Top 10 Best Detroit Red Wings Players of All Time

One of the “Original Six” NHL franchises, the Detroit Red Wings are among the most successful teams in NHL history. The Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cups, the most out of any NHL team based in the U.S., and sit behind only the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs in overall Stanley Cup wins. Listed below are the best Detroit Red Wings players of all time.

Who Are the Best Red Wings Hockey Players of All Time?

1. Gordie Howe
2. Steve Yzerman
3. Nicholas Lidstrom
4. Alex Delvecchio
5. Terry Sawchuk
6. Ted Lindsay
7. Sergei Fedorov
8. Sid Abel
9. Red Kelly
10. Pavel Datsyuk

1. Gordie Howe

• Six-time Ross Trophy Winner
• Six-time Hart Trophy Winner
• Four-time Stanley Cup Champion

Often regarded as the most complete player to ever play the game of hockey, Howe is the best Red Wings player of all time. Still the only player to play in the NHL in five different decades, Howe first stepped on the ice for the Red Wings in 1946 and soon formed part of the “Production Line” with teammates Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay. In almost no time, Howe soon became the most talented player in the league, leading the NHL in points from 1950 to 1954. 

Howe led the league in scoring six times and won the MVP Award another six times, in addition to winning four Stanley Cups during his 25 years with the Red Wings. Howe is also remembered for lending his name to the “Gordie Howe Hat-Trick,” which is when a player records a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game, even though Howe only had two of these games in his career.

2. Steve Yzerman

• Three-time Stanley Cup Winner
• 1988-89 Ted Lindsay Award Winner
• 1998 Smythe Trophy Winner

The longest-tenured captain in NHL history, Steve Yzerman embodied Detroit hockey during his 22-year career and spent all of those seasons on the Red Wings. Drafted by Detroit in 1983, Yzerman notched 87 points in his first season, finishing second in voting for the Calder Trophy for the league’s top rookie player. Three years later, he was made captain of the Red Wings and led the team by his example.

Yzerman recorded two 60-goal seasons and was a true warrior, winning the Masterton Trophy for perseverance in 2003 after undergoing surgery on his knee. By the end of his career, “Stevie Y” tallied 692 goals and 1,063 assists for a total of 1,755 points, in addition to leading the Red Wings to three Stanley Cup wins. To this day, Yzerman is regarded as one of Detroit’s greatest sports heroes and will always be remembered as “The Captain.”

3. Nicklas Lidstrom

• Four-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Seven-time Norris Trophy Winner
• Twelve-time All-Star

Nicklas Lidstrom is the best defenseman in Detroit history. Lidstrom is also regarded as the second greatest defenceman in NHL history, behind only the legendary Bobby Orr. Looking at Lidstrom’s career, it’s not hard to realize why he’s so highly regarded. The 6’1” Swede won the Norris Award for the league’s best defenceman six times in a span of seven seasons, and won the Smythe Award in 2002 for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Lidstrom was also the first European-born player to win the Smythe Award, as well as the leader in games played with a single team for all Europeans. In 2014, Lidstrom’s iconic #5 was retired by the Red Wings, a fitting reward for the backbone of the franchise.

4. Alex Delvecchio

• Three-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Three-time Lady Byng Trophy Winner
• Thirteen-time NHL All-Star

Making his NHL debut with the Red Wings in 1951, Delvecchio formed the second iteration of the “Production Line” after replacing Sid Abel at center. It turned out that this new Production Line was better than the first, and Delvecchio helped the team to a Stanley Cup championship in his first season in the Motor City. Delvecchio was known for his great passing, graceful skating, and upstanding character, winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy three times for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. 

Delvecchio sits third in franchise history in all-time goals and points, with 456 and 1281, respectively. He is also fourth in career assists in Detroit, with 825. By the time he retired, Delvecchio was not only the longest-tenured Red Wing of all time but the longest-tenured NHL player of all time with just one team, playing 24 years in Detroit. The record stands to this day.

5. Terry Sawchuk

• Four-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Four-time Vezina Trophy Winner
• 1950-51 Calder Trophy Winner

When you look up Terry Sawchuk, one of the first images you’ll find is a photo of a man who has so many scars that he practically resembles Frankenstein. It’s not an error; it’s just the face of a goaltender who played hockey without a face mask. Sawchuk was a goaltender for the Red Wings in the 1950s and 1960s and didn’t wear a mask until 1962. By then, the damage had been done.

