4 Red Wings Who Need to Step Up to Break Playoff Drought – The Hockey Writers – Detroit Red Wings

For the past nine seasons, the Detroit Red Wings have been on the outside looking in when the Stanley Cup Playoffs began. This is the longest playoff drought in franchise history, and the Red Wings look wildly different today compared to that end-of-an-era team from a decade ago. For one, the 2015-16 Red Wings’ leading scorer was Henrik Zetterberg (50 points), who was followed by Pavel Datsyuk (49 points) and a 19-year-old Dylan Larkin (45 points). 

Related: Red Wings Trade Deadline Blueprint

Detroit has had some really lean years since then, but their chances of breaking the streak have never been better. The Red Wings have been competitive in the Atlantic division all season long and have a bit of a cushion in the standings above the playoff line. 

However, as most Red Wings fans begrudgingly acknowledge, Detroit’s recent stretch runs have lost steam when the regular season tightens up in March. In the past two seasons, the Red Wings entered March in a playoff spot and left it below the cutoff line. 

The Red Wings limped into the Olympic break and have had some uneven performances since. There are a handful of players who will really need to step up if Detroit is going to make the playoffs, so let’s take a deeper look at who will play massive roles in Detroit’s playoff drive.

Dylan Larkin

Larkin scored 15 points in Detroit’s 20 games before the Olympic break which doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that only seven of them were scored at even strength, tied for sixth on the team in that stretch. Larkin hasn’t been particularly productive lately, but the process hasn’t been great at even strength either with a 46% xGF in those games that ranks 12th on the team (stats via. Natural Stat Trick).

Larkin started the season super hot with 29 points in 26 games (23 of which came at even strength) and then went cold, kinda the opposite of his performance at the Olympics for Team USA. He heated up for the Americans throughout the knockout round, and if he can maintain some of that momentum down the stretch then Detroit will be in a very good spot. He has already scored two even strength points in three games since returning which is encouraging. 

Marco Kasper

After scoring just five points in his first 40 games of the season, Kasper has scored 10 in his last 20 games with eight of those points coming at even strength. Kasper had an absolutely ice cold start to the season so if Detroit gets the version of him they had down the stretch last season, someone capable of legit minutes as a middle-six center, that would be a development for the team on par with a sizeable addition at the trade deadline

Part of the reason the Red Wings have fallen off in March the past few years is that the games get tighter and more physical. When Kasper is at his best, he excels at those skills and could be a huge contributor for Detroit in the final weeks of the regular season.

Patrick Kane

Kane is another player who has underwhelmed lately, with just 8 even strength points in his last 22 games (0.36 even strength points per game). Kane scored 14 even strength points through the first 23 games of the season (0.61 EV PPG) and it would be massive for Detroit if he could get back closer to those numbers to finish out the season. 

Kane’s impact would continue to be felt if Detroit does qualify for the playoffs, given he has scored 138 points in his playoff career (45th all time) and has a level of experience that would help steady the younger guys on the team who will be making their first playoff appearances. While even strength hockey has never been Kane’s strongest suit, an increase in production from him would likely mean Detroit’s power play is humming along nicely which wouldn’t be bad either.

Simon Edvinsson

Simon Edvinsson’s year has been a tale of two seasons so far. From the start of the season until Dec. 31, Edvinsson’s xGF% of 55.57% ranked 19th in the league among defensemen and his CF% of 54.18% was 29th. So far in 2026 his xGF is 47.1%, 109th in the league out of 214 defenders to play at least 100 minutes in that period of time. He is below guys like Declan Carlile, Simon Hutton, and Adam Wilsby, three players who are so far from Edvinsson’s talent level that you probably don’t know which of them I made up just now. 

When playing at his best Edvinsson is a phenomenal two-way defender, but he hasn’t operated there for some time. He spent the Olympic break recovering from a knee surgery that had presumably effecting his play for some time. Edvinsson hasn’t looked his best in Detroit’s three games following the break, but this is still quite a quick turnaround from surgery so it’s fair to expect he’ll need some time to ramp back into game shape.

However, if Ben Chiarot or Axel Sandin Pellikka are Detroit’s second best defenseman on a given night, then they are going to have a difficult time making the playoffs, let alone succeeding in a playoff series. If Edvinsson is playing well, he gives the Red Wings a two-headed monster on the back end capable of shutting down an opponent’s best players night after night.