A lot has gone wrong for the Detroit Red Wings since entering March of 2026 in prime position to end their then-nine year playoff drought.

Detroit’s 2025-26 season ended on a low note as a third-straight March swoon knocked them from holding the top wild card spot. Their five-point lead on the first team below the playoff cut line became seven points out of the postseason entirely. Everything has spiraled from there since the ignominious end to the season.

Fast forward to now and the Red Wings’ issues are seemingly limitless and mostly of their own making. Former captain Dylan Larkin has taken his puck and gone home to hold his breath for a trade to one of his preferred destinations. Restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson appears to have played his last game as a Red Wing. Now, the team is tied for the seventh fewest points in the NHL.

Since defeating Chicago, 4-1 on October 29, Detroit has dropped six of its last seven games, all in regulation. That Chicago victory was the first following a fairly successful West Coast road trip that also saw Larkin play his final game for the team on October 26th (a 4-3 shootout win at Edmonton).

As the Red Wings weather this storm on all fronts, it’s time to inject a little bit of positivity into the team and fill its vacant captaincy. Luckily, there is an obvious choice to start turning the page from the Larkin saga.

Moritz Seider is already leading this team

While the team is struggling on the ice, the team’s model of consistency, Moritz Seider, has thrived. Following his breakout 2025-26 campaign of 60 points while yet again playing all 82 games, Seider has 13 points in 20 games,. He’s leading the team in time on ice (25:57 per game) and is playing his usual physical game with 31 hits and a team-leading 55 blocks.

The best ability is availability, and Seider has never missed a game in his NHL career. On a team looking for an identity and general consistency, the Red Wings look towards Seider to provide it. When Detroit defeated Chicago in the team’s first game following Larkin’s announcement that he would no longer play for the team, he was the one addressing the team that they were in this together in the locker room.

The Red Wings are Seider’s team

With Detroit increasingly struggling to attract external talent on the free agent and on the trade market, Seider clearly wants to be a Red Wing. That fact mattered when deciding to ink Alex DeBrincat to a long-term extension. It should also matter for stitching the captain’s “C” onto Seider’s sweater.

Things aren’t pretty for the Red Wings this season. The team just blew a 4-1 lead to the Florida Panthers in regulation. The Larkin and Edvinsson standoffs continue while numerous expiring deals in Andrew Copp, Justin Faulk and John Gibson are likely to get moved in the coming months as the losses continue to pile up. With so much working against them, it is high time to inject a bit of life in the franchise and give Seider the captaincy he is proving he deserves.

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