Red Wings 2025 Free Agency Thoughts: Day One

The Red Wings made a handful of moves today with the opening of free agency across the NHL, most of which seem geared more towards the Grand Rapids Griffins than Detroit.

James van Riemsdyk is the “big” signing at the NHL-level. As I mentioned in my write-up of his signing, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has been after him since a deal at the 2023 trade deadline fell apart.

I love the signing…  Under one condition. That this is not how the hole in the top six is filled.

JVR’s 16 goals last season would have slotted just fine into Detroit’s top six. Right in between Marco Kasper and Jonatan Berggren for sixth overall on the team. But it came with him averaging under 13 minutes of ice time per game and shooting a career-high 18.8%. At 36 years old he’s still got something to offer but he should not be relied upon on in the top half of the roster.

Which is a problem, because a whole lot of options for filling that hole in the lineup are gone, which I’ll come back to.

Detroit’s actual first signing of the day was defenseman Ian Mitchell, #12 on Inside AHL Hockey’s “Big Board” of free agent defensemen. Mitchell spent most of last season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins and – one a one-year, league-minimum deal – seemed like someone who could be bound for the Grand Rapids Griffins (who have roster holes of their own to fill) or maybe compete with William Lagesson for the seventh spot on the Detroit blueline. The next signing seemingly answered that question, though.

Shortly after the Mitchell deal, the Red Wings announced the signing of defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, formerly of the Buffalo Sabres after a trade deadline acquisition from the Ottawa Senators.

Only 25, Bernard-Docker somewhat-surprisingly didn’t get a qualifying offer from the Sabres as a restricted free agent, becoming unrestricted. He never quite became what the Senators hoped he would be after drafting him 26th overall in 2018 but on a one-year deal at $875,000 – just barely more than his qualifying offer with Buffalo would have been – it’s a low-risk, high-reward opportunity for the Red Wings.

JBD would seem to slot in on the Red Wings third pairing, pushing Justin Holl out of the lineup. Dominoes fall from there, as with Holl as the seventh defenseman, neither Lagesson nor Mitchell are needed in Detroit and end up in Grand Rapids.

The last announced deal of the day, coming after van Riemsdyk, was the one for John Leonard. Leonard was #6 on Inside AHL Hockey’s “Big Board” of free agent forwards. This is a pure AHL deal. The Griffins are losing Tim Gettinger and Joe Snively up front and those losses need to be replaced.

It’s not a bad first day of free agency for the Red Wings but it doesn’t address the gap at the top of the lineup. It also doesn’t significantly improve the defense. In fact, it feels a whole lot like the Red Wings are going to run it back with a very similar lineup if something doesn’t change over the rest of the summer.

Would this slightly-improved lineup have made the playoffs? Quite possibly. So maybe a big swing isn’t necessary to get into the postseason. But it does seem necessary to do more than that.

Is there anything more the Wings could have done? That’s the painful question. With cap space to burn, it sure seems like free agents and potential free agents just didn’t want to come to Detroit. It seems like the team has simply fallen that far from their glory days.

To be fair, there were some signings made today that I’m glad Detroit wasn’t in on.

Mikael Granlund went to Anaheim on a three-year deal for $7 million per season. Corey Perry went to Los Angeles for $4 million (much of it bonuses). Cody Ceci and John Klingberg thankfully signed elsewhere before the Wings could get desperate.

The Red Wings did miss out on Vladislav Gavrikov, who I would have liked even at the seven-year, $7 million deal he got from the New York Rangers. It’s an overpay but it seems like the right kind of overpay.

To clear room for Gavrikov, the Rangers then dealt K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes. I would have liked to get Miller, but not for a first-rounder and a second-rounder and a young player.

And it’s important to remember that this is just one day. I don’t have a lot of faith that Nikolaj Ehlers is going to pick Detroit but he’s still out there. Dmitry Orlov is still out there, if that’s your thing. There are dominoes left to fall.

Will I be disappointed if this is the lineup in October? Yes. But not as disappointed as I would have been if Detroit had signed the Granlund or Perry or Ceci or Klingberg deals.

The disappointment comes from being told to be patient, that the time to spend would be later, when there are specific holes rather than an entirely deficient roster. And now there are specific holes. And now there is money to spend. But the holes and the money and the available players just happened to not match up.

It should also be noted that the Red Wings lost some players to free agency today. Alex Lyon moved on to Buffalo, where he’ll seemingly tandem with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, which will allow Devon Levi to get starts in AHL Rochester. Jeff Petry, who I thought for sure was going to retire this summer, signed with the Florida Panthers.

And I can’t let Day One of free agency go by without making some guesses at the jersey numbers these players will wear.

I have to think that van Riemsdyk will take #21 since it’s available. He’s also worn #25, which is also available, he only falls back on that when he can’t get #21.

Mitchell wore #14 in Boston, which is available with Tyler Motte not re-signed, but he seems to prefer #51, having worn that in Rockford, Chicago, and Providence. With Eemil Viro back in Europe, #51 is available, so Mitchell could take it.

That said, Austin Watson usually wears #51 and, in his second year with the organization (more on that below), he could take that number (I was surprised he didn’t take it from Viro after signing with Detroit out of camp last year). I’m going to say that Watson gets #51 and Mitchell takes another number, which might be #14.

Bernard-Docker has worn #24 everywhere he could. It’s currently assigned to Watson and if he doesn’t change, that’d leave JBD looking for something new. He wore #48 briefly in Ottawa and that won’t be an option with Jonatan Berggren wearing it in Detroit. But, since I think Watson will change, that leaves #24 open for Bernard-Docker. If Watson doesn’t change, keeping #24 and leaving #51 for Mitchell, maybe JBD takes #42.

Leonard is the big question. He’s worn #43 in all of his NHL stops and some of his AHL stints but I expect Carter Mazur to get that back after letting Petr Mrazek borrow it last spring. Leonard wore #19 in Charlotte last season but that’s obviously not an option in Detroit. He wore #9 in college and #10 in the USHL, both of which are also out. I’m going to say #44 or #90 but it’d be really easy for him to just get a random number that he never actually wears outside of exhibitions.

Coming back to Watson…  I keep completely forgetting that he signed an extension with Detroit. That happened while I was in the hospital earlier this year so it can be forgiven, I think, but it does change some of the lineup shuffling I’ve been doing. That said, I find Watson unnecessary, so I would have been factoring him into the Grand Rapids lineup more than the Detroit roster anyway.