The Detroit Red Wings announced on Friday, Sept. 11, that Dylan Larkin will no longer be the Red Wings captain. He requested a trade over the summer and has yet to be moved. Larkin will still be with the team during training camp as the 2026-27 season approaches.
A statement from the Red Wings organization said this about naming a new captain: “The Red Wings will begin the 2026-27 season without a captain being named. Any further discussions or decisions regarding this topic will be made once new hockey operations leadership is in place.” With that being the case, it will be interesting to see who the next Detroit captain will be.
Defenseman Moritz Seider, forward Lucas Raymond, or forward Andrew Copp could be potential candidates to be the next captain of the Red Wings.
The Hockey Writers Make Seider the Favorite for Red Wings Captain
Logan Horn of The Hockey Writers wrote about three potential candidates who could be the next Red Wings captain after Larkin was stripped of the captaincy. Horn thinks that the most likely candidate to take over is Seider. The defenseman is 25 years old. Horn wrote:
“Moritz Seider has been Detroit’s best defenseman for five consecutive seasons, ever since he debuted back in the 2021-22 season. Seider was named as an alternate captain for the Red Wings last season and will repeat in that position at least to start this coming season.
Seider’s leadership and competitiveness on the ice has been clear for years and it’s no surprise that he has captained the German national team at the World Championships in each of the past two years. Seider is the favourite to be named the next captain of the Red Wings.”
Seider Has Never Missed a Game in Detroit
Seider has not missed a game in five seasons in uniform with Detroit. During the 2025-26 NHL season, he scored 10 goals and recorded 50 assists, along with a plus/minus rating of +15. The NHL will be moving from 82 to 84 games this season, so that streak has two extra games to survive.
Seider and Raymond Already Wear the A
Seider was one of the alternate captains last season and so was Raymond. With them being the alternate captains to begin the 2026-27 NHL season, it makes sense that either he or Raymond will be the favorite to be the next captain of the Red Wings. Maybe Seider and Raymond will be the alternate captains for the entire season. If that’s the case, expect Seider to be named the next captain for Detroit in 2027-28 and beyond.
