Ahead of Monday’s 23-man NHL roster deadline, Red Wings encouraged by hard work they put in during 2025-26 preseason

DETROIT -- Going into this past weekend, the Detroit Red Wings’ 2025-26 preseason roster was at 25 players – 14 forwards, nine defensemen and two goaltenders. But by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, the deadline that NHL clubs must submit their first active rosters of the campaign, that number must be trimmed to 23.

At the time of publishing on DetroitRedWings.com, the Red Wings had yet to finalize their roster. However, the club did practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Monday morning -- and, notably, forward prospects Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Emmitt Finnie as well as defense prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka were on the ice.

“[Brandsegg-Nygård, Finnie and Sandin-Pellikka] were here at practice today, so that’s a real good sign for them,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “We skated with 23 players. Obviously, we’re allowed to submit our opening roster with as many as 23, so obviously that’s a really good sign for them. Everything they’ve done to this point has led to them getting this day. We’ll just take it day by day, but in practice today they were attentive, alert, executed and had a sense of belonging. The group embraced them.”

Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said seeing those three prospects play and push for NHL roster spots this fall has given the group a big energy boost.

“They all have great attributes,” Larkin said. “Whether it’s Finn’s speed and smarts, and Ny’s got good speed and smarts but he’s heavier and has a great spot and puts himself in positions to score. And Axel, who has puck play and skating. They all have really good attributes, and I think they make our team better. I’m happy for those guys and it’s well deserved that they’re here today.”

But, as the players know and as McLellan has pointed out since the start of Training Camp, NHL rosters are fluid. So, no matter who will be on the team when it’s time to drop the puck against the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night, Detroit’s coaching staff should have a lot of flexibility when it comes to potential line combinations and defense pairs during the regular season.

“We didn’t necessarily have these lines penciled in on July 1,” McLellan said. “We didn’t anticipate all three kids playing here, but the fact that there is some size in those slots is valuable. Size is one thing, but it’s how you use the size and how effective it can be. The potential for some grinding or heavy shifts and aggressive net play exists. It’s getting it out of them and then wanting to do it over and over again. If we can get there, then we really have something.”

Speaking of forwards, McLellan said that James van Riemdsyk’s status for Opening Night remains in question. Since participating in his first practice with Detroit last Wednesday, the 36-year-old forward has been working hard to get back up to speed.

“Today, [van Riemsdyk] got involved physically,” McLellan said. “The first few days and pregame skates, everybody gets off and there’s him and three other guys that are working. You don’t really get what you need there. Today’s practice was geared towards a pretty good-working day. Lots of full-ice stuff. Lots of grind stuff along the boards and in the corners. That was his first true taste of it, so we’ll see where it all goes.”

Like they did on Monday, the Red Wings aim to take full advantage of their practice time on Tuesday and Wednesday before Opening Night.

“It’s been a really good Training Camp,” Larkin said. “We’ve played a lot. The different structure of scrimmaging a lot more was, I think, really beneficial. You got up to game speed way quicker and the preseason games felt where we were more ready to play, I would say, than in all the camps in the past that I’ve been a part of. The structure of camp was great. The intensity was good. Seeing the youth and some of these kids come up and play well is exciting, so the locker room is in a really good spot.

"We’re going to be going to the Tigers game tomorrow, so we’ll root for them and hopefully be ready to go Thursday night. I think we’ll be ready.”