With the massive salary cap increases that the NHL has seen lately, and the further increases slated for the coming years, there are many NHL teams poised to have a ton of open space in the near future. However, few teams are poised to have as much of a blank slate as the Detroit Red Wings, who are under 10 months away from having just two defensemen under contract, with at least five spots to fill.
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Detroit’s defensive group is set for a massive facelift a year from now, and it’s not hyperbole to say that how they fill out their backend between now and the start of the 2026-27 season will have massive implications on their future playoff, and even Stanley Cup aspirations. Detroit has been one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL for several years running, landing in the bottom-10 for just about any defensive advanced stat metric (Corsi Against, Shots Against, Goals Against, Save Percentage, etc.).
While making improvements in the crease could have a big impact on the team’s overall defensive ceiling, how they fill out their defense corps will go a long way in raising their defensive floor. Let’s take a look at their current cap sheet on the back end, some players who could fill out the depth chart, and a few possible trade/free agent targets in the coming summers.
Current Cap Sheet on Defense
Moritz Seider
Moritz Seider is on contract for 6 more full seasons at $8.55M, which started at 9.72% of the salary cap. While Detroit couldn’t get him signed for maximum term, this contract has already aged quite well, sitting at 8.95% of this year’s cap, and it is set to be 8.22% by next summer. While Seider continued to play some of the most difficult minutes in the league, his defensive results were much more impressive in the 2024-25 season than the year before. If he caps out as a high-end defensive defender who plays brutal minutes each night and can contribute 40-50 points a year, that is a steal for $8.55M each year.
Albert Johansson
Albert Johansson had a successful rookie year in the NHL, playing some good defensive hockey, mostly in a depth role. While he showed some offensive potential, the points really didn’t add up with just nine points in 61 games. He doesn’t need to do much more in the coming years to hold down a depth role for Detroit, and his cap hit of $1.125M for this year…
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