The Detroit Red Wings’ status as the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference this morning didn’t help them earn any extra roster spots at next month’s best-on-best tournament at the Winter Olympics.

Dylan Larkin (USA), Lucas Raymond (Sweden) and Moritz Seider (Germany), the three clear choices, were the only Red Wings named to Olympic rosters.

Alex DeBrincat, on a pace to score 40-plus goals for a third time in his career, has played impressive enough this season to deserve consideration, as did Patrick Kane based on his long history of answering the call and playing well for the Americans in international competition.

But in the end, GM Bill Guerin thought he had better options than DeBrincat. And Kane’s candidacy was undermined by being injured twice already this season.

Guerin said from the beginning he was building a team, not picking the most skilled players. In other words, he wanted to make sure he had size, grit, guys who check effectively, etc.

He proved his commitment to not picking a team based on offensive stats.  Guerin didn’t include Dallas forward Jason Robertson who leads all American players this season with 48 points. He also ranks second among U.S. players with 24 goals, one behind Minnesota’s Matt Boldy.

By the way, DeBrincat (41 points) is the fourth-highest points guy among the American players this season.  Montreal forward Cole Caufield didn’t make the U.S. team either and he has 40 points.

No Call for Edvinsson

Detroit Hockey Now had heard that the Swedes gave serious consideration to Simon Edvinsson. They believed his size and physical play could help the team considerably.

But the Swedes opted to go with experience, like Oliver Ekman Larsson, 34. His selection was considered mildly surprising.

Ahead of Swedish Olympic roster reveal, some numbers on where Simon Edvinsson ranks among swedish D this season:

Points: 7th
Goals: 4th
+/- : 4th
TOI/GP : 5th
Hits: 4th
Blocks: 3rd
Takeaways: 6th
5v5 GF%: 6th
5v5 xGF%: 2nd#LGRW https://t.co/tdMvmTHiuI

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) January 2, 2026

Another Olympic decision by the Swedes is sure to catch the attention of Red Wings fans: Minnesota Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt was named as one of the Swedish goalies.

At the 2021 NHL draft, the Red Wings wanted to select a goalie with their No. 15 pick. Wallstedt was the highest-rated goalie available, but the Red Wings went with Sebastian Cossa. Wallstedt is enjoying an impressive rookie season (11-2-3, 2.21, .928) with the Wild, while Cossa is still with the Grand Rapids Griffins. He is having a sensational American Hockey League season (15-1-1, 1.65 GAA, .936 save percentage) with the Griffins.