With 2026-27 Opening Night just one week away for Red Wings, roster competition alive and well

DETROIT -- All that remains between now and 2026-27 Opening Night against the New York Rangers is one week for the Detroit Red Wings, who practiced at BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena on Friday afternoon.

“I think we’ve accomplished a lot,” Mason Appleton said. “Obviously, there’s some system stuff that we changed, so we’re kind of honing that in. It almost feels like football install at some point. You’re just going through the walkthroughs out there and then, all of a sudden, you play a preseason game and you have to put it all together. Kind of finding that fine line of when to go into some of those new systems and when to just freelance and play hockey. Definitely a bit of a different feel when you have to learn a lot of different new things heading into the first game, but I think we’re doing a really good job and from there you just got to play fast in those systems and it’ll just become second nature.”

Detroit also has just one more exhibition contest to play —  Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Little Caesars Arena —  and then it's trying to get as comfortable and connected as possible during practices the rest of the way before next Friday.

“We’ll play close to our lineup [on Saturday], but it won’t be our complete lineup,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Some guys have already used up their two games, and then we’ll decide after that. We talked yesterday about the business part of it. We talked about the roster size and how we want to put it together. Those decisions will be made after the game tomorrow and Sunday so that we can submit on Monday, like all the other teams, what we’re going to start with.”

McLellan has indicated most of the club's 23-man Opening-Night roster is largely set with a handful of spots still up for grabs, barring further injuries, and that became even more clear on Friday afternoon when the Red Wings announced they trimmed their preseason roster to 28 players.

"The veterans that are here and were here last year have a spot until somebody takes that spot," McLellan said. "I'm sure there's debate: Why keep that guy? Why keep this guy? For me, I've watched him — Appleton, for example — and I think he's played the last two games exactly the way we want him to play, and that's a real good thing for him and for us. If he, or anybody else, can't do it, then we have to find it somewhere. If that's from within, great. If not, we'll have to go out and get it."

Having healthy roster battles, according to Appleton, is a good thing for Detroit.

“You never want your lineup to look completely set Day 1 of Training Camp,” Appleton said. “The more competition, the better from a team standpoint, from a management standpoint. So, there’s a lot of guys here that are working their tails off, trying to do everything they can.”

As far as his physical health goes, Appleton’s feeling like himself again this fall after injuries cost him 17 games during his first season in Detroit in 2025-26. Motivated to prove himself once again, the 30-year-old forward wants to “find that edge, find that chip and play with that every game and every day” this season.

“I didn’t love parts of the back half of my year, and I think it kind of resembled our team’s game as well,” Appleton said. “So, you go into the summer kind of pissed off. The summer feels long and you dwell on it for a little bit, then you turn the page and you look at yourself in the mirror and what you got to do. You got to be better for this team and for yourself, so that’s what I did. I came to Camp with a good jump and very motivated.”