{"id":567886,"date":"2026-05-06T01:21:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/567886\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T01:21:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:21:27","slug":"offseason-game-breaker-targets-for-the-red-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/567886\/","title":{"rendered":"Offseason Game-Breaker Targets for the Red Wings"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s nice to hear Yzerman admit it. We\u2019ve known for a long time that this roster simply isn\u2019t good enough based solely on talent. In the off-season, I predicted 55+ points from Marco Kasper, about 40 points from Sandin-Pellikka, and 90 points from Lucas Raymond, and\u00a0still\u00a0predicted them to miss the playoffs. Even squeezing blood from the stones on this roster was never going to be enough to get them in. This time around at his press conference, Yzerman admitted that the talent simply isn\u2019t there right now.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, my predictions were overly ambitious for this team because I was under the impression that the game-breakers would come internally. After seeing Marco Kasper struggle to continue his promising form from last season and Sandin-Pellikka\u2019s rookie season looking a lot more like Johansson\u2019s than Hutson\u2019s, it\u2019s fair to say Detroit needs some outside help.<\/p>\n

I can say with a pretty high level of confidence that Detroit is looking for that game breaker to come up front. Mostly because Yzerman flat-out stated the team needs to score more at even strength and needed to provide more offense overall. But simply because of some pretty simple math. The defense core looks pretty steady, assuming Edvinsson and Johansson can take one more step, it\u2019s the best group of six the team has had since the Lidstrom days. The goaltending is also set in stone, like it or not. Gibson looked great, and Cossa is no longer waiver exempt, so he\u2019s going to need to play. It leaves the only place to improve, which is the most important: in the forward group.<\/p>\n

The time for bargain bin shopping is over. The biggest need for this team is a top-line left wing and a second-line center. The over-slotted players like Copp, Finnie, and Kasper will fall into lower roles that better suit them, hopefully letting the depth fix itself. All of the \u201csafe\u201d players Detroit has gone after have been much closer to the problem than the solution; they need to take a risk, and there is a slew of educated risks on the market this off-season.<\/p>\n

Mason McTavish<\/p>\n

\"AnaheimDucks forward Mason McTavish | AP Photo\/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)<\/p>\n

When I first started writing for Inside the Rink just under a year ago, one of the first guys I was really pushing for was Mason McTavish out of Anaheim as an option for either the first-line wing or second-line center. He\u2019s only 23 and hasn\u2019t recorded a full season with less than 40 points in his career, even recording 41 points in 75 games playing only 15:19 per game.<\/p>\n

Anaheim has made their top six centers pretty clear at this point; it\u2019s going to be Carlsson and Granlund for the foreseeable future. Makes you wonder where they see McTavish. Believe me, I\u2019m sure they have no problem keeping him around. He\u2019s incredibly young and could step into the second-line center spot again when Granlund retires. He\u2019s also the kind of player you want to come playoff time, he has a big frame and lands over a hit per game.<\/p>\n

But even in a league where the salary cap is having less and less effect on teams, McTavish\u2019s $7,000,000 cap hit for a third-line center probably isn\u2019t ideal for Anaheim. Anaheim needs to cough up serious money to both Cutter Gauthier and Leo Carlsson. Both of those contracts should be well over $10,000,000 if their agents are at all competent. Not to mention the Ducks only have one of the six defensemen on their playoff depth chart signed into next season. I\u2019d imagine you could see how even Anaheim\u2019s $40,000,000 in cap space could be chewed away pretty quickly. McTavish\u2019s contract could be the difference in making this all work.<\/p>\n

McTavish fits what Detroit needs. He\u2019s a bulky young center who has shown he\u2019s capable of offense. As a left shot, he can play on the top-line wing, or stay at his natural center position. Admittedly, McTavish is pretty poor defensively and plays fairly sheltered deployments. He\u2019s also not as great of a skater as you might like.<\/p>\n

McTavish is probably one of the most expensive names in this group due to his age and pedigree. There are plenty of teams that would love McTavish\u2019s services. There\u2019s still a lot to like with him and serious room to grow across the board. Again, the guy is only 23; he\u2019s far from his peak at this point.<\/p>\n

\"EliasElias Pettersson, Photo: Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n

