Red Wings Place Holl and Gustafsson on Waivers

The Detroit Red Wings placed defensemen Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson on waivers on Sunday in advance of the NHL deadline to set team rosters for the start of the season.

Today’s Action on the Waiver Wire:

https://puckpedia.com/waiver-wire

Opening Rosters are due tomorrow at 5pm Eastern

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— PuckPedia (@puckpedia.com) Oct 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM

This seems to indicate that Axel Sandin-Pellikka has made the opening night roster but there is plenty of time before Detroit’s season opener on Thursday for things to change.

The Red Wings went with an NHL-heavy lineup in their final preseason game on Saturday night and that lineup included ASP as well as forwards Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. Given that Finnie fit in well on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond while MBN finished the preseason with an NHL-leading seven points, it’s easy to see a scenario where all three start the season with the Red Wings.

That said, waiving Holl and Gustafsson could simply be a move to give the team flexibility. Holl was waived and assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins to start last season and ended up never suiting up in the AHL while playing 73 games for Detroit.

That he was not placed on waivers also indicates that Travis Hamonic will start the season with Detroit. The Red Wings’ blueline could look as follows:

Moritz Seider – Ben Chiarot
Simon Edvinsson – Axel Sandin-Pellikka
Albert Johansson – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Travis Hamonic

With regards to the forwards, Finnie and Brandsegg-Nygard making the lineup would seemingly bump Jonatan Berggren and James van Reimsdyk (who missed camp and much of the preseason due to a family matter) to the pressbox. If the team does, in fact, carry seven defensemen, neither Berggren nor JvR would need to clear waivers, giving a forward unit that looks as follows:

Emmitt Finnie – Dylan Larkin – Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat – Marco Kasper – Patrick Kane
Andrew Copp – J.T. Compher – Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Elmer Soderblom – Michael Rasmussen – Mason Appleton
Jonatan Berggren
James van Reimsdyk

The team will likely wait to make any formal player assignments until it is known if Holl and/or Gustafsson clear waivers.