Can you believe we are already a week into preseason games for the 2021-22 Detroit Red Wings?
It seems crazy but we are now less than two weeks away from the start of the 2021-22 regular season as the Red Wings will host the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Ceasars Arena on Oct. 14.
That being said, here is what I believe the Red Wings lineup will look like when the regular season begins. (Note: This is subject to change depending on how the remainder of the preseason goes)
Forward Line Pairings
1: Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin, Filip Zadina
2: Lucas Raymond, Pius Suter, Robby Fabbri
3: Vladislav Namestnikov, Michael Rasmussen, Sam Gagner
4: Adam Erne, Mitchell Stephens, Givani Smith
Just missed the cut: Bobby Ryan (Ryan could easily get the nod over Raymond on opening night and to be honest, he is probably the favorite to do so. That being said, Raymond has had a solid camp and I think Steve Yzerman and Jeff Blashill want to see what he can do at the NHL level.
Defense Pairings
1. Danny DeKeyser-Filip Hronek
2. Nick Leddy-Moritz Seider
3. Marc Staal-Troy Stecher
Just missed the cut: None. These pairings seem pretty set
Goaltenders
1. Alex Nedeljkovic
2. Thomas Greiss
Note: Look for Greiss to get his opportunity as he finished the 2020-21 season on fire over his last 10 games.
Nation, what do you think about these line pairings? What would you do differently?
Bobby Ryan has earned a contract. And having him on the third line and one of the PP units makes our team better. Plus if another injury he can step in top 6. If keeping Ryan means waiving Rowney, big whoop.
I feel Hirose has pushed for a third line spot too