Red Wings pre-season game day: Heading to sunny Columbus

Who wouldn’t want to spend time in Ohio in October?

The Detroit Red Wings will play their third-last game of the 2021 pre-season Wednesday when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:00 p.m. ET.

While it doesn’t appear this particular game will be broadcast on TV, it should be available for listening on WXVT-FM 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit and on the Red Wings’ official website.

Yes, the Wings still have 54 players in 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.

Detroit went with these lines in Monday’s 6-4 loss to Chicago:

We’ll let you know when the Wings release their lineup for Wednesday’s game (and if they make any cuts prior to puck-drop).

Detroit will likely be running with these lines for tonight’s game, as tweeted by Max Bultman of The Athletic:

The Red Wings announced three roster cuts Wednesday morning. Forward T-Bone Codd and defensemen Alex Cotton and Mason Ward have been released from training camp, bringing the total number of participants down to 51.

Columbus made 27 cuts to its training camp roster on Monday, bringing the total number of participants down to 30.

Here’s who’s left in Blue Jackets camp:

Forwards (18): Sean Kuraly, Kevin Stenlund, Gustav Nyquist, Grégory Hofmann, Max Domi (inj.), Justin Danforth, Liam Foudy, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Patrik Laine, Cole Sillinger, Boone Jenner, Alexandre Texier, Eric Robinson, Emil Bemström, Yegor Chinakhov, Trey Fix-Wolansky (inj.), Jakub Voráček, Jack Roslovic.

Defensemen (9): Andrew Peeke, Scott Harrington, Zach Werenski, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist, Mikko Lehtonen, Vladislav Gavrikov, Dean Kukan, Gabriel Carlsson.

Goaltenders (3): Daniil Tarasov, Joonas Korpisalo, Elvis Merzļikins.

Columbus has yet to announce its roster for Wednesday’s game.

Detroit still has so many players left in its camp that it’s difficult to pick just one to watch. Lucas Raymond’s emergence has undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on the likes of Filip Zadina and Bobby Ryan, though. Zadina is still young but could finish the season in Raymond’s rearview mirror if he doesn’t also take a step; Ryan, meanwhile, is still in camp on a tryout and could find himself in a bottom-six role if he can’t keep pace.

Who will play defense for the Blue Jackets? Zach Werenski, Vladislav Gavrikov, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist, and Dean Kukan should all easily make the team. Scott Harrington will probably be the No. 6. That leaves Mikko Lehtonen, Gabriel Carlsson, and Andrew Peeke as the three other campers on the bubble. Peeke, younger than Carlsson by two years, will probably end up being the one to head back to AHL Cleveland should the team carry eight rearguards; Lehtonen, 27, has some upside as a power-play quarterback.