The 2024-25 NHL season is just around the corner, and you know what that means: hot take season is officially here!
Like any good hot take, the ones listed here are a bit out there in terms of their likelihood, especially before a single skate has hit the ice in training camp. Of course half the fun is being able to look back on these after the season is over and determining which takes were spot on and which were a bit too crazy.
First things first: let’s serve up some spice and predict what the 2024-25 season has in store for the Red Wings.
J.T. Compher Is Eventually Replaced at 2C
In his first year of the five-year pact he signed with the Red Wings last year, J.T. Compher fared quite well as Detroit’s second line center. He finished the season with 48 points and regularly took shifts in between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, as well as on both the power play and the penalty kill. Assuming there aren’t any surprises in training camp, Compher projects to fill the same role this season.
However, with both Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson looking ready to push for NHL roster spots as soon as this season, room in the top-six will have to be created to accommodate them eventually. Furthermore, Compher’s skill level seems like a proper fit on the team’s third line, whether it’s in a matchup or depth scoring role. Assuming one of the Red Wings’ kids can make the jump – or someone else emerges as a viable option in that role – the organization would probably feel great about having a player of Compher’s caliber in their bottom six.
Justin Holl Is Waived, Plays in Grand Rapids
It is no secret that Justin Holl’s three-year contract he signed last year has already aged like milk. Signed for two more seasons at $3.4 million, the 32-year-old defenseman played less than half of the Red Wings’ games last season despite being brought in to add stability to the right side of the team’s blue line. While he wasn’t awful by any means, he also didn’t do enough to earn the coaching staff’s trust and a consistent spot in the lineup.
Not only is Holl’s deal an obvious blemish on the Red Wings’ cap sheet, but with younger defensemen such as Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson set to push for consistent NHL playing time, having Holl on the NHL roster is becoming less and less of a necessity. But now that Detroit has passed up the opportunity to buy him out and there isn’t any interest on the trade market, the Red Wings may find that the most beneficial move they could make is to waive him and, assuming he goes unclaimed, assign him to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.
Related: Red Wings: 5 Prospects That Should Push for 2024-25 Roster
The reason for this is twofold. First, Holl would make for a quality veteran presence for the organization’s prospects in Grand Rapids. William Wallinder and Shai Buium, both left-handed defensemen, are set to play premiere roles for the Griffins this season, and it would help both/either of them to have a right-handed, veteran partner that would allow them to strut their stuff in the offensive zone. Holl has a wealth of experience that could make him someone the Griffins’ young defenders can lean on in the locker room as well.
Second, removing Holl from the roster would create a roster spot that could go to one of the Red Wings’ top forward prospects. Detroit currently projects to carry 12 forwards, eight defensemen (including Holl), and three goaltenders to start the season. If a player like Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson or perhaps Carter Mazur looks ready to go in the preseason, waiving Holl would be a way to provide a roster spot while also opening up a little bit of cap space in the process.
Yzerman has shown in the past that he is willing to waive players with big-money contracts; he waived Alex Nedeljkovic and Jakub Vrana, whose combined cap hit exceeded $8 million, during the 2022-23 season when it was determined they no longer fit on the NHL roster. If there’s one thing last season showed us, it’s that Holl doesn’t fit on the NHL roster.
Campbell in the NHL, Husso in the AHL
It is no secret that the Red Wings’ depth chart in goal is a little crowded. Ville Husso and Alex Lyon return from last season’s team. Yzerman also signed Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell, two veterans with over 650 NHL games of experience between the two of them. The four of them have varying levels of experience at the NHL level, as well as varying levels of success.
Talbot, signed to a two-year contract, is probably the closest to a lock for the NHL roster among his fellow goaltenders. Lyon, who assumed the starting role in Detroit last season and set career-high totals along the way, should be part of the Red Wings’ plans in goal as well. But with Sebastian Cossa expected to play a bigger role in the AHL this season, either Campbell or Husso will join him in Grand Rapids while the other stays in Detroit as the team’s third option in goal.
