Steve Yzerman’s goal for the Detroit Red Wings is continuous improvement – both individually and as a team. For the 2024-25 team, this means improving upon a 91-point campaign that almost resulted in a playoff berth.
Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, and Patrick Kane will lead the charge. These five will drive the bus.
It’s a team sport, though. The supporting cast needs to hold up their end of the bargain, too. And of that group, four players stand out as critical contributors to Detroit’s success. If these four players can exceed expectations, then the Red Wings will be in great shape in 2024-25.
Michael Rasmussen & Joe Veleno
I’m grouping Michael Rasmussen and Joe Veleno together because much of the same holds true for the two forwards.
First, both Rasmussen and Veleno are entering Year 1 of their third contracts – their first high-AAV deals. The two need to validate their new AAVs – $3.2 million and $2.275 million, respectively.
Former first-round picks, Rasmussen and Veleno haven’t quite lived up to the offensive output typically associated with their draft slots. Yes, Veleno was selected later in Round 1, but a career-high of 0.35 points per game leaves much to be desired. The same goes for Rasmussen, who produced 0.52 points per game during his injury-shortened 2022-23 campaign.
Stronger offensive contributions from these two forwards will significantly bolster the Red Wings’ bottom six, thereby elevating the team’s overall competitiveness. And, ideally, this is done while maintaining or improving their individual defensive metrics.
One area where Rasmussen and/or Veleno can step up offensively is on the power play. The PP2 bumper role is open after the departures of Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong. Will one of these two forwards seize the opportunity?
I’d consider 0.60 points per game for Rasmussen and 0.45 for Veleno to constitute successfully stepping up in 2024-25.
Simon Edvinsson & Jeff Petry
Last season, Moritz Seider over-indexed in elite-player matchups and defensive zone starts relative to the rest of Detroit’s blueliners. You want your No. 1 defenseman to be dependable in all situations, and there were a lot of great teachable moments with Seider’s deployment strategy.
That said, giving Seider all of the tough assignments resulted in others getting the favorable, offensive zone deployments, lest Seider play the entire game.
So with that in mind, the Red Wings need Simon Edvinsson and Jeff Petry—presumably the second pair given their solid play together down the stretch last year—to step up in 2024-25 and take some of the workload off of Seider’s plate. A dependable second pair is an absolute must if Detroit wants to reach the postseason – let alone create opportunities for Seider to showcase his offensive abilities.
In addition, the Red Wings need to replace Shayne Gostisbehere’s offensive contributions. Erik Gustafsson will help, but this is also an area where Edvinsson, in particular, can play a big role. If the towering blueliner can exceed expectations offensively, it’ll be a great value-add for the Red Wings.
Related: 3 Red Wings With Something to Prove In 2024-25
So if Edvinsson and Petry can gain the coaching staff’s trust and be counted upon in crucial situations, that’s a win. Combining to score 15-plus goals would be a bonus.
Final Word
There’s no doubt about it – Larkin, Raymond, DeBrincat, Kane, and Seider will lead the Red Wings this year. But they can only take the team so far.
Detroit needs Rasmussen, Veleno, Edvinsson, and Petry to step up and exceed expectations. Doing so will make the Red Wings a deeper and more dangerous team – and one that’s talented enough to push for a playoff berth.
Data courtesy of NHL.com, PuckIQ, and PuckPedia.
