Let’s be honest here, Detroit hasn’t had a very good start to the 2024-25 season. While it’s not necessarily a lost season yet, it’s still November after all, there is definitely a dark cloud around the team these days, with last year’s success casting a long shadow over this year’s troubles. It’s very unlikely that the team finally breaks their franchise worst playoff drought this year, but there’s no reason to despair just yet.
From the emergence of Simon Edvinsson as a first pairing quality defender, to Marco Kasper‘s quick rise up the team’s depth chart, and a few gifted prospects to keep an eye on, there’s a lot of good coming down the line for Detroit. Let’s take a look at 5 major storylines for Red Wings fans to follow over the remaining three quarters of the 2024-25 season, to help keep your mind off of playoff hockey.
1. Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider’s Success On the Top Pairing
After Seider consistently saw the NHL’s toughest minutes in the 2023-24 season, a slight ease up of difficulty and a new defense partner has been just what the doctor ordered. Detroit leaned on Seider so heavily last season that his numbers, both traditional and advanced statistics, took a serious hit. However, since being paired with Detroit’s other sixth overall pick on the backend, Seider has had a real bounce-back year when it comes to play-driving.
Related: 6 Red Wings Prospects Who Could Compete in the 2025 World Juniors
The pairing has been Detroit’s best and most consistent one in all areas of the game, with head coach Derek Lalonde consistently trusting Seider and Edvinsson with the most minutes on the team. The Red Wings have out-shot, out-chanced, and out-scored their opponents with their top pairing out on the ice, something that none of the team’s other regular defensive pairings have been able to do. Someday it would be nice to be able to split up the team’s two big, mobile defenders, but for now they’ll settle for one excellent d-pairing.
2. Goaltending Has Been Better Than Expected
Coming into this season it was easy to point to the Red Wings’ goaltending as one of the weakest areas of the roster. However, that hasn’t been the case through the first quarter of the year, with Detroit sitting 13th in the NHL for save percentage. The signing of Cam Talbot in particular has been a huge win for the team early on this year, with Talbot already saving 7.6 goals above expected (per Money Puck), the sixth highest mark in the NHL.
Talbot has been remarkable early on, giving Detroit a chance to win many games that they haven’t had any right to win. Alex Lyon has been solid again for the Red Wings once again, though he isn’t likely to take Talbot’s spot as the starter any time soon and could price himself out of Detroit’s backup spot by the end of the year. If Detroit’s goaltending can remain in the top-half of the league, that might be enough to keep the team afloat while they sort out their lack of 5-on-5 scoring.
3. Marco Kasper a Second Line Center Already
When Marco Kasper was sent down to the Grand Rapids Griffins to start this season, it seemed like he was headed for the Simon Edvinsson NHL path that would involve a ton of extra patience from the fanbase. That didn’t last long.
After scoring two points in two AHL games, Kasper was called up to the Red Wings and has worked his way up to being the team’s second line center for several consecutive games. Kasper’s combo of relentless work ethic and slick one-on-one skill has helped him succeed while playing with all kinds of wingers, though his growing chemistry with Jonathan Berggren has been the most exciting part of this all for me.
Kasper hasn’t been scoring a ton of points just yet, but it took him a few months in the AHL last year before he started to put the puck in the net and it’s already clear that he’s adapting to the NHL’s speed. It’s both an indictment of the team’s center depth and a compliment to Kasper’s development that he has surpassed the likes of Joe Veleno, J.T. Compher, and Andrew Copp on the center depth chart.
4. Axel Sandin Pellikka Chasing History in the SHL
Axel Sandin Pellikka (ASP) is Detroit’s best prospect who isn’t currently playing in their North American system, instead playing with Skellefteå AIK on a loan in the SHL. He’s an excellent offensive defender who is competitive defensively and projects to be a high-end power play quarterback.
After a strong year in Sweden’s top pro league last year, ASP has already matched his point total in roughly half the games, putting himself on pace to have one of the best U20 scoring seasons in SHL history, that’s among all players, not just defensemen. Sandin Pellikka is set to return to the World Juniors for Sweden once again this Winter, making his third appearance. It will be tons of fun to see what he can accomplish there, after being named the top defenseman in last year’s tournament.
5. Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine Continue to Trend Up
While Detroit’s current goaltending situation has been more positive than expected, it is also a very short term victory since Lyon’s contract is up this year and Talbot will be a free agent following the 2025-26 season. Lucky for Detroit, Sebastian Cossa appears to be nearly ready to be an NHL backup. After his pro debut as a solid starting goalie in the ECHL back in the 2022-23 season, Cossa was a reliable starter in the AHL last season.
Related: Red Wings’ Goaltending Prospects – Setting Fair Expectations
That was an exciting development since Cossa may be Detroit’s prospect with the highest chances of truly raising the team’s long-term projection, however, his play early this year has been even more promising. In his first 12 games this year, Cossa holds a .931 save percentage (SV%), the fourth highest among AHL goalies with at least 8 starts. If he can be a .920 SV% goalie in the AHL this year as a full-time starter, then I expect Cossa to earn himself a couple of NHL games this Spring as the organization auditions him for the backup goalie spot next year.
Detroit’s second high-end goalie prospect, Trey Augustine, has also had a remarkable start to the season, with an early 8-1-0 record for Michigan State University to go with a sparkling .931 SV%. Augustine never shies away from big moments, already winning bronze and gold medals for Team USA at the World Juniors (and he’s set to return one final time this December) and even earning a couple of games at the Men’s World Championships last Summer. I think it’s reasonable to expect Augustine to sign with Detroit this coming Spring and get a few AHL games in before his offseason begins. The future is bright in Detroit’s crease.
All Hope Is Not Lost
While the Red Wings’ start has certainly been a disappointment following their playoff near-miss last year, there are still plenty of reasons to believe that this is the foundation of a really solid NHL team. It’s more likely that we’ll be watching the Tankathon Draft Lottery Simulator than the NHL standings this Spring, but Detroit’s best years are still ahead, with the addition of a young offensive defender likely to crack the top-4, the team’s best goaltending prospects in decades, and the continued development of young players like Kasper all likely to help this team level up.
