Red Wings By The Numbers: What The New Guys Will Be Wearing

The numbers that the newest members of the Detroit Red Wings will wear this season were unveiled by the club earlier this week.

Here’s a look at what they’ll be wearing, who wore it most recently, and who wore it best.

Olli Maatta (No. 2)

For the second consecutive season, the Red Wings will be suiting up a new guy wearing No. 2. He’s never worn that digit before as an NHLer, but Maatta does display a penchant for single-digit numbers. Maatta broke in as No. 3 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was No. 6 for the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. Although it’s not officially a retired number, the Red Wings took No. 6 out of service in the 1930s to honor forward Larry Aurie.

Who Wore It Last: Defenseman Nick Leddy was No. 2 for the Red Wings last season. Acquired in an offseason trade with the New York Islanders, Leddy was dealt to the St Louis Blues at last season’s NHL trade deadline.

Who Wore It Best:Take your pick. Hall of Famers Black Jack Stewart and Slava Fetisov were both No. 2. So was Doug Young, Detroit’s first Stanley Cup-winning captain in 1935-36 and Gary Bergman, a member of Team Canada during the 1972 Summit Series.

Hot off the press! pic.twitter.com/QH6P86HRru

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 16, 2022

Ben Chiarot (No. 8)

Chiarot has worn No. 8 at each of his two previous NHL stops, with the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens. He wore it for the Habs in the 2021 Stanley Cup final.

Who Wore It Last: Defenseman Jake Walman was No. 8 last season after arriving from St Louis in the Leddy deal. He’s surrendering it to the more experienced Ben Chiarot.

Who Wore It Best: The Professor, Hall of Famer Igor Larionov, was No. 8 for three Detroit Stanley Cup winners. Hall of Famer Syd Howe also was No. 8 on a trio of Red Wings Cup-winning squads.

Andrew Copp (No. 18)

Copp was No. 9 for the Winnipeg Jets, in college hockey with the Michigan Wolverines and as a coveted high school quarterback at Ann Arbor Pioneer. But for some reason, No. 9 isn’t available in Detroit.

Who Wore It Last: Defenseman Marc Staal was No. 18 for the Red Wings for the past two seasons.

Who Wore It Best: Kirk Maltby of Grind Line fame was No. 18 on three Detroit Stanley Cup winners.

Pontus Andreasson (No. 26)

The Swedish free agent who lit up the SHL with Lulea last season is donning a popular jersey number in Red Wings lore. Andreasson wore No. 96 throughout his SHL career.

Who Wore It Last: Right winger Riley Barber played four games for last season’s Red Wings with No. 26 on his back.

Who Wore It Best: Joe Kocur, one half of the Bruise Brothers, wore No. 26 during two different Red Wings tenures. He was wearing it when he led the NHL in penalty minutes in 1985-86 and while winning Stanley Cups in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Ville Husso (No. 35)

Ville Husso wore No. 35 for the Blues last season. He also donned the digits during his AHL career.

Who Wore It Last: Jimmy Howard was No. 35 for the Red Wings from 2005-20.

Who Wore It Best: Former Red Wings GM Ken Holland was the first to wear No. 35 for the Red Wings. Warren Young wore it during his forgettable 1985-86 season. But we’ll have to give Howard, who participated in the NHL All-Star Game while wearing it, the nod here.

Robert Hagg (No. 38)

Hagg is crazy for eights. The defenseman wore No. 18 last season with the Panthers. Prior to that, he was No. 8 for the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers.

Who Wore It Last:  Goaltender Thomas McCollum, Detroit’s 2008 first-round draft pick, wore No. 28 from 2011-15.

Who Wore It Best: Tim Taylor (1993-94) and Kevin Hodson (1998-99) both wore 38, even though they were wearing different numbers when they won Stanley Cup rings as Red Wings.

Mark Pysyk (No. 43)

Pysyk evidently believes that good things come when he has threes on his jersey. He wore No. 53, 3 and 13 for the Buffalo Sabres and No. 13 for the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars.

Who Wore It Last: Center Darren Helm was No. 43 for the Red Wings from 2007-21.

Who Wore It Best: Helm won a Stanley Cup as a Red Wings rookie in 2007-08 and added a second title this season with the Colorado Avalanche.

Jussi Olkinuora (No. 45)

Olkinuora was wearing No. 45 last season for Finland as he won an Olympic gold medal and an IIHF World Championship.

Who Wore It Last: Goalie Magnus Hellberg was No. 45 for his brief one-game stint as a Red Wings goalie last season.

Who Wore It Best: Jonathan Bernier was solid in a two-season stint from 2019-21 between the posts for Detroit.

Steven Kampfer (No. 54)

Journeyman defenseman Steven Kampfer doesn’t appear to be partial to any number. He was 43 and 47 for the New York Rangers, 44 and 47 for the Boston Bruins, 38 for the Minnesota Wild and 3 and 43 for the Panthers.

Who Wore It Last: Fan favorite Bobby Ryan wore 54 for the Red Wings in 2020-21, his final NHL stop.

Who Wore It Best: Considering that it’s a choice between Matt Puempel and Ryan, let’s go with Ryan.

Another one! The biggest question is, will we be neighbors in Detroit too?? https://t.co/1DFpAvzS3K

— Oskar Sundqvist (@sundqvist32) July 13, 2022

David Perron (No. 57)

Perron has skated in 1,094 NHL and just 43 of them were played without a 57 on his sweater. He’s worn No. 57 with the Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers.

Who Wore It Last: Minor-league veteran forward Turner Elson got a call-up to Detroit late last season and donned No. 57.

Who Wore It Best: Tough guy Mitch Callahan, one of the most popular Grand Rapids Griffins of all-time, wore No. 57 in five NHL games for the Red Wings.

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Dominik Kubalik (No. 81)

Kubalik wore 8 for the Chicago Blackhawks. He was No. 81 for the Czech Republic at the 2019 world tourney and also with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss League.

Who Wore It Last: Frans Nielsen donned No. 81 after surrendering his original 51 to Valtteri Filppula in 2020.

Who Wore It Best: In one season with the Red Wings in 2008-09, Marian Hossa scored 40 goals.

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today re-signed defenseman Jake Walman to a one-year contract with an average annual value of $1.05 million.

Details: https://t.co/OxIJ4YKuE9 pic.twitter.com/R9D3R6KGas

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 11, 2022

Jake Walman (No. 96)

Handing off his No. 8 to Chiarot, defenseman Walman is donning the year of his birth. He was born Feb. 20, 1996 but has never previously worn No. 96 as a pro.

Who Wore It Last: No Red Wings player wore No. 96 before or since forward Tomas Holmstrom.

Who Wore It Best: Suiting up for Detroit from 1996-2012, Holmstrom played 1,046 games, scored 243 goals and won four Stanley Cups.