Finally, the Detroit Red Wings are about to begin training camp ahead of the 2024-25 season. Coming off of a season where they missed the playoffs by a single point, expectations haven’t been this high for the Red Wings in nearly a decade.
Naturally there are a ton of storylines to monitor throughout camp, but here are just a few I have my eyes on.
Another Look at the Red Wings’ Goalie Situation
While the most prominent storyline related to training camp seems to be whether or not Moritz Seider will get his contract situation settled before it begins, there are a number of things I’m looking at, specifically when it comes to roster battles.
I think the most interesting “battle” in training camp is in goal. By my count, five goalies will be coming into camp thinking that they should play in the NHL this season: Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, Jack Campbell and Sebastian Cossa. Fair or not, Cossa is almost certainly destined to begin his season in the American Hockey League (AHL). Additionally, general manager Steve Yzerman signed Talbot to play in Detroit, so his spot on the roster is virtually guaranteed. That leaves three goalies with varying levels of experience and success in the NHL.
Related: 4 Red Wings Who Need to Step Up in 2024-25
With the expectation that Cossa plays a lot of games with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season, that means Detroit is almost certainly going to carry three goalies again this season. I recently dropped a hot take that Husso would be the goalie that is sent to play with Cossa in Grand Rapids. While I say it’s a hot take for a reason, I do think that the possibility should be more seriously considered by fans and media pundits. As I have also written in the past, Campbell stands out as the best fit to be Cossa’s running mate this season as Campbell’s experience as a former first round pick could prove to be helpful for the Red Wings’ top goalie prospect.
All of this is to say that, gun to my head, Lyon’s spot is mostly secure and Husso and Campbell will have to vie for the final spot. I understand that Yzerman has said he doesn’t want to carry three goalies this season, but he also said he would adapt if that’s how things developed. When you sign two goalies in free agency when you already have three under contract, that tells me you’re either planning to carry three goalies in the NHL or you’re planning on getting rid of one of the guys you already had. Unless something shifts in the next couple of weeks, I’m inclined to think it’s the former.
A More Offensive Red Wings Lineup?
When you ask around and read what’s out there, it really seems like there’s a “default” lineup that people expect Detroit to go with. Basically, it features an offensive top six and a defensive bottom six that Jonatan Berggren is somehow going to fit in with. On defense, experience tends to reign supreme as people aren’t sure what to make of prospect Albert Johansson’s NHL upside.
On offense, I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as some may think it is. I believe that having three scoring lines is better than only having two, and the best way to defend is by playing in the other team’s zone. The Red Wings have the personnel to spread the offense out a little more (especially if a forward prospect forces their way into the lineup) and I think head coach Derek Lalonde will at least want to see what that kind of lineup looks like.
A catalyst for more offense might be Andrew Copp, who made a point in his end-of-season presser that he wasn’t asked to play an offensive role last season, and that contributed to what is seen as a disappointing season for him. I think it is important to point out that J.T. Compher only produced six more points as the Red Wings’ second-line center last season than Copp did the season prior – and Copp didn’t have players like Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane on his wing. I’m not predicting an offensive explosion for Copp this season, but I am predicting that he’s going to look a lot better than he did last season.
Berggren
On Berggren, I fear that the Red Wings are going to make the same mistake with him that they did with Filip Zadina.
Look, some players just simply aren’t two-way players. Some are defensive-minded and, for whatever reason, we tend to excuse that – probably because we generally think that any player’s first job is to do no harm to their own team. Other players are offensive-minded, and that tends to only be excusable if their offense is top-tier. It is pretty well-known that defense isn’t exactly Patrick Kane’s strong suit, but we excuse it because he’s “Showtime” and his team tends to out-chance the opponent whenever he’s on the ice.
Sometimes you have to let players be who they are and nurture the parts of their game that got them to this level in the first place. I believe that a big contributing factor to Zadina not working out with the Red Wings was that the organization and coaching staff, led by former head coach Jeff Blashill, wanted him to focus on becoming a two-way player instead of nurturing the offense that made him such a highly-touted prospect back in 2018. I fear they are positioning themselves to do the exact same thing with Berggren.
This is why I keep finding myself going back to the idea of three scoring lines instead of just two. The organization has said all the right things about giving Berggren a fair shot at being an NHL regular this season. To me, a fair shot does not equate to spending most of his ice time with Joe Veleno and Tyler Motte, two forwards that combine for 79 goals and 154 points across over 600 games NHL games. If the Red Wings are serious about giving Berggren a shot, then they need to put him in a position to create offense. If they do not intend to do that, they should probably move on and send him to an organization that sees him for what he is instead of what they want him to be.
Red Wings Project to Be Capped-Out
With Lucas Raymond’s new deal (eight years at $8.075 million per year) signed, the Red Wings have around $8.7 million of cap space left to sign Seider. Most expect the two sides to come to an agreement in the coming days, and it probably shouldn’t be surprising if the defender’s number comes in higher.
“I don’t think we’re terribly far apart,” Yzerman said about the negotiations with Seider and his agent.
When all is said and done, the Red Wings will probably find themselves just under the salary cap for the first time since the early days of Yzerman’s tenure. While they have a few maneuvers they can make to give themselves a little extra breathing room, the days of acquiring bloated contracts in exchange for draft picks are done. That isn’t to say Yzerman won’t be able to add to his team if he needs to, but the dollars-in and dollars-out of any potential move will have to be considered a lot closer than it has in recent years.
More to Come
As training camp gets started and ramps up, we will start to get a clearer picture of what the decision-makers in Detroit are thinking. I expect the organization’s youngest players to get a healthy dose of preseason action, and I expect the coaching staff to play around with some line combinations that might surprise us. Above all else, I also expect this to be one of the most interesting seasons of Red Wings hockey in quite some time as storylines pop up like weeds week after week.
Hockey season is SO back, folks.
