Young Detroit Red Wings Making Their Presence Known

Detroit Red Wings Embark On Four Game Road Trip
AP Photo/Duane Burleson

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-0. Goaltender Petr Mrazek had his first shutout in over a year. The Red Wings acquired Mrazek, as well as veteran center Craig Smith, from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for center Joe Veleno. The general manager of the Red Wings, Steve Yzerman, said in a press conference after the trade deadline that he did not want to give up future assets in exchange for rentals. I have written in the past that the Red Wings doing everything in their power to extend their Stanley Cup playoff streak hurt them in the long run.

The Red Wings have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2016. The team lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games under former head coach Jeff Blashill. The franchise began its rebuild the following season. In the intervening time, the Red Wings have had an up-and-down record of drafting. However, this seems to be changing but that has not led to playoff success for the Red Wings as of yet. Two Red Wings, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, were recently named to The Athletic’s 2025 All-Under-25 team.

Head coach of the Red Wings, Todd McLellan, did not want to use the team’s lack of experience as an excuse. This was not the case with former head coach Derek Lalonde. “I’m not going to use age as an excuse,” he said. “If you’re in the NHL and if you’re in a playoff race, tough luck. I don’t care how old you are. And that goes with the older players, too.”

Raymond has scored 23 goals and added 46 assists in 68 games played. These 23 goals are the third most on the Red Wings’ 2024-25 team. The Gothenburg, Sweden native who was drafted fourth overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft almost singlehandedly dragged the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. Despite the team’s recent losing streak Raymond has scored one goal and added three assists in the last five games for the Red Wings.

Defenseman Simon Edvinsson is a rookie who has played very well for the Red Wings in his first full season with the team. The Red Wings drafted Edvinsson with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The Kungsbacka, Sweden native, has been on the top pair of the Red Wings’ defense with Moritz Seider for much of the 2024-25 season. He has played 63 games so far this season. Edvinsson and Seider will be the top defensive pair for the Red Wings moving forward.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year in 2022, playing in all 82 games during his rookie season. The Zelle, Germany native, has proven to be durable, playing in every game of his young career. Edvinsson is not eligible to win the Calder Trophy given that he played more than six games during the 2023-24 season. In 64 games played for the Red Wings this season, Edvinsson has averaged nearly 21 minutes on ice per game this season.

Marco Kasper scored one of the most gorgeous goals of any Red Wing in some time to put the game against the Golden Knights away. Kasper is a 20-year-old center from Innsbruck, Austria, who the Red Wings drafted with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. In 27 games played for the Red Wings this season, Kasper has scored 11 goals and added nine assists. In his last 30 games played, Kasper has 11 goals, which leads all rookies. All these goals have come at even strength, which leads all rookies.

In Steve Yzerman’s six years as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, he has rebuilt the team’s roster. This has not led to Stanley Cup playoff success. However, the young Red Wings on the current roster have proven that they belong at the NHL level. If the team is going to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs this season these young Red Wings are going to need to go on a tear in the final 14 games of the 2024-25 NHL season.

ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing Inside The Rink

Join Conrad and Chris as the discuss Gavin McKenna making the jump to the NCAA, Pittsburgh and San Jose making additions, and the NHL season to begin on October 7, 2025.
  1. ITR 47: Then There Was Nothing
  2. ITR 46: Offseason Chaos
  3. ITR 45: Everything Is Happening
  4. ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again
  5. ITR 43: It's Winning Time

Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Ben Scrivens of the Edmonton Oilers

Ghosts Of Oilers Past: Ben Scrivens

With goaltending becoming a more humongous topic among Oilers fans than it already was prior to this season, why not have some fun and reminisce about one of the very few good highlights during the Decade of Darkness? The most historic performance by a goalie in the regular season happened on a team that, at […]

Read More
Utah Mammoth

Utah Mammoth 2025-26 Games To Watch

Year two of the Utah hockey experience begins in mere months, and the schedule is full of games from Central Division faceoffs to meetings with back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions and even rebuilding Eastern Conference contenders. NOV. 12th – vs Buffalo Sabres Easily able to be described as the biggest offseason move General Manager Bill Armstrong […]

Read More
Daniel Sprong Signs Overseas

Daniel Sprong Signs Overseas

28-year-old, nine-year veteran forward Daniel Sprong is signing overseas for the 2025-26 season to play in the KHL.

Read More