The Detroit Red Wings finished the 2023-24 NHL season with a win in a shootout to the Montreal Canadiens. Despite this win, the Red Wings were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs after the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Washington Capitals on the last day of the season. The Capitals have since been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs after being swept by the New York Rangers. With that in mind, what will the Red Wings’ roster look like going into next season?
General manager of the Red Wings Steve Yzerman said that he expected the Red Wings’ roster to be different going into the 2024-25 NHL season. One aspect of the roster that Yzerman did not see changing very much is the defensive corps. This is despite Yzerman mentioning that the team’s defensive structure needing to change. Yzerman hired head coach Derek Lalonde after the two worked together while Yzerman was general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Overall, I’m encouraged with the progress of the organization and the deployment of some of our younger players. I’m kind of disappointed, as most people are, at the end of the season here because it was, particularly the last week, incredibly exciting.” The job for Yzerman going into year eight as the general manager of the Red Wings is to bring them back to the playoffs. The last time the Red Wings won a Stanley Cup playoff game was on April 17, 2016.
One young Red Wings defenseman who played well for the team as they were chasing a playoff spot was Simon Edvinsson. In addition to scoring one goal and adding one assist in 16 games played for the Red Wings during the 2023-24 season, Edvinsson was deployed in high-leverage moments by Lalonde as the team made a push to make the playoffs. Drafted out of Onsala, Sweden, with the sixth overall draft pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft, Edvinsson is 6’6” and is a technically sound defenseman.
Fellow Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider vouched for Edvinsson and spoke of one day playing alongside him. “I would hope to maybe get a chance playing with him one day,” Seider told Detroit media. “Obviously, I think it would be pretty cool, and then you just got to see if that works out or not. I think it could be a pretty cool D pair for the Red Wings.” Both Seider and Edvinsson were drafted sixth overall during their respective drafts by Yzerman.
The Red Wings recently signed defensive prospect Andrew Gibson to an entry-level contract. Gibson was recently signed to a three-year entry-level contract by the Red Wings. In 68 games played for the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, Gibson scored 12 goals and added 32 assists for a total of 44 points. The 68 games played are the most Gibson has played in his professional hockey career. Gibson is another big defenseman that Yzerman has added to the Red Wings’ system at 6’3” and 203 pounds.
Yzerman said during his press conference on the day that the team cleaned out its lockers that the defensive part of the Red Wings game needed to improve. The roster will be different during the 2024-25 NHL season. Edvinsson and Gibson could be a top pairing of Detroit’s defensive corps. These are the types of players whose games need to improve if the Red Wings want to finally make their way back to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
ITR 31: Let Them Fight – Inside The Rink
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Great piece Andrew
Andrew is a great writer. He gives you all the information that you need to know about what he is writing about. I am so glad that you have Andrew on your team. Thank you for that.