The Detroit Red Wings have had a very quiet summer, but after their Stanley Cup Playoffs drought extended to 10 seasons in 2025/26, that was the last thing that their increasingly frustrated fanbase was wanting to see as they expected big changes over the past few months.
Perhaps the biggest reason for that is the departure of Steve Yzerman as General Manager, and with the team still not replacing the franchise icon in the role, it’s given them very little room to make a splash. They’ve made some small moves, but this roster still has plenty of improving to do if they want to be competitive now or in the long-term future, and according to reports, they may have missed on one veteran due to the changes in the front office.
Anthony Mantha was Offered a Deal Before Steve Yzerman Left
GettyAnthony Mantha with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
That player was veteran winger Anthony Mantha, and in his latest report, Ansar Khan of MLive has revealed that Mantha was given a one-year offer by the Red Wings, but in a matter of days, that offer was taken away, not by anyone in Detroit, but by the simple fact that the man offering the deal had departed suddenly.
According to Khan, that offer was one-year, $5 million for the winger who had a bounce back campaign in 2025/26 with the Pittsburgh Penguins where he posted 33 goals and 64 points in 81 games played, both career highs. This would have been a reunion for Mantha, who started his career with the Red Wings, playing 302 games for the organization across six seasons after originally being the No. 20 overall pick of Detroit back in the 2013 draft, but clearly, the reunion was not meant to be.
Where to now for the Detroit Red Wings?
Not only this, but the Red Wings also would go on to lose Patrick Kane in free agency, with the 37-year-old winger returning to the Chicago Blackhawks just a few days ago, as the organization now scramble to ice a competitive top-six in 2026/27. That may be made tougher if Dylan Larkin insists on being traded ahead of the regular season, even with the change in management, and right now, this looks like a team in disarray, and one that’s not ready to break their post-season drought.
If they want to look for free agents, there are still names out there, with the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko, Eeli Tolvanen, Michael Bunting and Patrik Laine all intriguing options, but given the direction of the organization, it’s unclear if any of these would be significant upgrades in the top-six.
On paper, Mantha would have been a great option for a top-six that includes Larkin (potentially), Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond, but now, the future of several of those players has grown increasingly unclear, and with the team yet to name Steve Yzerman’s replacement, it’s unclear how they are going to fill roles in their top-six as they look to ice a competitive team in 2026/27.
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