PREVIEW: Red Wings embark on 84-game regular season, host Rangers for 2026-27 Opening Night on Friday

DETROIT -- Starting off their 2026-27 campaign with a four-game homestand, the Detroit Red Wings will look to generate some early momentum when they host the New York Rangers for Opening Night at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

“It builds a little bit when you’re playing on the third or fourth day,” Justin Faulk said. “Some teams have been playing, obviously the Rangers have played three (games), so I feel like you’re sitting around waiting a little bit and everyone likes to just get to work. So, I think guys are excited to kind of get back to playing meaningful games and get right to it.”

Detroit (0-0-0; 0 points) and New York (1-1-0; 2 points) will drop the puck at 6:30 p.m. ET, with TV broadcast coverage airing exclusively on TNT and TruTV. Ken Kal and Larry Murphy will have the call on the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit).

“We’ve got work to do,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “We know who we are, we know what we have to do and the things we need to overcome. But we are the Detroit Red Wings, and that means something. We’re going to approach it that way all year.”

Ahead of the first of three meetings between these Original Six rivals this season, fans of all ages can line up for the Hockeytown Red Carpet Walk in the Chevrolet Plaza. For more information on the festivities, click here.

Detroit is coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which it went 41-31-10 (92 points) and placed sixth in a highly competitive Atlantic Division that saw the top five clubs qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with at least 99 points apiece.

But now, after a competitive and condensed 2026 Training Camp, the Red Wings go into this opener intending to put some systematic tweaks into action and maintain a game-by-game mindset.

“I’d like our team to be diligent in their tasks and as direct as possible,” McLellan said. “We don’t have to be cute. We’re going to need some game-management skills, understanding, shift length and those types of things, especially in these first few (games)."

Last season, three rookies – Emmitt Finnie, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Axel Sandin-Pellikka – earned spots on Detroit’s Opening Night roster. New and returning faces were again out to prove themselves this fall, and Anton Johansson and William Wallinder were rewarded for their efforts.

“You always dream of this,” said Johansson, who will make his NHL debut on Friday night. “This is a dream you’ve had since you were a little kid…It’s huge. Of course, there’s hard work behind it but I’m grateful and happy to be here.”

Originally selected in the fourth round (No. 105 overall) of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Johansson is a blueliner McLellan described as “steady, continuous, confident.”

“A comment was made the other day, ‘You only really have to tell him once,” McLellan said. “(Johansson) seems to be able to fix things on his own, so a good young prospect.”

The Rangers had eight different skaters tally at least one point in a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. As far as last season goes, New York went 34-39-9 (77 points) and finished last in the Eastern Conference.

“Even in looking at the Rangers’ games, I haven’t really narrowed in on individuals,” McLellan said. “We’ve looked a lot more at what they’re trying to accomplish and quite frankly, it’s about us. We’ve got to get our game in order.”