Now that we are in half of August, the hockey of NHL preseason is only a month. With a few more weeks until the training camp opens, all 32 teams will complete their duties outside of season and prepare for what the 2025-26 season has in the store. The Detroit Red Wings are no exception because they hope to make some noise in their centenary season.
The outdoor season of the Red Wings is usually characterized by their general lack of activity. Apart from a few depths of deposits, their selection usually looks the same as the one who finished five points outside the play -off photo last season. Without remarkable additions to Forward of Defense, the organization seems to rely on a full season of head coach Todd Mclellan, an important addition to the fold and growth from the inside to bridge the gap to the play -offs this season.
In the coming weeks we will start an example of the Red Wings position groups with the defense from today. From whoever returns to who could join in the future and everything in between is how the defense of the Red Wings looks from the 2025-26 season.
Seider & Edvinsson are at the forefront
Moritz Sider is the face of the defense of the Red Wings since he arrived in Detroit in the fall of 2021. The 24-year-old German is the most confused member of the blue line of the Red Wings. All three head coaches he had in Detroit (McLellan, Derek Lalonde and Jeff Blashill) used him in a top role. Although he has only four seasons of experience under his belt, Seider may take the most difficult workload throughout the NHL, and he has the vast majority of his young NHL career.
In terms of pure defense capacity, Seider is a top 20 defender in the NHL-Hij is probably even within the Top-15. He is the unofficial leader of the blue line of the Red Wings; He has not missed a single match since he made his NHL debut, and the defense of Detroit would suffer enormously if he does this season.
Despute with only 103 NHL matches to his name, Simon Edvinsson has already claimed the second best defender of the Red Wings. The top choice of the Red Wings in the 2021 design, the Swedish defender made his debut as a full -time Nhler last season and was able to play in almost every scenario. His plus-12 rating led the Red Wings last season, which suggests that last season he was the best defender of Detroit in even strength (although the subject requires a little more nuance than trusting one defective statistics.)
Edvinsson, which is 6-foot-6 and is only 22 years old, on average to the north of 21 minutes of ice age last season. When he came to Sider at the top combination of the Red Wings, he quickly settled as the most capable partner Sider had in the NHL. Sometimes they were downright dominant last season, but the lack of depth of Detroit on the Blue Line required that they were split up for most of the season, where Edvinsson stopped things in the second combination of the team.
Related: Can the Moritz Sider van Red Wings take the next step and win the Norris trophy in 2025-26?
Together, Sider and Edvinsson are the two pillars of the Red Wings defense. Both have a good size, both move the puck well, and both have proven that they can defend at a high level. Even without a meaningful addition to the blue line, the defense of the Red Wings can be good enough to reach the late season thanks to the talent that these two players possess.
Chiarot & Johansson Headline remaining crew
Ben Chiarot goes with the Red Wings his fourth season and projects the season in his famous place next to Seider on the top combination. While his place in the Line -Up fluctuated last season, he still spent most of the season alongside the team’s top defender. Chiarot is the most frequent partner of Sider so far in his career, although it is worth mentioning that the 34-year-old veteran is in the last year of his contract.
When Edvinsson did not play with Sider, he usually played with Albert Johansson, the 23-year-old Rookie of the team last season. After they were skating together in the American Hockey League (AHL), they might have been Not surprisingly effective as a second link For the Red Wings last season. Johansson was again signed for a two -year contract in the low season and he projects to reunite with Edvinsson during the second link this season.
Completion of the depth card of the red wings on the blue line are a few recurring veterans and two new additions. Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl enter their second and third seasons in Detroit respectively. Participating in them are free agent additions Travis Hamonic and Jacob Bernard-Docker. Although there are no game winners in this group, they just have to be enough in the roles they get to give the red wings a chance every night.
Bernard Docker stands out as a potential pleasant surprise because of his relative youth (25), and Johansson will want to claim this season as a daily top four defender. Apart from those two, there is no tons to be enthusiastic about when it comes to the defensive depth of the Red Wings.
Chiarot is a respected voice in the dressing room, but the puck tends to go in the wrong direction when he is on the ice, and his fit with Sider is always hit and madam. Gustafsson can produce points from the back, but his defensive game is far from inspiring. Holl was the subject of buy -out rumors this season outside the season, and Hamonic has settled in the role of a soil couple/extra defender. The red wings were connected to various defenders this season, and one glance at their shaky depth card makes it easy to see why.
Reinforcements in Grand Rapids?
In addition to an exchange, the best bet of the Red Wings is to improve their defensive line -up from within.
The best prospect of the organization, Axel Sandin Pellikka, happens to be a defender, and he has a unique skills compared to the established talent on the blue line of Detroit. He is an attacking defender under the 6 feet that excels in the happening with the puck on his stick. He is ready to compete in his first AHL season with the Grand Rapids Griffins afterwards Make a cameo At the end of last season, including all three their play -off competitions.
Sandin Pellikka is generally considered one of the best prospects in sport. Although the red wings are known to take their time with their prospects – especially on the blue line – this is a prospect that could force itself in the NHL prior to schedule. Although it will be difficult for the 20-year-old to win a job directly from the training camp, it would not be that much surprising if he earns a permanent place in Detroit during the course of the season.
After Sandin Pellikka, the red wings have a few young defenders who can wear the winged wheel before the season is over. William Wallinder, a Pick from 2020 Second Round, received a short call-up last season, indicating that the organization has a certain level of confidence in him as a potential NHL player. He has a good size and moves the puck well, but at the moment there is no “striking” function for his game in his development.
Antti Tuomisto, a pick from the second round of 2019, is the oldest prospect in the swimming pool of the Red Wings and has been on the point of a call for a while now. The Finnish defender has settled as an effective defender in the AHL, but there are genuine concerns about how he would do it while he deals with the pace of playing in the NHL. Still, if he is going to have a future in Detroit, this is the season for him to prove it.
The completion of this group is Shai Buuum, a pick from the second round of 2021 set to start his second season in the AHL. After they enjoy a fairly successful Rookie season, the Griffins hope to see him take another step and settle as a top line defender in the AHL. He can also earn a call to Detroit.
Red Wings 2025-26 Defense: Work in progress
There are some exciting defenders at the top of the depth card of the Red Wings and at the top of their prospect pool. That fact alone is enough to have hope that the Blue Line group from Detroit is good enough to do the job this season. Although their collection of depth defenders is not the most exciting, they are all capable of their respective roles. Johansson who is going one step forward would also be a big boost for the top four of the Red Wings.
From a realistic point of view, that is what the red wings bet this season. Without an important addition in the low season, the hope is that the young defenders of the team can take a step forward. If we are talking about Edvinsson as a top 20 or 25 defender in the NHL at the end of the season, the Red Wings would be in a select group of teams that two defenders have in that conversation-and that is a clear opportunity! If Johansson is moving forward that above and Sandin Pellikka forces himself up, the Red Wings could have a very young and exciting group this season.
But all of that is the best scenario. The Veter’s defenders of the Red Wings will have a significant impact on the team’s general game, for the benefit of or worse. However, if one thing has been proven last season, it is that McLellan will not hesitate to play the best players he has, whether they are a Rookie or a 10-year-old veteran. That, as well as the focus on accountability of McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney, fans should hope that this year can and will be different or old.
If the red wings start ending their play -off drought, they will need it.
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