These Red Wings Won’t be Departing

There can be no denying that among the fanbase, Justin Holl and JT Compher are two of the more polarizing Detroit Red Wings players.  Certainly, a faction of those fans wouldn’t lose any sleep if either player wasn’t on the roster come next season.

Here’s the thing, though – it just doesn’t look like that’s going to be happening.

Read the room – the Red Wings coaches’ room – and you’ll see clear signals from coach Todd McLellan that both players are figuring in his future plans.

He was singing the praises of both players at the end of the NHL regular season.

McLellan was actually calling Holl out for his poor play early into his tenure behind the Detroit bench. That wasn’t the case as the campaign was concluding.

Detroit goal!

Scored by Justin Holl with 17:44 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Marco Kasper and Vladimir Tarasenko.

Toronto: 1
Detroit: 2#DETvsTOR #LeafsForever #LGRW pic.twitter.com/baw94qdiLU

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 18, 2025

“I think Justin Holl got better as the season wore on,” McLellan said. “Nobody talks about him, but his play was, in my opinion anyhow, much better now than it was in December. So sometimes the unrecognized ones also improved.”

The fact of the matter is that in the role he was best-suited for – a third-pairing defender – Holl was serviceable. He’s not going to bring any offensive upside and yes, he makes mistakes. News flash – so has every defenseman in NHL history not named Nicklas Lidstrom.

Holl was plus-three with 1-2-3 totals over Detroit’s last three games of the season.

Compher Showed Late Season Uptick

Likewise, Compher’s game was tracking upward as the season was concluding. He scored four of his 11 goals over the last 12 games. But in measuring Compher’s value, it goes far beyond accumulating points.

Compher cashes in! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/Wz7tCepH0Y

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 26, 2025

“We’ve kind of beat this drum an awful lot where he’s a complete player, 200 foot,” McLellan said. “We can recognize his offense because it’s recorded every day. You pull out the sheet and you see 15 goals or whatever for assists.

“But there isn’t any type of stat pack that comes out for defensive kills or plays around the net that he just happens to break up. And he’s very good at that as well. So we recognize it all the time.”

Players More Likely To Be Moved By Red Wings

That’s not to day there aren’t players that the Red Wings would ideally like to, or at least be willing to shed from the roster. Without a doubt, the club was shopping forward Vladimir Tarasenko at the trade deadline. He could be a buyout candidate.

On defense, Erik Gustafsson might be the most attractive candidate to shop in a deal. His ability to play effectively on the power play could make a team willing to overlook his obvious defensive shortcomings. It’s definitely why the Red Wings were willing to roll the dice on him as a UFA last summer.