What If Steven Stamkos Had Become a Detroit Red Wing?

While the rest of Detroit waits for the Red Wings to announce their 13th GM in franchise history; let revisit the Summer of 2024, and what the Red Wings could have looked like last season.

We as Detroit Red Wings fans have spent the last year wondering what it would have been like to see Steven Stamkos wearing the Winged Wheel. What if Chris Illitch hadn't been so cheap, and let Yzerman sign Stamkos in the summer of 2024.

In this alternate reality, that wondering becomes a reality in the summer of 2024, and the 2025–26 Red Wings suddenly look like a very different hockey team. When Steven Stamkos entered free agency in July 2024, Detroit was one of the teams that made perfect sense. Stamkos had a long history with GM Steve Yzerman, and Detroit desperately needed additional scoring and veteran leadership. Instead, Stamkos signed with Nashville on a four-year, $32 million contract. He was coming off a 40-goal, 81-point season with Tampa Bay.

But imagine if Illitch had let Yzerman sign Stamkos... The depth chart might look a little like this.

Forwards

Line	Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
1	23 Lucas Raymond	71 Dylan Larkin	93 Alex DeBrincat
2	91? Steven Stamkos	92 Marco Kasper	88 Patrick Kane
3	57 David Perron	37 J.T. Compher	18 Andrew Copp
4	21 James van Riemsdyk	22 Mason Appleton	58 Emmitt Finnie
Extra	27 Michael Rasmussen	29 Nate Danielson	—

Defense

Pair	Left Defensemen	Right Defensemen	Goalie
1	77 Simon Edvinsson	53 Moritz Seider	36 Gibson
2	8 Ben Chiarot	72 Justin Faulk	39 Cam Talbot
3	20 Albert Johansson	25 Jacob Bernard-Docker
Extra	36 Axel Sandin-Pellika	52 Travis Hamonic

An Already Dangerous Offense Could have had Another Superstar.

The 2025–26 Red Wings already had four forwards capable of producing at a high level.

Alex DeBrincat scored 41 goals and finished with 85 points. Lucas Raymond recorded 76 points, Dylan Larkin had 67, and Patrick Kane produced 57 points despite playing 67 games. Now put Stamkos into that group. Suddenly, Detroit Could have had five legitimate offensive weapons. This could have been one of the more intriguing offensive groups in the Eastern Conference, and there would have been options. Detroit could have moved Stamkos to the first line, put him alongside Larkin and Raymond, and created an extremely dangerous scoring unit. Or, the coaching staff could have kept the Larkin-Raymond-DeBrincat combination together and allowed Stamkos to lead a second line with Kane. Either way, opposing coaches would have had a difficult matchup.

The Power Play Could Have Been Special

This might have been the biggest reason to add Stamkos.Stamkos has been one of the NHL's premier power-play goal scorers throughout his career. He would have arrived in Detroit with enormous experience, having scored 555 goals and 1,137 points during his Tampa Bay career.

Imagine a Detroit power play featuring:

Larkin – Raymond – DeBrincat – Stamkos – Seider

And then having Patrick Kane available as another elite playmaker. That is an embarrassment of offensive talent. Stamkos would also have given Detroit something it has lacked at times... a player who opposing penalty killers have to specifically worry about when he sets up for a shot.

The Second Line Becomes a Nightmare

Perhaps the most interesting possibility would have been Stamkos playing with Patrick Kane.

Kane remains one of the NHL's elite passers and playmakers, while Stamkos has spent much of his career being one of hockey's most dangerous finishers.

The combination would have given Detroit a very different second line.

Instead of opponents being able to focus most of their defensive attention on Larkin's line, Detroit could roll out a second unit capable of scoring every time it stepped over the boards.

That depth matters enormously over an 82-game season.

Stamkos Also Brings Something You Can't Measure on a Stat Sheet

The biggest impact might not have been his goals. It would have been his experience. Stamkos was Tampa Bay's captain for more than a decade and was a central figure on two Stanley Cup championship teams. He had already experienced the pressure of playoff hockey, long playoff runs and what it takes to build a championship culture. Detroit's younger players could have benefited tremendously from having that voice in the locker room. Players such as Raymond, Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper could have learned from someone who had spent his career playing meaningful games in front of enormous expectations.

Would Stamkos Have Guaranteed a Playoff Spot?

No... And that's important. Adding one player doesn't automatically solve every problems. Detroit's defense and goaltending would still have been major factors. The actual 2025–26 Red Wings allowed 254 goals while scoring 239. Adding Justin Faulk at the trade deadline did upgrade the defense, but adding Stamkos wouldn't have fixed every defensive problems.

But he could have changed the team's biggest weakness... consistent scoring depth.

Detroit already had DeBrincat, Raymond and Larkin producing at "high levels". Adding Stamkos would have made it much harder for opponents to shut down the Red Wings' best players.

The Verdict

Would Steven Stamkos have turned the 2025–26 Red Wings into a Stanley Cup favorite?

Probably not by himself. But would he have made them a significantly better team? Detroit finished the real 2025–26 season with 239 goals, and its offense was led by DeBrincat, Raymond, Larkin and Kane. Adding a player with Stamkos' scoring pedigree to that group could have transformed Detroit from a team searching for enough offense into one of the Eastern Conference's most dangerous scoring teams.

But if Steve Yzerman had been able to bring his former Lightning captain to Detroit in 2024, the 2025–26 Red Wings might have looked completely different—and perhaps the Winged Wheel would have finally returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with one of the greatest goal scorers of his generation leading the way.