Red Wings offseason target board 1.0: Who could help Detroit end its playoff drought?

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As the Stanley Cup playoff field winnows down and the calendar creeps toward June, the NHL offseason is getting ready to heat up.

And for a Detroit Red Wings team that hasn’t made the postseason since 2016, it’s shaping up to be a big one for general manager Steve Yzerman.

The Red Wings came close to snapping that streak in each of the last two seasons but ultimately came up just short. Now, they enter this offseason with some clearly defined needs to make a better run at it in 2025-26. Detroit needs a top-six winger, ideally a top-four defenseman, and some more heaviness as they look to get harder to play against. If they can add the right depth forward to create a better-defined identity in their bottom six, all the better.

That’s a lot to accomplish in one summer — especially when the bulk of NHL offseason business gets done in the span of a couple of weeks — and they might not be able to check all three boxes. But there are some intriguing names in each mold worth exploring.

Today, we’ll look at those names, what they could bring and what risks Detroit would need to be comfortable with to sign them.

(Note: Contract projections via Evolving Hockey)

Let’s start with the name at the top: Mitch Marner is a bit of a lightning rod because of his (and the Toronto Maple Leafs’) playoff history, but there’s no doubting the caliber of the player. He’s a 100-point winger who has twice been a 30-goal scorer and routinely gets consideration for the Selke Trophy. That is a star forward, by any definition, and he would make the Red Wings a better, more dangerous team.

There are still questions: Can Detroit add another smaller forward in its top six if it’s trying to get harder to play against? Do the Red Wings want to make him the highest-paid winger in the league?

However, Marner is the top free agent on the market for a reason, and just about every team in the league should be calling, including Detroit.

That said, you can at least make a case that Brad Marchand or Sam Bennett — players with a substantial edge — more closely match the Red Wings’ aim of getting harder to play against.

Bennett brings more size to the fold and could play on the top-line wing or slot in as the second-line center and allow Marco Kasper to return to the top-line wing. He’d be an excellent stylistic fit and has been a playoff force, leading the Florida Panthers with seven goals in 13 games. The only question is whether the Red Wings want to pay potentially more than $7.5 million annually to a player whose regular-season career high is 51 points.

Marchand, on the other hand, is 5 feet, 9 inches, though you’d never know it from how he plays. He thrives in the playoffs and was perhaps Florida’s most impactful forward in Game 7 of the second round against the Maple Leafs. He brings all kinds of winning history, though at 37, there is always some question of how long he can keep it up.

Each has at least one or two questions around him, but that’s the nature of free agency: Most players available are older and more expensive than you’d prefer. But in all three cases, it’s easy to see how they could elevate Detroit’s current mix in the top six. And at this stage, they’re all probably worth stomaching the risks and/or costs.

All three will be in high demand, though, and if the Red Wings strike out, there are some potential alternatives.

Brock Nelson has the size and solid two-way bona fides. So long as Detroit feels comfortable with his age (he’ll be 34 in October), he’d make sense — if he doesn’t end up extending with the Colorado Avalanche or signing with his hometown Minnesota Wild.

Matt Duchene isn’t particularly physical, but he’s in the midst of an excellent run with the Dallas Stars, where he was their leading scorer in the regular season. Staying in Dallas would seem to make the most sense for him, but anything can happen — though if he does leave, I think his contract will be higher than the Evolving Hockey projection here after a point-per-game season.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Brock Boeser would bring more offense to the top six, which is why they’re listed here. They’d be solid additions. But I’m not sure either makes Detroit much harder to play against, and for the contract commitment they’d require, I would have some trepidation.

Ehlers brings excellent speed and finally broke through in the playoffs this year. His pace would look great next to Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. But he’s not necessarily an ideal fit to do the dirty work Detroit would ideally get from that lineup spot. Meanwhile, Boeser is a great goal scorer and a heavier body, but he’s not very fleet of foot, and his 73-point season in 2023-24 is the only time he’s been above 56. If paying Bennett more than $7 million is a little itchy, so too would be paying north of $8 million a year for Boeser. Again, though, that’s free agency in general.

Chris Kreider, who is under contract for two more years and has a 15-team no-trade list, is more of a reclamation project after a down year in 2024-25. He still scored 22 goals, though, and though he’s not a killer, he has size and can be quite effective around the net front. In terms of total cost, he is the cheapest on this list, requires the least commitment, and has real potential to bounce back to a 50-plus point winger.

