There's no team facing more pressure to win during the 2025-26 season than the Detroit Red Wings.
While some can always bring up the perpetual pressure on Edmonton to win a Stanley Cup for Connor McDavid, the expectations on Winnipeg to finally embark on a deep playoff run or even the Pittsburgh needing to win enough to make Sidney Crosby happy, the Red Wings are the ones who have to put an end to their run of futility.
Detroit enters the new season looking to avoid a full decade without playoff hockey in a city that labels itself "Hockeytown" and decided to put that iconic phrase back on center ice as part of celebrating the franchise's 100th anniversary season. The 11-time Stanley Cup champion Red Wings currently own the second-longest active postseason drought of nine years, which sits only behind the Buffalo Sabres' 12.
And to put Detroit's drought in historical context, this nine-year stretch is the longest any Original 6 organization has ever endured. Simply put, the Red Wings need to stop rebuilding and find a way to get into the playoffs.
Hockeytown has spoken. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/DbJQkxij7M
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 8, 2025
After just missing out two years ago, many expected last season to be the year. But it was not to be, as Detroit fell out of contention far sooner and crawled to a 39-35-8 record, which was only good enough for 86 points, a five-point drop off from the 91 they posted for the 2023-24 campaign.
Maybe feeling the hunger of the fans, team vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman pulled the trigger on a move that could be the missing piece to get the Red Wings over the hump and at least play further into the spring.
Yzerman sent backup Petr Mrazek, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick to Anaheim for veteran goalie John Gibson. It's a package the Red Wings will be more than happy to part with if Gibson can be that steady force the Red Wings have been looking for in net.
Everybody say Gibby! pic.twitter.com/Hkqd1pDdIP
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 28, 2025
The move signaled a change in mentality for the Red Wing legend, who has been very patient, maybe too patient, since taking over for Ken Holland in 2019.
Before the trade for Gibson, Yzerman was hesitant to go all in, something that became most evident by failing to add anything of note at the trade deadline in either of the past two seasons.
But now with Patrick Kane back in the fold for another year, Dylan Larkin still carrying the torch as captain and Lucas Raymond fresh off the best season of his career — he scored 27 goals and totaled 80 points, the Detroit fan is sick of waiting around for next year, and undesirably so at this point.
Once the stars of their most recent Stanley Cup teams aged out, a rebuilding period was expected and even necessary, but it's time for the next step in that process is a return to the playoffs. Only then can fans dream of the success the Red Wings once enjoyed back when Yzerman was a player.
The pressure will officially begin to mount on Thursday when the Red Wings drop the puck on the new season at home against Montreal.
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