There\u2019s reason to be concerned about Elias Pettersson. If you thought McTavish\u2019s $7,000,000 cap hit wasn\u2019t ideal, I\u2019m not sure you\u2019ll love Pettersson\u2019s. He\u2019s shown a serious lack of effort, mental fragility, and a lack of scoring ability when the going gets tough. Pettersson is exactly what is wrong with the Red Wings right now, and yet, I\u2019m still willing to take the gamble on him.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the unfortunate part of all this. Elias Pettersson, even in his current form, would be a top-five forward on this Red Wings team. He\u2019s still an upgrade over Andrew Copp on the second line and a pretty vast improvement over anyone in the bottom six. <\/p>\n

The main part of this is that Pettersson is pretty much due to improve. MoneyPuck had his adjusted expected goals to be 21 this season, 6 less than he recorded. He was playing against 95th percentile competition with teammates that were in the 30th percentile according to data from HockeyStatCards. Playing on the worst team in the league with Evander Kane and Jake DeBrusk as your primary support probably isn\u2019t going to get you any great totals. <\/p>\n

This is not me saying Pettersson will become a 90 point guy again if he made it to Detroit. Believe me, I\u2019ve been way too over-eager about this kind of thing before (case in point, my Marco Kasper predictions). But I think it would be disingenuous to say it isn\u2019t worth seeing what\u2019s there. It wouldn\u2019t surprise me if he became a 25 goal, 65 point guy on a line with Raymond and Finnie. Is it worth the contract? Probably not, but that\u2019s where you have to hope the good deals Detroit got on Raymond and Seider can help it even out. <\/p>\n

Nico Hischier<\/p>\n

\"NicoDevils captain Nico Hischier | AP Photo\/Julio Cortez<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard rumors about Hischier because the Devils are going to be under new management and may want to shake things up, but I\u2019m not sure what that has to do with Hischier. Believe me, I want him more than anyone else on this list by a comfortable margin. He\u2019s an incredibly defensive center that would ease the burden on Dylan Larkin while still being able to grab 70-points. I just don\u2019t know why New Jersey would move him.<\/p>\n

The comments Hischier made sounded unsure about staying in New Jersey. He only has two more seasons worth of term on his contract and a 10-team no-trade list. If this new management group doesn\u2019t get the sense he\u2019s going to stay, I could see them making a deal to move him.<\/p>\n

If he is truly available and the Red Wings are one of the teams that could get this done, I don\u2019t know why they should hold back. I\u2019d be alright with Yzerman dropping a Quinn Hughes level offer for Hischier to come to Detroit. He solves the center position for the entirety of the cup window and remains one of the best 1B centers in the NHL. <\/p>\n

The Devils, like the Ducks are in a bit of a cap crunch. Unlike the Ducks, they need a major shakeup on their roster. If Hischier becomes a casualty because of that, Detroit would be too stupid not to pounce on it, but I wouldn\u2019t hold your breath.<\/p>\n

Kent Johnson<\/p>\n

\"KentKent Johnson for the Blue Jackets | Photo by Ben Jackson\/NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n

This is probably the riskiest of all the names on this list. Kent Johnson is probably the least proven on this list. The former 5th overall pick had a pretty brutal season. By almost every metric, Kent Johnson was one of the most disappointing forwards in the NHL this season. But much like Pettersson, it\u2019s a risk I\u2019m ready to take. <\/p>\n

Last season, Kent Johnson was on pace for 70 points. This season, he was on pace for just 24. His 20% shooting percentage from last season was obviously unsustainable, but dropping all the way down to 6% feels unsustainable in the opposite direction. His expected goals was up to 11, which is a minor improvement from the 7 he had. But beyond that, looking for positives is bleak.<\/p>\n

The hope with Johnson would be that he comes relatively cheap into Detroit and can be the current answer on the top line left wing and the long-term answer to Patrick Kane on the second line. While I like the long term goal, I don\u2019t love Johnson in the short term.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a much smaller frame than anyone else on this list and doesn\u2019t play with the DeBrincat-level of bite that makes up for it. He also played much easier minutes this season in Columbus than he would as a top-six guy in Detroit. He faced the depth lines of other teams, primarily in the offensive zone and it would be the opposite if he was to fit in with Larkin and Raymond. Not to mention he\u2019d be playing about four extra minutes each night in those tougher minutes. <\/p>\n

If I seem a little iffy on Johnson, it\u2019s because I am. The upside is clearly there to be a 70 point playmaker. But he just as easily could become a guy who just can\u2019t get it going when it matters most. The reason I said that it was worth the risk before is simply that Detroit needs help anywhere they can get it.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re going to need to try something at some point. <\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from Inside The Rink<\/p>\n

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