The Detroit Red Wings are riding high after a thrilling 6–4 comeback win over the St. Louis Blues, erasing a 4–0 deficit early in the second period to improve to 6-3-0 on the season. One of the early bright spots has been the emergence of rookies Emmitt Finnie and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who each notched career firsts in the opening stretch, moments that signal a promising future for Detroit’s youth movement.
While the rookies have grabbed headlines, several other Red Wings are quietly approaching major career milestones. From goals and assists to games played and point totals, there’s no shortage of storylines to track as Detroit continues its push through the season. Let’s take a look at the next big moments looming for the Red Wings in the coming games, weeks, and beyond.
Next Few Games Or Weeks
First off, veteran winger James van Riemsdyk, now 36 and in his 17th NHL season, is inching toward a major milestone. The former second overall pick in the 2007 draft by the Philadelphia Flyers is just 12 games away from playing 1,100 regular season contests.
Next up, J.T. Compher, a 30-year-old forward and former Stanley Cup winner with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, is also nearing a significant mark. He’s just 15 games short of the 600 career games milestone. Moving on to team captain Dylan Larkin, the 29-year-old center and leader of Detroit, he’s chasing two key numbers as he’s two goals away from 250 in his NHL career and 11 points shy of 600. Larkin, originally drafted 15th overall in 2014, has already become one of the Red Wings‘ top scorers.
Then there’s Michael Rasmussen, closing in on 400 games played as he’s just two away and eight points short of reaching 150 career points. Meanwhile, former Winnipeg Jet Mason Appleton is in the same eight-point range to hit that 150-point plateau. Looking at younger talent, defensemen Marco Kasper and Simon Edvinsson are both aiming for early career benchmarks as each needs 12 more points to reach 50 in their NHL careers.
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Rest Of The Season
Larkin still has an opportunity to carve his name deeper into Red Wings history as he’s just 45 points shy of passing Brendan Shanahan to crack the franchise’s top ten all-time points list. Veteran winger Patrick Kane, now 36 and still producing, is chasing two significant milestones as he’s six goals away from his 500th career goal and 43 points behind Brett Hull for the record of most career points by an American-born player. Kane is already among the most prolific U.S. born scorers in NHL history.
Lucas Raymond is getting closer to the 300 point mark, needing about 40 more to reach it. Another under the radar one is Jonatan Berggren, who is off to a strong start this season and is 38 points away from his first 100 career points.
Several vets are approaching major milestones with van Riemsdyk sitting 34 points shy of 700 career points, Ben Chiarot needs 28 more to hit 200 and is 18 games away from 750 games played, Alex DeBrincat is 27 games away from 650 career games, and J.T. Compher still has 21 to go to reach 300 career points.
In goal, Cam Talbot is 12 starts away from 550 and six wins from 275 in his career. On the blue line, defenseman Moritz Seider is 18 points from 200 and 13 games from hitting 350 career games played. Lastly, veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic is just seven points away from 250 in his career.
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