Welcome back to Red Wings Weekly! In this weekly column, we like to take a look at the Red Wings’ most recent week of play, identify players and/or trends that stand out, and then look ahead and find out what the next week has in store for the team from Hockeytown. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
What a difference a week makes. After an embarrassing elimination at home in their season opener, the Detroit Red Wings are on a roll against tough Atlantic Division opponents. In the 2024-2025 season, Detroit went 11-13-2 against their own division, making it difficult to make up ground against their direct competitors for a wildcard playoff spot such as the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators. Early this season, Detroit is already 4-1-0 against division rivals, putting them in a much better spot as margins tighten in the spring (via. Natural hat trick).
So how did they get here? Let’s take a look at their games this week and some takeaways from an excellent week of Red Wings hockey.
Mason Appleton, first liner?
October 13 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 win
Red Wings fans don’t get to hear this often, so enjoy this. Detroit just signed the Toronto Maple Leafs as their goaltender.
The downside is that the only time you really need your goalkeeper to stand on his head, as Cam Talbot did in this game, is when you are being outplayed. Detroit wasn’t the better team, but winning games when you’re outmatched and your best winger goes down with an upper-body injury is a sign of a level of resilience and fight that this team hasn’t shown much in the last decade.
Related: Red Wings Weekly #1 – Questionable Debuts
Lucas Raymond’s injury is not taken into account seriously and the team considered it an everyday occurrence before bringing him back into the lineup on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers. As soon as he went down in this game, Detroit moved Mason Appleton to the top line, which was a bit of a surprise at first, but his performance there has made it clear that he can handle the increased responsibility in short bursts. Appleton even scored the game winner to break a late tie in the final minute of the third period, leaving Toronto up by two points.
Cam Talbot for Vezina
October 15 vs. Florida Panthers, 4-1 win
In his first full game as a member of Detroit’s first line, Appleton looked strong, scoring two goals that reflected his hustle and solid positioning. This game was a lot closer than the score indicates, with Detroit putting the game away late after two empty-net goals. Regardless, Detroit stuck with the two-time reigning champions despite significant injuries on both sides.
This was another phenomenal game for Talbot, who seems to be establishing himself as the 1A tandem starter early on, saving a ridiculous 3.4 goals over expectations (via Natural Stat Trick). Simon Edvinsson has also had an excellent performance, making it increasingly likely that he will start the 2026-27 season as the Red Wings’ highest-paid player. One final note is that Detroit’s penalty kill looked good early on, fending off a huge penalty in the third period when Detroit was still ahead by just one goal.
Goes stripes
October 17 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 OT win
The winning streak reaches four games! Detroit took the lead early and dictated the pace of this game for the first 40 minutes. In the final frame, the Lightning turned up the pressure and made John Gibson work for his first win with the Red Wings, but he was equal to the task and made several big stops as the third period progressed, giving Detroit a chance to win in overtime.
Unsurprisingly, Dylan Larkin was the man for the job, scoring the extra-time winner in a breakaway against Andrei Vasilevskiy. Axel Sandin Pellikka had a remarkable night, scoring his first career NHL goal and even getting fouled out to start the overtime period. Emmitt Finnie also had his best game of the season so far, killing penalties with authority and giving Tampa Bay problems on the forecheck. Detroit’s penalty kill was once again excellent, holding the Lightning without a single shot through three power play opportunities.
3 tips of the week – Overreactions edition
Mason Appleton – First line forward?
Since being elevated to Detroit’s first line, Appleton has scored three goals and added an assist in two and a half games. Could he fit on the left wing of Detroit’s first line if the team believes Finnie needs a different path to development, either in the AHL or as a center lower in the lineup? He’s connecting on over 40% of his shots so far this year, so that’s definitely going down, but he could still be an effective first-line player if that goes above 10% in the future.
Patrick Kane will make Team USA
It’s showtime in Milan.
Patrick Kane looks his best in a Red Wings uniform. He wins foot battles, makes plays and scores goals at a rapid pace with Detroit’s second line. He currently has two goals and five points in as many games, which might just open the door some conversations with USA Hockey.
First, Kane would be a tremendous leader for Team USA given both his Olympic experiences in 2010 and 2014 and his NHL experience that totals more than 1,300 games played and nearly double the career points of the next highest-scoring active American player in the NHL. Secondly, Kane is still an effective playmaker, especially on the power play, who has come to terms with no longer being the focal point of his team’s attack. I think he would slot well into Team USA’s third line as a depth scorer, or he could be their 13th/14th forward and fulfill his leadership role in a more off-ice capacity.
Todd McLellan is an early Jack Adams candidate
In the past, it has been observed that a coach who gets a huge turnaround on his team usually gets a few votes for the Jack Adams Award as the league’s most impactful head coach. It is also common to see that the coach of a team that makes the playoffs despite low expectations can win a lot of votes. If these are some of the typical qualifying criteria for this award, then Todd McLellan has to be a (very) early favorite. Detroit suffered a slump and a big blow from the coach after just one game (record time!) and since then they have won four games, all against teams that made the playoffs last year.
3 stars of the week
- Dylan Larkin – 2G, 3A and 3GP
- Cam Talbot – 3 GA and 61 saves – .950 sv% 2 wins
- Mason Appleton – 3G, 1G and 3GP
Outlook to watch
Jesse Kiiskinen, RW, HPK (competition)
After scoring fourteen goals in 46 Liiga games last season, Jesse Kiiskinen is off to a good start this year. After scoring a hat-trick this week, he is on five goals in fourteen games, a pace of 21 goals over a full season, uninterrupted by a break for the World Junior Championship (as he is no longer eligible).
Related: Red Wings Notebook – Observations on Sandin Pellikka, special teams and more
Kiiskinen once again looks like one of the best young players in Liiga, leading all U21 players in goals and second in the league in U21 points. He will definitely remain on my radar this season and should be a candidate for the Grand Rapids Griffins next spring as he is already under contract with Detroit.
Upcoming games
Sunday, October 19 – 3:00 PM ET vs. Edmonton Oilers
Wednesday, October 22 – 7:30 PM ET @ Buffalo Sabres
Thursday, October 23 – 7:00 PM ET @ New York Islanders
Saturday, October 25 – 7:00 PM ET vs. St Louis Blues
Contract comparisons
Last week, Lane Hutson signed a contract extension with the Montreal Canadiens, which will give both parties a similar contract when negotiations on a Simon Edvinsson extension resume. Hutson’s new contract will pay him $8.85 million per season for eight years, slightly less than Luke Hughes and Jackson LaCombe both recently extended (each of them made $9 million per season for eight years with their extensions).
Edvinsson is the most impactful defensive player of that group, but has the least impressive offensive numbers, with his minimum power play time taking another hit with ASP taking over the second power play unit. While Edvinsson and Hutson couldn’t be much more different physically and stylistically, this new contract is just another data point for the many U23 defensemen who have recently signed huge extensions, which should end if Edvinsson were to surpass Larkin ($8.7 million per year) as Detroit’s highest-paid player this time next season.
In other news
Devin Klein:
Simon Edvinsson’s development is key to the Detroit Red Wings’ success
Nicholas Gionnone:
Cam Talbot steps in as Red Wings starter over John Gibson
Evan Sabourin:
Assessing Steve Yzerman’s Free Agency Signings as Red Wings GM
Tony Wolak:
Top 5 Swedes in Red Wings history
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