The Red Wings and GM Steve Yzerman Must Answer These Three Huge Questions This Summer

Todd McLellan did his best work that he could to turn the Red Wings organization around this season. Despite his efforts, the team would miss a wild-card spot in the playoffs and fall to 6th in the Atlantic Division.

What are three questions that GM Steve Yzerman can put to rest for us in Hockeytown, who aren't happy with how the year ended?

The Detroit Red Wings top-six has some great talent spread across the ranks, with Patrick Kane, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat being the core group represented.

But these players alone won't be able to make a huge push in the postseason, as we've seen in 2024-2025. Even if they re-sign Patrick Kane, and Marco Kasper continues to develop as he should, they'll be missing a key forward in the unit.

There'll be plenty of great forwards to pick from in this year's UFA class, as Mitch Marner may be available if the Maple Leafs refuse to pay his asking price, which could be upwards of $13 million. While Brock Boeser, Brad Marchand, and Sam Bennett are other forwards who could move the needle for the Original Six club.

The Detroit Red Wings' penalty kill unit was one of the league's worst at 70.1%. If Todd McLellan were to take a sledgehammer to any part of the organization, it'd be this unit that could use a revamping. The irony of all of this is, McLellan kept the same unit from 2023-2024, which used to kill penalties at 79.6%, not great but not terrible either.

Jake Walman was the only personnel who left the unit, who was replaced by Tyler Motte. The bottom-six was unable to perform up to their role, as they failed to give the Red Wings any positive contributions on special teams and were unable to control the ice at 5-v-5. With Jeff Petry, Craig Smith, and Tyler Motte being pending UFAs, the Wings could find new solutions in July.

The one last question to ponder for the Red Wings future is will GM Steve Yzerman make the mistake of keeping his UFA signings beyond July?

He'll have to decide whether the free agents who have drawn the ire of Hockeytown, like Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot, Vladimir Tarasenko, J.T. Compher, and Justin Holl, are worth keeping around.

If he decides to move on from these players who are signed into the next season, he'll have to find the right person for the right job. Or flip them in July for assets and prospects.