Each year, when the dust starts to settle on the offseason and the summer months begin to drag, we take a look into the future and project what the Detroit Red Wings lineup will look like in three years. The goal of the projections is not to be 100 percent correct three years out, but rather to highlight how the Red Wings’ ongoing rebuild is trending — and what it still lacks. In recent years, we’ve begun leaving blank spots in the lineup to highlight positions at which Detroit has no obvious long-term answer and will need to address.
Advertisement With all that said, let’s dive into it. Forward Line 1: Remaining Need – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond By this point, Raymond will be 25, squarely in his prime. He should be Detroit’s top-scoring forward and the centerpiece of the power play — the latter of which he has not yet been with the Red Wings, even while scoring 31 goals and 72 points last season.
Assuming he continues to develop, that growth, along with that potential increased role, could very well make him a star up front. And really, Detroit will need him to be. Because while the Red Wings have stocked their pipeline with potentially impactful forwards over the past three drafts, there is still a real question about the group’s potential star power.
That’s highlighted by the remaining need at top-line left wing, and really, to address that need in time for the 2027-28 season examined here, Detroit would likely need either to find a fast-moving star i.