Husso and Campbell both have a lot to prove this season. Husso played in just 19 games last season and spent most of the season on injured reserve. Campbell, on the other hand, is coming off an unsuccessful run with the Edmonton Oilers which resulted the Oilers buying out the final three years of his contract. While Husso has been the better goaltender recently, their career stats paint a different picture:
Husso: 132 GP, 69-40-16, 3.01 GAA, .902 SV%
Campbell: 176 GP, 93-52-18, 2.76 GAA, .909 SV%
The highs of Campbell’s career are higher than Husso’s, and Campbell’s numbers are noticeably better than Husso’s over 44 more games of service in the NHL.
There is also the fact that Campbell is on a league-minimum contract while Husso is in the final year of a three-year deal with a cap hit of $4.75 million. Both would have to be exposed to waivers before assigning them to the AHL, but there probably isn’t a single team that could justify taking on Husso’s contract without sending anything back to Detroit – assigning Husso to Grand Rapids would also provide the Red Wings with more cap relief than assigning Campbell. In a season where the Red Wings project to be pretty close to the salary cap, they will probably need all the wiggle room they can get.
Seider Reaches 65 Points
Moritz Seider was dealt a tough hand from the start of his NHL career. Whether he was ready for it or not, he quickly became the Red Wings’ top defenseman a month into his rookie season, earning the Calder Trophy to commemorate his efforts that season. The next two seasons of his career can mostly be summed up by Ben Chiarot and Jake Walman taking turns as his partner while he took on the toughest deployment of any NHL defenseman. His offensive game has yet to truly pop because he’s usually doing his best Superman impression in the defensive zone.
With the anticipated arrival of Edvinsson as a full-time NHLer, Seider might have the highest level of support he has ever had since joining the Red Wings. Whether Edvinsson becomes Seider’s partner on the top pairing or he plays on a line of his own, his play this season could be the key to unlocking Seider’s offensive potential. If Edvinsson can take on tougher assignments at some point this season, that should free up Seider to feast on lesser competition, which should then lead to the highest offensive output of the German defenseman’s career.
To reach the 60-point threshold, Seider will likely need to secure a role on the power play and a steady helping of playing time with the Red Wings’ top offensive weapons. Despite already averaging almost 23 minutes of ice time through his three NHL seasons, the 50 points he produced in his rookie season still stands as his career best. If Detroit can free him up to take on a more active role in creating offense, he has the skill to take his production to another level.
The Red Wings Are Buyers at the Trade Deadline
This one is self-explanatory. The Red Wings finished one point shy of making the playoffs in 2023-24, and that was after they didn’t do anything at the trade deadline other than send Klim Kostin and his $2 million cap hit to the San Jose Sharks. After years of being sellers at the deadline, Yzerman’s decision to mostly stay put at the deadline was a welcome development in the locker room and a sign that he believed in the players already in the organization.
However, their finish outside of the playoffs does beg the question of where the Red Wings would have finished if Yzerman had decided to add at the trade deadline. While it would not have made sense for them to move a first-round pick or any of their top prospects, there were useful players dealt at reasonable prices:
- The New York Rangers acquired forward Jack Roslovic for a conditional fourth-round pick that could have become a third.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired defenseman Matt Dumba along with a 2025 seventh-round pick for a 2027 fifth-round pick.
- The New Jersey Devils acquired goaltender Jake Allen (with half of his salary retained) for a 2025 third-round pick.
- The Florida Panthers acquired Vladimir Tarasenko, who signed with the Red Wings this offseason, for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 and a 2025 third-round pick.
Though there were reports of Yzerman kicking tires in the trade market, we will probably never know how serious his inquiries were and which players he was seriously interested in. It is also far from a sure thing that any of these players would have been enough of an addition to push Detroit into the playoffs. What can be said, however, is that when the Red Wings had their best shot at ending their playoff drought, the front office did little to nothing to give them the boost they needed.
If the Red Wings find themselves in a similar situation this season, Yzerman won’t flinch. Patience is starting to wear thin across the fanbase, and everyone involved with the team probably knows it. While the Red Wings probably won’t be in a spot to acquire one of the top options available at the deadline, a couple of calculated additions could be the difference between ending the playoff drought or watching it extend to nine years.
Now it’s your turn! What are your hottest takes about the Red Wings’ 2024-25 season?
