PREVIEW: Detroit ends road portion of 2026-27 preseason in Pittsburgh on Tuesday

PITTSBURGH -- Continuing to fine-tune their systems and structure as the 2026-27 preseason schedule rolls on, the Detroit Red Wings will be right back in action when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

“It’s been good,” William Wallinder said. “It’s been fun. I think the guys are ready to go. I think we showed it last night. That was a good first game of the preseason, so just happy to be here.”

Detroit and Pittsburgh will drop the puck at 7 p.m. ET, with streaming available on DetroitRedWings.com. Ken Kal and Trevor Thompson will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network (WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit).

The Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets needed extra time to settle Monday night’s exhibition opener, with Detroit falling, 1-0, in a shootout at Nationwide Arena. Between Detroit’s pipes, Daniil Tarasov stopped all 15 shots he faced through the first two periods before Michal Postava turned aside all 10 sent his way in the third and overtime.

“I wished we had more offense,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “We had a lot of offense early and didn’t finish, then we checked and we did not give up a lot of Grade-A chances. We gave up chances. There was going to be breakdowns, but we checked fairly well and came out of our end fairly good. Our goaltending was excellent. Penalty kill got the job done, including in overtime. If we could just push for one more thing, would be the offensive finish.”

Up front, Michael Rasmussen stood out to McLellan from Monday night's tightly contested Eastern-Conference clash, finishing with a team-high five shots on goal.

“I thought Ras, last night, played a really good Ras game,” McLellan said. “We’re going to need that game night in and night out. I thought he used his size to his advantage and the team’s advantage. He was really good on the boards. He led the penalty kill, I thought… When he was called into the face-off circle, he did a real good job. And on the bench, he was good with the younger players. If he can bottle that up and give it to us night in and night out, that’s exactly what we need.”

Notably, on the back end, only Axel Sandin-Pellikka (22:41) logged more ice time among Red Wings defensemen than Wallinder (22:01). McLellan said Wallinder — like every player on the club’s expanded 2026 Training Camp roster — will get as much opportunity as possible to prove himself.

“He played last night,” McLellan said of the 24-year-old defenseman. “He’ll play tonight. He’s scheduled to play again (on Thursday night) and we’ll see what happens after that, but he’s put his time in. The organization has developed him and we expect him to play on our club, but he’s going to dictate whether that happens or not… There is still a business element to running a team and the commitments to players in terms of term, dollars and everything else. So, some of that comes into play but that’s why the season runs a long time, and we’ve got to get everything sorted out.”

Wallinder spent the entire 2025-26 season with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, recording 20 points (two goals, 18 assists) in 66 regular-season games before tallying one goal in eight Calder Cup Playoff contests.

“He’s mobile,” McLellan said. “He’s a big man. Lots of good range to break plays up. He moves the puck efficiently. First passes are on the tape. I don’t see him being a big power-play guy for us. We have those people, but with his range and mobility he should be a really good penalty killer. We’ll see as time goes on.”

Despite no longer being waiver-exempt, the former No. 32 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft noted he hasn’t changed his approach or the goals he set for himself this fall.

“I’m in a good spot,” Wallinder said. “I’ve been taking this seriously and working hard. So hopefully, I’ll get a shot at it this year. It’s just working hard.”