NHL Rumors: 2 Detroit Red Wings In Tough to Make Opening Night Roster

The Detroit Red Wings are hoping the team takes big strides in 2022-23. General manager Steve Yzerman was aggressive this past offseason, trying to upgrade his hockey club and ensure they have flexibility to be creative moving forward. While there's certainly some locks within their lineup, training camp will be fun to watch as the internal competition will be intense. Here's a couple of Red Wings who may be in tough to make the team this season:

Mark Pysyk

The sometime defenseman sometime winger is in a battle for a roster spot this season in Motown. Pysyk spent last season as a member of the Buffalo Sabres where he appeared in 68 games, recording three goals and 12 points. He's been streaky throughout his career, one that's spanned 521 NHL games and four different organizations. Pysyk will need to continue to be an analytical dream if he wants to crack the Wings lineup on the team's bottom-pair.

Mark Pysyk, signed 1x$0.85M by DET, is an analytical darling third pairing defenceman. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/vVrNtehb3x

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 14, 2022

Givani Smith

After appearing in 46 games last season where he collected 108 PIMS, Givani Smith will be in tough to crack the opening night lineup in Detroit. Yzerman went out and added up front with the likes of Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik and David Perron, pushing Smith further down the depth chart. He'll need to impress with a solid camp that features bone-crushing hits and a tenacious forecheck. While it may not be the news Smith expects out of training camp, it's likely we see him in a Red Wings' uniform at some point in 2022-23.

Photo credit:   Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports