Red Wings pre-season game day: Columbus comes to town

The next chapter in the long-standing Ohio/Michigan rivalry will be written Saturday when the Detroit Red Wings, undefeated in the 2021 NHL pre-season, face the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets at Little Caesars Arena.

Yes, it’ll only be an exhibition hockey game — hardly the same as a Buckeyes/Wolverines matchup on national television — but there should still be plenty of storylines to help keep fans invested. You’ll be able to watch this one on Bally Sports Detroit+ just after 7:00 p.m. ET.

Detroit still has a relatively inflated training camp roster of 54 players. We’ll likely see another round of cuts either this morning or in the wake of the game.

Here’s who’s left in Red Wings camp:

Forwards (30): Filip Zadina, Robby Fabbri, Jakub Vrána (inj.), Mitchell Stephens, Lucas Raymond, Pius Suter, Taro Hirose, Riley Barber, Michael Rasmussen, Carter Rowney, Kyle Criscuolo, Chase Pearson, Givani Smith, Dominik Shine, Hayden Verbeek, Jonatan Berggren, Bobby Ryan, Turner Elson, Tyler Bertuzzi, T-Bone Codd, Jon Martin, Dennis Yan, Dylan Larkin, Adam Erne, Tyler Spezia, Patrick Curry, Kirill Tyutyayev, Sam Gagner, Joe Veleno, Vladislav Namestnikov

Defensemen (19): Nick Leddy, Jared McIsaac, Filip Hronek, Marc Staal, Luke Witkowski, Dan Renouf, Gustav Lindström, Brian Lashoff, Donovan Sebrango, Wyatt Newpower, Seth Barton, Moritz Seider, Danny DeKeyser, Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle, Mason Ward, Alex Cotton, Adam Brubacher, Ryan Murphy

Goaltenders (5): Thomas Greiss, Calvin Pickard, Victor Brattström, Kaden Fulcher, Alex Nedeljkovic

If the Wings are waiting until after the game to trim the roster, it’s possible we could see a relatively young lineup with the intent of giving some of the kids one more opportunity to impress the higher-ups. Team captain Dylan Larkin could also make his pre-season debut.

For what it’s worth: Berggren, Codd, Larkin, Curry, McIsaac, Staal, Barton, DeKeyser, Ward, Brubacher, Murphy, and Fulcher have yet to appear in a pre-season game for Detroit. Vrána also has not, and will not — he’s out four months with a shoulder injury.

Here’s the Blue Jackets’ travelling lineup for Saturday’s game:

Forwards: Grégory Hofmann, Justin Danforth, Tyler Sikura, Liam Foudy, Cole Cassels, Alexandre Texier, Emil Bemström, Carson Meyer, Jake Gaudet, Justin Scott, Jake Slater, Jack Roslovic

Defensemen: Andrew Peeke, Scott Harrington, Jake Bean, Dean Kukan, Dillon Simpson, Gabriel Carlsson

Goaltenders: Jet Greaves, Elvis Merzļikins

Columbus still has 56 players in its training camp:

Forwards (33): Sean Kuraly, Kevin Stenlund, Gustav Nyquist, Grégory Hofmann, Max Domi (inj.), Justin Danforth, Tyler Sikura, Liam Foudy, Josh Dunne, Brendan Gaunce, Cole Cassels, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Patrik Laine, Cole Sillinger, Adam Helewka, Boone Jenner, Tyler Angle, Alexandre Texier, Cole Fonstad, Eric Robinson, Emil Bemström, Brett Gallant, Carson Meyer, Zac Jordan, Yegor Chinakhov, Jake Gaudet, Trey Fix-Wolansky (inj.), Tristan Mullin, Justin Scott, Navrin Mutter, Jake Slater, Jakub Voráček, Jack Roslovic

Defensemen (18): Andrew Peeke, Scott Harrington, Gavin Bayreuther, Billy Sweezey, Zach Werenski, Jake Bean, Thomas Schemitsch, Adam Boqvist, Jake Christiansen, Mikko Lehtonen, Vladislav Gavrikov, Dean Kukan, Dillon Simpson, Gabriel Carlsson, Cole Clayton, Tim Berni, Olivier LeBlanc, Giovanni Vallati

Goaltenders (5): Jean-François Bérubé, Daniil Tarasov, Jet Greaves, Joonas Korpisalo, Elvis Merzļikins

This will be the Blue Jackets’ fourth game of the pre-season and likely their last before another round of cuts. They trimmed 10 players on Sept. 30 but still need to make massive reductions before opening night.

If Larkin plays, he’ll obviously be a main point of attention for home and visiting fans. A DeKeyser debut would also be intriguing: He’s entering a contract year and will undoubtedly be motivated to have another healthy, productive year after only missing nine games last season.

Blue Jackets center Jack Roslovic will play his second game of the pre-season after picking up an assist and logging over 20 minutes of ice time in Columbus’ 5-4 shootout loss to Buffalo on Sept. 28. The Ohioan scored 12 goals and 34 points in 48 games with his hometown Blue Jackets after being dealt by the Winnipeg Jets last season.