Apr 2, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Marco Kasper (92) battles for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (55) in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images It’s been an offseason of changes for the Red Wings. With just over a month before the regular season starts for Detroit, there’s one question looming over the franchise that going into the offseason, many didn’t believe was going to be an issue.
However, Dylan Larkin’s trade request has many wondering; Who will center the Red Wings top line this year? While it seems increasingly likely Larkin is going to be on the roster on opening day, it is questionable if he will start for the team, either due to holdout or coaching decisions. That leaves a rather large hole at the top of the Red Wings lineup.
Stepping Up The most obvious answer to the question of replacing your top center is to go with the next guy down the depth chart. However, one of the Red Wings main needs going into the offseason was a true no. 2 center to help drive offense in the Red Wings top six. Andrew Copp, who has been in the position for the past three years, hasn’t proven to be an effective goal-scorer.
His career high in points was set last year with 43. When compared to Larkin, who has scored 35 goals alone in each of the last five seasons, makes for a rather bleak outlook. The other option Red Wings fans should prepare for is Marco Kasper to step into the role.
While the young Austrian center had a rough sophomore outing by just about every metric, it isn’t actually out of place for young Red Wings centerman to struggle in their second season. Larkin himself went from 45 points in his rookie campaign to 32 total points and a -28 rating in his second year in the league. Kasper doesn’t pop with nearly the same offensive numbers, with just 37 points in his first year and a precipitous dropoff to 19 points the following.
However, he won over 50% of his faceoffs and led the Red Wings forward group in hits last year as well. At just 22, Kasper also still has plenty of room to grow, and perhaps locking him into the center position instead of trying him out on the wing on various lines throughout the season will help him to better hone his shooting ability. Outside the Box While the ship has sailed on names like Vincent Trochek and Mavrik Bourque, the Red Wings could still pursue a name like Elias Petterson to help.
However, with a new GM yet to be named after Steve Yzerman agreed to ‘step aside’ from the franchise, swinging a new trade will be difficult for the Red Wings, and that’s before getting into what actual trade assets the Red Wings have. The fact of the matter is that the Red Wings are now looking to either retool or rebuild as Larkin looks to exit the picture.
On the one hand, the team has obvious needs to address. On the other hand, the Red Wings don’t want to spend assets to bring in any new potential impact players until they know what the team looks like without Larkin. Any retool or rebuild without the assets he would bring back, either via the draft or if they do somehow manage to get some proven NHLers would have the same half-baked result as the Red Wings teams of the past three years.
The Red Wings have found themselves between a rock and a hard place, and the only person they have to turn to is the same man who wants out of town.