3 Detroit Red Wings players who won’t be back next season

With a heartbreaking end to their season, the Detroit Red Wings missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth straight year. They fought for a Wild Card spot right up until the very end and just missed. Despite winning their last game of the season and tying the Washington Capitals with 91 points, the Capitals qualified for the playoffs over the Red Wings due to the wins-in-regulation tiebreaker.

Now, the Wings will put the disappointing end to their 2023-24 season behind them and gear up for a stronger 2024-25. Next season, they'll continue pushing to end their playoff drought. As in any NHL offseason, the organization has decisions ahead of them on free agents to sign and trades to make.

Some players have seen the end of their time in Detroit. Here are three Red Wings who won’t be back next season.

3. Justin Holl

It would be a mistake for the Red Wings to keep Justin Holl around next year. Prior to signing a three-year deal with the Wings last offseason, Holl spent several years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Red Wings could look to free up some cap space by trading Holl, who did not play a very big role in his first year with the team.

The 32-year-old is an effective shutdown defenseman. Holl didn’t get much playing time in 2023-24, though, as the Wings deployed him as a seventh defenseman. He played in 38 games and averaged 15:04 of ice time per game. This was the lowest number of games he played in per season and his lowest average ice time since 2018-2019. Holl did his job when he played, there just wasn’t room for him in Detroit’s regular lineup. In 38 games, he had 5 assists, 59 hits, and blocked 39 shots. Trade rumors swirled ahead of the trade deadline, but Holl stayed put.

$3.4 million per year is a lot allocated to a seventh defenseman. Unless the Wings plan to have Holl in a regular role (maybe if pending UFA Shayne Gostisbehere is not re-signed), they should move on. Considering that Holl was a regular player for the Maple Leafs, perhaps he just isn’t a fit with the Wings and would be better off somewhere else. Detroit might find a trade partner in a team looking for a reliable defensive defenseman, but his salary could be a sticking point. If the Wings can’t trade him, they might consider a buyout.

2. James Reimer

It’s unlikely that James Reimer will be back next season. Now at the back-end of his career, the pending unrestricted free agent’s future is unclear. The 36-year-old has played for five different teams during his NHL career, including two seasons with the San Jose Sharks prior to coming to Detroit. The Red Wings signed the veteran to a one-year contract to be a reliable backup goaltender.

Reimer had an average year, posting a .904 save percentage in 25 games. Between Reimer, Alex Lyon, and Ville Husso, the Wings had decent goaltending, but they didn’t have stellar goaltending. During the season-ending press conference, general manager Derek Lalonde expressed pride in how all three goalies helped the team down the stretch. Despite this, the Wings will need to be better than average to take a step forward next season. Bringing back Reimer would be relatively cheap, which is good for the salary cap situation, but he isn’t the answer. 

So what should the Wings do about goaltending this offseason? They need an upgrade in net. They should look to trade for or sign a top goaltender to pair with Lyon as their tandem moving forward. This will be hard to do with Husso’s contract looming for another year. Husso would be hard to trade given his $4.75 AAV and a modified no-trade clause, but it’s worth looking into. All of this means Reimer is unlikely to get a new contract with the Wings.

1. Patrick Kane

It’s hard to see Patrick Kane returning to the Red Wings next season. He’s already said thank you for his time in Detroit, and he spoke of his time with the team in the past tense. During a 16-year tenure with the Chicago Blackhawks, Kane won the Stanley Cup three times: 2010, 2013 and 2015. He was traded to the New York Rangers in 2023. Kane started the 2023-24 season unsigned following offseason hip surgery. The 35-year-old winger then signed a one-year deal in Detroit when the Red Wings had playoff hopes.

Kane had 47 points in 50 games with the Red Wings. Now that he’s proven himself after surgery by putting up nearly a point per game, he’ll be looking for something longer than a one-year deal. According to Dave Hogg of NHL.com, Kane is going to see what happens in free agency but doesn’t sound optimistic about remaining in Detroit. “It was fun to be a Red Wing and in this organization,” Kane said. “I’m definitely going to have some memories to last me a lifetime." 

Since Kane is a free agent, no one can say for sure what will happen, but it sounds like the head coach and general manager also aren’t optimistic about a return. “He’ll be hard to replace because he’s special,” head coach Derek Lalonde said during a press conference after the end of the Wings’ season. “Not only what he gave us on the ice, but what he brought in the room.” General manager Steve Yzerman concurred. “He was great for our team, and I think he brought a lot of what I guess they call swag.” Detroit has six pending UFAs, and they won’t be able to bring them all back. Kane is likely to find himself in a different city in the fall.

Don’t count on seeing these three players on the Red Wings next season.