Dylan Larkin will miss Detroit’s first two games with an upper-body injury, while unsigned defenseman Simon Edvinsson has gone back to Sweden. That leaves the available Red Wings carrying the load Friday when the New York Rangers visit Little Caesars Arena for Detroit’s season opener.
The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the game available on HBO Max, truTV, TNT and SN1. Detroit enters with a shortened camp and preseason behind it, an expanded 84-game regular-season ahead, and no appetite for another slow start.
“You can’t waste time,” defenseman Moritz Seider said as the club prepared for opening night.
The Red Wings opened camp Sept. 17 with an emphasis on immediate readiness. That approach has been especially important around a club that has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for 10 straight seasons, the longest postseason absence in franchise history and the League’s longest active drought.
Detroit also began camp amid front-office change. Shawn Horcoff took over as interim general manager one day before players reported, while Steve Yzerman shifted into a senior advisory role with owner Chris Ilitch. The search for a new hockey-operations leader remains ongoing.
Camp intensity carried into opening week
Seider described the training camp as notably sharper than previous years. He said newcomers noticed the pace as well, and credited the group’s focus between drills as much as its execution during them.
“It starts with being mentally tough,” Seider said. “The message is to be ready every time you step on the ice and not burn time. The coaches explain a drill, and almost immediately everybody is where they need to be. It is nearly automatic because the group is locked in.”
Larkin’s status has complicated that preparation. Detroit’s top center requested a trade after last season and entered camp without the captaincy. He was initially sidelined by an injury suffered while training in the offseason, returned to practice later, but did not appear in an exhibition game.
Edvinsson practiced with the club after arriving at camp as a restricted free agent without a contract. He did not take part in scrimmages or preseason games before returning to Sweden.
Seider said the room remains energized despite those absences.
“The players are excited and very focused,” he said. “Mistakes will happen, but the key is correcting them and not repeating them. We also want to take in the atmosphere and use it as a boost.”
After the horn
Detroit knows how quickly an opener can set an uncomfortable tone. The Red Wings were beaten 5-1 by the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 9, 2025, in last season’s first game.
Coach Todd McLellan challenged several veterans afterward, asking whether they had reached the point where the same results were no longer acceptable. Detroit answered with five consecutive wins, led by Larkin’s 10 points on four goals and six assists during that stretch.
McLellan expects opening games around the League to be uneven, but wants Detroit to avoid the sloppiness he has seen in the early schedule.
“Last year’s opener was not good enough, but it gave us a chance to challenge the group,” McLellan said. “We got ourselves back on track and went on an early run. This is a new year, though, and the start can be unpredictable. If we can keep the game clean, we give ourselves a better opportunity to win and have a clearer picture to build from afterward.”
The home-heavy opening stretch gives Detroit an opportunity to create that foundation quickly. Seven of the Red Wings’ first eight games will be played at Little Caesars Arena, with only one back-to-back in that span.
McLellan said fatigue should not be an excuse during those opening weeks, given the limited travel and expected practice time.
“Early urgency,” McLellan said, stressing the first word. “We have a chance to establish our game at home. We should feel good in our building, in front of our fans, and we have seven of eight chances right away to produce some positive results.”
