the Detroit Red Wings are looking ahead with a simple goal: build on 2025-26 and end the playoff drought. That bigger team picture makes 2026-27 a key year for several young players who need to show they can do more - or belong at this level at all.
Lucas Raymond sits near the top of that list. At 24, he’s already one of Detroit’s most important offensive players, but the next step is proving he can carry that load no matter what happens with Dylan Larkin.
Raymond has already shown he can thrive next to an elite center. What he has to prove now is that he can be the guy who drives offense himself, creating chances, helping teammates, and scoring more in the process.
His shot rate is worth watching, too. Raymond’s shots per 60 at five on five dropped from 7.1 in 2024-25 to 6.2 in 2025-26, a dip that raises the question of whether he can consistently pressure opposing defenses.
The skill is there. The 2026-27 season is the chance to show he can be a complete, healthy, well-rounded forward who can anchor Detroit’s attack.
Marco Kasper may have the clearest opening of anyone on the roster. After spending most of last season in a bottom-six role, he needs to prove he belongs in the top six.
His path hasn’t been perfectly smooth: as a rookie, he showed promise, but in 81 games he finished with nine goals and 19 points. Some of that comes down to usage, since bottom-six minutes naturally limit both the quality and quantity of chances.
If Detroit moves Larkin, the door could open even wider. That would leave a major hole near the top of the lineup, and Kasper could be one of the players asked to fill it.
To seize that spot, he’ll have to handle tougher competition, contribute more offensively, and stay effective without the puck. He also has a 0.96 ixG/60 from last season to build on.
On defense, Axel Sandin-Pellikka enters a proving-ground season of his own. The Red Wings spent much of 2025-26 giving him NHL looks before sending him to the AHL around the trade deadline, with strength and inexperience standing out as concerns during his adjustment to the league’s physical demands.
The upside is obvious: offensive instincts, skating, and puck-moving ability that can eventually make him a dynamic NHL defenseman. But that only matters if he can handle the physical side and hold up defensively on a consistent basis.
A strong 2026-27 would help show he’s more than a promising prospect - that he can be a real NHL defenseman and a meaningful part of Detroit’s blue line.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard rounds out the group, and his challenge is straightforward: turn promise into production at the NHL level. The former first-round pick already has plenty on his resume to build excitement.
He posted 20 goals and 44 points in 60 AHL games, followed that with a point-per-game playoff run, and also impressed at the World Championship. But his stint with Detroit was lackluster, and that remains the big question heading into 2026-27.
He has to show that the player who produced in Grand Rapids and on the international stage can do it against NHL competition on a regular basis. The opportunity is there.
Detroit needs more size, physicality, and secondary scoring, and if Brandsegg-Nygard can pair those traits with the offensive growth he showed in the AHL, he could become a real piece of the future.
For the Red Wings, this season is about more than individual progress. Raymond needs to become a true offensive centerpiece.
Kasper has a shot to move into the top six. Sandin-Pellikka has to prove he can handle NHL physicality and defense.
Brandsegg-Nygard needs to make his game translate. If those four take real steps forward, Detroit’s foundation gets a lot stronger - and the conversation shifts from the future to what comes next.
In Other News...
Dylan Larkin News Just Put Detroit's Leadership Plan In Flux
Detroits leadership picture changed quickly around Dylan Larkin, with the Red Wings confirming he has been stripped of the captaincy in a move that immediately alters the tone of camp. Interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said Larkin is dealing with an upper-body injury, and the forward will not be able to take part in training camp exercises as the team sorts through its next steps.
Horcoff also said Larkin will be traded when the time is right, though he stopped short of putting any timeline on it. For a club already navigating an interim front office and trying to stabilize its direction, the uncertainty around one of its most recognizable players only adds another layer to an already unsettled start. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Face An Early Horcoff Test With Simon Edvinsson
With Shawn Horcoff stepping into the interim GM role, one of his first orders of business has been the contract situation with restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson. Talks are underway between the sides, according to Edvinssons agent, giving Detroit an early look at how its new front office setup will handle a key young player who has become part of the teams longer-term blueprint.
The timing matters because Edvinsson is still planning to show up for training camp without a deal in hand, leaving the Red Wings with a familiar late-summer tension around a player they want to keep in the fold. The expectation is that Detroit will push a contract in the range of $7 million to $9 million annually, but the real question now is how quickly the new interim GM can turn a negotiation into something both sides can live with. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Contract Mess Just Got More Frustrating For Key Deals
The NHLs new collective bargaining agreement has added another layer of complication to a Red Wings offseason that already had enough moving parts. With Detroit working through an interim general manager situation after Steve Yzerman stepped down, the clubs contract talks have slowed, and that delay is making life less predictable for a team trying to sort out key business with restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson and pending unrestricted free agent Alex DeBrincat.
The broader rules shift matters here because the league has changed the way teams can structure deals, while also adding new guardrails around signing bonuses, emergency backup goalies and emergency call-ups. For the Red Wings, the practical problem is more immediate than any policy debate: until the front office picture settles, players and agents are left waiting on clarity about who is actually steering the process, and that uncertainty hangs over some of the most important negotiations on the docket. [Read more 🡒]