JJ Peterka is the long shot, but hey, it’s May — we’re allowed to have some fun. The Buffalo Sabres have plenty of salary-cap space, so they don’t have to move Peterka, who is coming off an outstanding season with 27 goals and 68 points. But, for a team that could be looking for a sort of shakeup, he stands out as a young player who would fill a need for Detroit. That said, Buffalo is likely to want present-day impact in return, which might make the Red Wings a miscast trade partner.

There are other restricted free-agent names out there. New York Rangers RFA Will Cuylle would be a terrific fit, for example, if New York runs into cap trouble. But with the cap going up, most teams won’t find themselves in panic mode this summer. For that reason, I think it’s smartest to focus on the unrestricted free agents, with those top three a cut above the rest.

Brandon Tanev and Trent Frederic fit the classical definition of “hard to play against,” throwing their weight around at a high level.

Tanev would probably be a fourth-line forechecker above all, but he’d bring a clear identity to that role that Detroit has lacked from its bottom six in recent years. Frederic could slot into that role, too, but he would have the potential to play a tick higher in the lineup, as reflected by his 17- and 18-goal seasons with the Boston Bruins in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Either of those totals would have been sixth on the Red Wings this season.

It’s worth noting that 2024-25 was a down year for Frederic offensively. But he’s younger at 27, giving more reason for hope he can return to that higher output while still bringing size and physicality. Both are intriguing options for shorter-term deals.

Connor Brown, on the other hand, is not nearly as physical, but he had a strong defensive impact this year for the Edmonton Oilers and is a multi-time 20-goal scorer. He’s not huge, but his offense has shown up in these playoffs. He’s also been an effective penalty killer for Edmonton, something Detroit could use. He’d be an interesting fit as a scorer who knows how to play a third-line role for winning teams.

Vladislav Gavrikov is the big name here. His expected goals-against numbers (xGA/60) were the best in the league among defensemen who played at least 500 minutes last season, and he’s used to taking tough minutes. He also chipped in 30 points last year. Throw in his familiarity with Todd McLellan and Trent Yawney from the Los Angeles Kings, and he’s an obvious fit for the Red Wings as a big-minute shutdown addition in the top four who could play next to Moritz Seider or free up Simon Edvinsson to do so.

Evolving Hockey has him projected for a four-year deal, but I upped this figure to its seven-year projection. Frankly, it still looks low to me — I’d expect something more like seven years at $7 million — for a player who can make a reasonable claim as the best defenseman on the market.

If it’s not Gavrikov, that title would belong to Aaron Ekblad, the 2014 No. 1 draft pick who’s having a strong playoff run for the Panthers. Detroit might have a compelling case to pitch Ekblad, too: He grew up in nearby Windsor, Ont. Ekblad’s questions mainly center on how he’ll age, as he’s played 70 games only once since 2019. He’s logged a lot of postseason minutes the last three years, too. But he’s a true two-way defenseman with a winning pedigree, and that’s worth considering as a potential partner for Edvinsson on the right side.

After that, the options aren’t amazing, but Detroit has enough incentive to improve its blue line to consider the options. Dmitry Orlov and Ryan Lindgren are smaller at 5-11 and 6 feet, but both have long track records playing big roles for winning teams. Lindgren is quite a bit younger, though, at 27 compared with Orlov’s soon-to-be 34.

Finally, there’s Bowen Byram. Though Byram plays for the Sabres like Peterka, there’s a little more incentive for Buffalo to trade Byram, who would be its third big-dollar left-shot defenseman after Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Perhaps that would make them more inclined to consider futures in such a deal.

Detroit has its own collection of young defensemen to consider, as Edvinsson is only one year from needing a big-ticket extension. If all goes well, Axel Sandin-Pellikka eventually will, too. That latter deal is far enough off, though, that the Red Wings can consider going after Byram, who might not be a big-bodied defensive stopper but is a fluid puck mover who could fit well with Seider.

He’d be expensive, both in asset cost and his next contract — and there’s also a concussion history to consider — but he’s a very talented young player.

The Red Wings might not be able to fill all of these needs in one offseason. They’ll have big-time competition for the top targets, and even if there is mutual interest, there’s only so much money to go around, even with a rising cap.

But for a team looking to snap a nine-year playoff drought, they have every reason to be aggressive.

(Photo of Mitch Marner and Brad Marchand: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

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