The Detroit Red Wings play their first leg of a preseason home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
As the preseason draws to a close, the Detroit Red Wings are nearly complete with their roster moves and slowly trimming down the roster with just two games remaining before the start of the regular season. Lineup storylines will be at the forefront Thursday and Saturday when the Red Wings play their preseason home-and-home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This marks the first meeting between the two teams since the Red Wings’ heartbreaking season-ending loss, in which they surrendered a two-goal lead in the third period before falling in overtime. Detroit will be looking to exorcise the demons of that defeat as well as turn the tide on their preseason struggles against Toronto, having posted a 2-5-2 record against the Maple Leafs over their last nine exhibition matchups.
Red Wings Reveal Centennial Jersey Night ScheduleThe 2025-26 NHL season is set to be a historical one for the Detroit Red Wings, who are celebrating their centennial campaign.
Detroit is coming off a solid performance on Tuesday, when topping the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on the road. They played a fairly full lineup for the exhibition game with some NHL regulars like Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Andrew Copp among others mixed in with top prospects like Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Emmitt Finnie and Axel Sandin-Pellikka. The lineup changes introduced several storylines to watch over the Red Wings' final two preseason games, including an intriguing line shakeup on Tuesday and the potential debut of a high-profile free-agent add on Thursday.
JVR to Make Red Wings Debut
A Red Wings debut will likely be the biggest storyline of Thursday's game as James van Riemsdyk has finally reported to camp. After dealing with a family matter, the 36-year-old veteran led the stretches during Wednesday's team practice and could be an option on Thursday as McLellan said to the media earlier in the week that they'd like to see him play before determining his role in the lineup. The former longtime Maple Leaf will look to make an impact against the team he played 413 games with over six seasons.
Red Wings welcome James Van Riemsdyk, who leads stretches on first day with team. pic.twitter.com/brEPaq8t2T
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) October 1, 2025
Copp Joins Top LW Position Battle
The expectation after playing mostly together in camp and preseason was the Red Wings' third line for the season would be Michael Rasmussen, Mason Appleton and Copp except Detroit head coach Todd McLellan made an experimental change during Tuesday's game. He instead tried Copp on the top line with Larkin and Raymond to see how he'd work as a top line option while Appleton and Rasmussen were split up and played lower down the lineup.
It appeared to be another look at who could potentially take the top line left wing spot away from preseason and training camp breakout Emmitt Finnie. Thursday’s lineup will further intensify the ongoing position battle, which the coaching staff hopes to resolve in the near future. On Tuesday, Finnie logged time at center, suggesting he could be considered for a fourth-line role if the team believes he’s NHL-ready but prefers not to place him in the top-line role.
Finnie has played in five of Detroit's six preseason games and will likely see a rest day on Thursday meaning we could see more experimentation with the position if Larkin and Raymond step in for their third preseason game.
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
Brandsegg-Nygard, Mazur Still Battling for Roster Spots
There may still be an opportunities left in the Red Wings lineup as recent roster cuts has brought the preseason roster down to 40 with a couple notable prospects still in the hunt.
Brandsegg-Nygard is looking to carve out role for himself after performing well so far this preseason with a pair of goals, nine shots on net and a +4 rating while playing a physical brand of hockey with 14 hits through five exhibition games.
Larks to MBN. 🤌 pic.twitter.com/3BYuGUMvBl
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 1, 2025
Like Finnie, Brandsegg-Nygard has also played in five games this preseason and will likely get a night off Thursday and will be a storyline in-it-of itself his recent play will be compared to other prospects on the road looking to make an impact and earn a starting job like another gritty prospect in Carter Mazur.
After debuting with the Red Wings last season, Mazur is still involved in talks to make the main roster after scoring in the preseason opener versus Blackhawks and landing seven hits in his most recent appearance against the Penguins on Monday. Mazur will most likely be in the lineup on Thursday after a long break and will be looking to produce some offense as the battle for main roster spots is drawing to a conclusion and will need to make some memorable plays if he wants to continuing living out his dream as a Jackson, Michigan native and play for the Detroit Red Wings.
Toronto's Bottom-Six Problems
The Maple Leafs look to be contenders once again this season as they still have several superstar talents in Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies and William Nylander despite losing winger Mitch Marner to free agency. For once, they have a few openings in their lineup with a hotly-contested battle for the bottom-six forward group, grabbing all the headlines so far. With a crowded group of forwards including Nick Robertson, Calle Järnkrok, David Kämpf, Michael Pezzetta, Steven Lorentz, and top prospect Easton Cowan, the battle for just two fourth-line winger spots will take center stage for the Maple Leafs and hockey fans on Thursday.
Latest Valuation Sees Red Wings Franchise Value Doubled Over Last Four SeasonsA new valuation from Sportico has the Red Wings team value having doubled over the last four seasons, ranking ahead of notable sports teams.
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!