Multiple veteran NHL players who have recently suited up for the Detroit Red Wings could be approaching the end of the road in their careers.
The countdown is on, with the Detroit Red Wings now less than three weeks away from officially opening training camp ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season.
For now, the club has more questions than answers, most notably who its next general manager will be (and when that announcement will come), as well as the ultimate fate of captain Dylan Larkin, who requested a trade earlier this offseason.
Meanwhile, multiple former members of the Red Wings are facing questions of their own, specifically whether or not their NHL careers could be at an end.
Among the veteran players who recently played in Detroit and continue to await their next contract are forwards James van Riemsdyk and Vladimir Tarasenko, defenseman Jeff Petry, and goaltenders Cam Talbot and James Reimer.
van Riemsdyk, who was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft (one selection behind now-former Red Wings forward Patrick Kane), scored 15 goals with 16 assists in his first and only season in Detroit.
The 37-year-old veteran has played 1,154 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Red Wings.
Tarasenko, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, spent just one season in Detroit in 2024-25, struggling with just 11 goals in 80 games.
After being traded to Minnesota last offseason, he bounced back with 23 goals and 24 assists in 75 games, the type of production the Red Wings had hoped to get when they signed him to a two-year deal in 2024.
Petry, a 38-year-old Ann Arbor native and the son of former Detroit Tigers World Series-winning pitcher Dan Petry, spent two seasons with his hometown team from 2023 to 2025. He split last season between the Florida Panthers and the Minnesota Wild.
He's played in 1,048 career NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Red Wings, Panthers, and Wild.
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Talbot, who is coming off a two-year contract with the Red Wings signed in 2024, went 12-9-6 with a 3.19 goals-against average and an .833 save percentage in 2025-26.
At age 39, his options are dwindling.
Meanwhile, Reimer spent last season with the Ottawa Senators, who signed him to a one-year contract after he failed to secure a deal following a PTO with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he began his NHL career.
During his only season with the Red Wings in 2023-24, Reimer posted an 11-8-2 record with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage and two shutouts.
Reimer will turn 39 in March, and like Talbot, the chances of him landing another NHL contract aren't strong.
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