Anton Johansson had probably imagined his NHL debut plenty of times. The actual thing came with a few more butterflies than the Detroit Red Wings rookie might have preferred.
Johansson made his NHL debut Friday night at Little Caesars Arena as the Red Wings opened the 2026-27 season against the New York Rangers. There was the red carpet, the introductions and all the Opening Night noise before Johansson finally got to do the one thing that could settle him down.
Play hockey.
Anton Johansson Admits the Nerves Were Real
Johansson did not pretend afterward that this was just another day at the rink. Making an NHL debut would be enough to get anyone’s heart pumping, but doing it on Opening Night added another layer to the experience.
“It was awesome. Opening Night, Red Carpet, everything, player presentations,” Johansson said after making his NHL debut. “It was a nervous day, but until the game starts, it felt pretty good.”
That changed once the game actually started.
Johansson said getting his first couple of shifts behind him allowed him to settle into the moment and focus on playing. He ultimately logged 19:10 of ice time in Detroit’s 2-0 loss, getting his first taste of NHL hockey against a Rangers team that gave him little time to process what was happening.
For Johansson, simply getting through those first few shifts mattered. Everything he had worked toward had suddenly become real.
Johansson Refused to Play Scared
Nerves are one thing. Looking nervous on the ice is another.
Johansson earned praise afterward because he did not spend the night playing as though he was terrified of making a mistake. He wanted the puck, looked to skate with it and showed a willingness to get involved offensively rather than immediately dumping it off whenever pressure arrived.
Todd McLellan noticed.
The Red Wings coach specifically praised Johansson’s aggressive approach after the game, saying he liked the rookie’s desire to possess the puck and make plays. McLellan also acknowledged there will be moments when Johansson learns which chances he can take against NHL competition and which ones will get him into trouble.
That is a pretty reasonable tradeoff for Detroit.
McLellan’s full assessment was encouraging enough that the coach made his feelings about Johansson’s debut quite clear. Instead of trying to coax confidence out of the rookie, Detroit may occasionally have to teach him when to rein it in.
Moritz Seider Knows the Feeling
Johansson also received support from someone who understands exactly what it is like to enter the NHL as a young Red Wings defenseman.
Moritz Seider praised Johansson after the game and said the rookie held his own on a back end that kept the Rangers from generating much of anything. Seider has since become the cornerstone of Detroit’s blue line, but he was once the rookie trying to prove he belonged, too.
“I’m happy for him,” Seider said after Johansson’s debut. “Obviously, he wanted to get a win, but I think he played really well.”
That makes Seider’s approval particularly meaningful.
Johansson does not need to become Seider, and nobody should draw conclusions about his future after 19 minutes and 10 seconds of NHL hockey. But Detroit badly needs its younger players to become legitimate pieces of the roster rather than names permanently stuck in the “prospect” category.
Johansson just took the biggest step possible toward doing that.
A Night Johansson Will Never Forget
The final score was the unfortunate part.
Detroit failed to beat Dylan Garand on 22 shots and opened the season with a 2-0 defeat, leaving Todd McLellan warning that the Red Wings must find ways to manufacture offense when their skill players cannot create goals naturally.
That result will matter much more to Johansson once NHL games become routine.
Friday was not routine.
It was the first one.
The nerves, the introductions, the first shift and the realization that he was finally playing in the National Hockey League will stick with Johansson long after most people have forgotten the score of Game 1 of an 84-game schedule.
Detroit would have preferred that Johansson’s first NHL game ended with a victory.
But once the puck dropped, the nervous rookie disappeared pretty quickly.
