Detroit Red Wings centerman Andrew Copp is going to have to step up his game in the 2026-27 season, because this team is very thin at center. Simon Edvinsson is still unsigned and skating in Sweden, and Dylan Larkin made the 23-man opening roster but missed the entire preseason with an upper-body injury and was left off the projected opening-night lines. Everyone on the Red Wings is going to have to step up their game this season.
Copp last season played in 79 games for Detroit. He scored nine goals and recorded 34 assists, along with a plus-3 rating. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for 10 straight seasons, the longest drought in franchise history. What has to give in order for this team to end it?
Andrew Copp Sets Clear Expectations for the Red Wings
Everyone will have a job to do on the Red Wings and they need to do it well. Copp spoke with Max Bultman of The Athletic about the expectations for the 2026-27 NHL season. The centerman said:
“I think everyone’s gonna feel important. I think the team makes sense the way it’s constructed. … Everyone’s just gotta do their job. That’s all it is. Whether we win 5-4 or we win 1-0, it doesn’t matter. We’ve just gotta find a way to win games, get off to a good start and then you start feeling good, momentum builds, everything goes. I think a good start is instrumental for us.”
Copp Steps Into the Top-Line Job
It will no doubt be important for everyone to understand their role this season, and Copp’s got bigger. With Larkin off the projected lineup, Copp skated as Detroit’s first-line center between Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat coming out of the team’s practice week, the same trio Daily Faceoff has atop its Red Wings depth chart.
The season begins for Detroit on Friday, Oct. 2 against the New York Rangers, a 6:30 p.m. puck drop at Little Caesars Arena.
