Red Wings Second Line not Secondary to Success

Under the numbers

In the calendar year of 2026, Copp had five goals to cap off his season with the Red Wings, bringing his season total to nine. However, Copp’s nine goals were the lowest on the line, and half of them came in a two week span in January.

“We need to improve our center position, for sure,” Said Yzerman, “I look at our group I think Copp did an admirable job… Now when I look at number ones and number twos, and everybody has their own definition of a one, a two or whatnot, we need more production from all four of our centers.”

In 79 games, Copp had 43 points, one more than his first season with Detroit. The 31 year old still has another year on his 5.625 AAV contract, and this season was quietly a career high in points for him.

Kane, meanwhile has been playing on year-to-year contracts ever since signing with Detroit, and this will be the third year the former Cup winner sits outside of the playoffs after making a comeback from a potentially career-ending hip resurfacing surgery. No. 88 also didn’t exactly look like “Showtime” Kane all the time this year either.

The upper body injury suffered early in the season clearly had an effect on Kane’s shot this season, and he noticeably tried not to take hard contact at times this season. In 67 games this year, Kane had 16 goals and 41 assists, and along the way collected the most points by an American player ever.

His vast hockey knowledge is an incredible asset to this team more often than not, but that makes some of the high profile mistakes he made late in the season all the more puzzling.

The elephant in the room…

DeBrincat was the first Red Wing since Marion Hossa in the 2008-09 season to hit the 40 goal mark, and his 85 total points led the team. The Farmington Hills born forward has been Detroit’s most consistent forward, and becomes extension eligible this offseason. He matched his career high in goals with 41 and set a new career high in points with his 44 assists on top of that.

Detroit will need to resign DeBrincat if they hope to be competing for a playoff spot over the next few years, but who will sit between him and Kane as the years go forward looms as a larger question. If the position isn’t figured out and the team keeps missing the playoffs, neither player would have much motivation to stay in Hockeytown.

The reality about the Red Wings prospect pool is that the team has accumulated a bevy of potential third or fourth line NHLers and a cluster of second round picks that all fit the same physical profile as undersized forwards whose minds exceed their physical skill at times.

Detroit needs to make a serious run at acquiring a more productive second line center this offseason. Either that or hope that Marco Kasper will bounce back from an injury that wasn’t revealed until after the season’s end.

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