2023 Red Wings to 2026 Red Wings, Part 1

Editor’s note: this was all written around the Olympic break and I forgot to finish it lol. Will be updated later in part 3

When we last checked in with our beloved Detroit Red Wings, the 2022-23 season had just ended in failure with a fourth consecutive 1^st round playoff loss, this one to the dastardly Montreal Canadiens. The Wings had finished the season 3^rd in both the NHL and the Eastern Conference with a 110 point season that still stands as a team record three seasons later.

Since January of 2023, a lot has changed in the world – to say the least – but apparently the MRFHL Red Wings have ended up right back where they were exactly 3 years ago! Detroit currently sits 1^st in the Daigle division, 3^rd in the East, and 5^th in the MRFHL with a 26-13-5 record. There may be a lot of new faces in the dressing room, but overall, the Detroit Red Wings of today has a lot of parallels to that 2023 team. I thought it would be worth laying out the journey of how the Red Wings went from 3^rd in the East in 2023 to 3^rd in the East in 2026.

2023 Red Wings

Pavelski              McDavid             Svechnikov
               Meier                    E Lindholm        Ehlers
               Jenner                  Hertl                    F Gaudreau
               Paul                     Boyle                   Silfverberg
               Scratches: Cozens, Thomas, Kakko, Byfield, M Barron, Cole Smith, Toropchenko, Eyssimont

               Heiskanen         Burns
               A Carrier             Faulk
               Mayo                    Hakanpaa
               Scratches: Shea Maatta, Fabbro, Timmins

               Jarry
               Hart  Ingram


Taking a look back on the 2023 team, we see a jam packed roster that had an abundance of players at every position but maybe lacked in top end talent outside of McDavid and veteran pending UFA Pavelski. The bottom six forwards performed mostly very good, highlighted by a +24 from veteran UFA signing Brian Boyle and similar from Hockeytown fan favorite Freddy Gaudreau, but Nick Paul was just the absolute worst trade deadline add you could imagine. He had no points in 22 regular season + playoff games before ending the year in the press box for the final 2 games of the playoffs. Ehlers was a bright spot after coming over in an in-season trade for Ryan Hartman.

On defense, the bottom pair of Dysin Mayo and Alex Carrier was fantastic for the regular season at +19 and +18 respectively, but the magic had worn off by playoffs and Mayo found himself scratched by year end. Burns and Hakanpaa were horses start to finish, but unfortunately Heiskanen was the opposite, and the team bled goals with him on the ice. In net, Jarry was generally good-not-great and Hart ended up being moved in-season as part of the deal for prospect Jake Sanderson. Within a week Connor Ingram was acquired to be his replacement as backup and (hopefully) goalie of the future. He wasn’t asked to do much.

Looking back 3 years later it’s interesting to see all three goalies generally struggling but nearly every single one of the healthy scratches/top callup options have since established themselves. From checkers like Eyssimont, Shea, Morgan Barron, Fabbro, and Timmins to top of the roster talents like Cozens, Kakko, Byfield, and Thomas. The lone exception being Dysin Mayo who went from being close to a full time NHLer in 2023 to a bubble guy in 2026. Robert Thomas is the last man standing of this group, the rest having moved on to productive careers in other locations in the endless series of roster tinkering by the restless GM Evans.

All in all, that 2023 team was not good enough to get it done on the big stage, so GM Evans took an axe to the roster. These deep cuts included key players like Lindholm, Hertl, Pavelski, Jenner, Cozens, and Ehlers. The pain was immediate, but some of the payoff was too, starting with a legendary 2023 draft class.

In that 1^st round the Red Wings selected Ryan Leonard 6^th, Dalibor Dvorsky 7^th, Nate Danielson 10^th, and Gabe Perreault 14^th overall. Rounds 2 and 3 would yield three useful trade chips in Kalan Lind, Hunter Brzustewicz, and Denver Barkey. The 4^th round, almost entirely dominated by the LA Kings with over a dozen picks, yielded only Matthew Maggio, round 5 underwhelmed as well with only Alex Jefferies selected, but deep in round 6 the Red Wings managed to unearth some gems in Colin Graf, Gerogii Merkulov, Dyllan Gill, Sergei Murashov, and Vsevolod Komarov.

The many trades during the bloodbath Summer of 2023 are listed below in chronological order:

• Alex Carrier for Morgan Geekie, later flipped for 2024 WAS 3^rd + Hoefenmeyer
• Mayo + Pavelski’s UFA rights for Kovacevic + 2024 BOS 4^th
• Eyssimont for 2023 WPG 4^th + 6^th
• Hertl + 2024 ARZ 4^th for Buchnevich
• Hakanpaa UFA rights for 2023 NAS 4^th
• Cozens + Ehlers + 2023 SJS 4^th for 2023 VGK 1^st + 2023 PHI 1^st + Walman + Buchelnikov + Sprong + Merilainen + 2023 VGK 4^th

• Elias Lindholm for Lekkerimaki + Sapovaliev + Adien Thompson + 2024 CBJ 3^rd
• Jenner + 2023 ANA 1^st for 2023 CAR 1^st

After this flurry of offseason changes, the tempest unleashed was unable to be quelled, and GM Evans ended up continuing to make trades well into the season. Eventually, Detroit replaced their under-performing starter Jarry, swapping him for veteran Cam Talbot. Despite, or perhaps because, of this constant turnover, the Red Wings missed playoffs in 2023-24 with a 90 point season.

The focus of the offseason this time, however, would not be solely on acquiring draft picks and prospects. This time the Red Wings sat out the first round entirely, only selected Julius Miettinen round 2 after flipping their higher 2^nd round pick for Mukhamadullin and a future 2^nd, and had only a few draft picks in general highlighted by late round gem Justin Poirier.

What the Red Wings did do, however, was add Hedman, Lafreniere, and Sherwood via trades and get a ton of internal growth from guys with Thomas, Sanderson, Byfield, etc. Unfortunately, this didn’t quite seem to do the trick until finally a pair of December 2024 trades for Brandon Hagel and Aaron Ekblad with rival Montreal righted the ship and launched the Red Wings up the standings. Encouraged by what he saw, GM Evans ended up pushing some chips in, adding long term pieces Armia, Kovacevic, and Ryker Evans, and adding pending UFAs William Nylander and Linus Ullmark to the team for Byfield and a collection of future pieces before eventually finishing the season with a respectable 96 points. The Wings would go on to win their first ever playoff round in 2025 before falling in round 2 to the Washington Capitals.

Finally, a spark of hope.

-Detroit Free Press
(some point early 2026)