In addition to the 400 stitches to his face that Sawchuk had in his career, he also suffered a laceration in his eye and lost most of the mobility in his right arm. That alone marks him out as the toughest player on the list, but Sawchuk didn’t earn his spot just because of his sheer grit. He was one of the most talented goaltenders of all time, as evidenced by his four Stanley Cup championships in the net for the Red Wings. Sawchuk won the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie in 1951 and won four Vezina trophies for the league’s top goalie.

6. Ted Lindsay

• Four-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Nine-time NHL All-Star
• 1949-50 Ross Trophy Winner

Known as one of the most fierce competitors in his era, “Terrible Ted” Lindsay played on the opposite wing of Gordie Howe on Detroit’s infamous “Production Line.” Producing was no problem for Lindsay, who has the sixth most goals in Red Wings history at 335 while also raising four Stanley Cups. In fact, it was Lindsay who started the tradition of raising the Stanley Cup, trying to make sure that the fans could see the trophy.

Some other not-so-honorable traditions Lindsay started were elbowing and kneeing penalties, which were implemented due to Lindsay’s playing style. Most importantly, however, it was Ted Lindsay’s actions that led to the birth of the NHL Players Association. Lindsay was actually traded out of Detroit by the team’s management for these efforts but soon reconciled with the team afterward, and his jersey now hangs in the rafters of Little Caesars Arena.

7. Sergei Fedorov

• Three-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Two-time Selke Trophy Winner
• 1993-94 Hart Trophy Winner

Sergei Fedorov was a legendary Detroit center who was determined to play in the NHL at all costs. In fact, Fedorov was so determined to play in the big leagues that he defected from the Soviet Union in 1989 in order to play hockey in North America, being the first Soviet superstar to do so. A few months later that year, he was drafted in the fourth round by the Red Wings. 

For the next thirteen years, Fedorov was a part of the Detroit team that dominated the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 1994, in just his fourth year in the NHL, he became the first European-trained player to win the Hart Trophy for the league’s MVP. Fedorov was also the first Russian to score 1,000 points in the NHL. By the time he retired, he had won three Stanley Cups in Detroit and sits fourth all-time in goals scored for the franchise and sixth in points.

8. Sid Abel

• Three-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Four-time NHL All-Star
• 1948-49 Hart Trophy Winner

Another member of Detroit’s “Production Line,” Sid Abel was an aging center when Detroit Head Coach Tommy Ivan flanked him with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay in 1947. The line soon began to pay off. The next year, the Red Wings made an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, followed by a first place regular season finish the next year.

Detroit’s 1948 win was the start of a streak of seven straight first place finishes in the regular season, an NHL record that still stands. In the 1948-49 season, the thirty-year-old center led the league in scoring with 28 goals en route to a campaign that won him the Hart Trophy for the league’s MVP. The Hall of Famer won three Stanley Cups in Detroit, going down as one of the franchise’s most legendary players.

9. Red Kelly

• Eight-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Eight-time All-Star
• Four-time Lady Byng Trophy Winner

Widely regarded as one of the greatest defensemen of all time, Leonard “Red” Kelly was special for his talent on the attack as well as on defense. His great passing was the catalyst of many scoring chances for Detroit’s Production Line, but he was also known for his versatility. Kelly was plugged in at forward when Detroit needed him to, and when he was traded to the Maple Leafs in 1960, he switched over to center.

In addition to the four Stanley Cups he won in Detroit, Kelly won another four in Toronto, going down as a legend for both teams. Kelly won the most Stanley Cups of all time out of any player not associated with the Montreal Canadiens. Kelly was the inaugural winner of the Norris Trophy for the league’s best defenseman and also won four Lady Byng Memorial Trophies for his sportsmanship on the ice.

10. Pavel Datsyuk

• Two-time Stanley Cup Winner
• Three-time Selke Trophy Winner
• Four-time Lady Byng Trophy Winner

One of the most entertaining forwards in NHL history, Pavel Datsyuk dazzled fans and opponents with his stickhandling on the puck during his 14-year career, all spent in Detroit. Moreover, Datsyuk was one of the best two-way forwards the game has ever seen, winning three Selke Trophies during his career. “The Magic Man” won two Stanley Cups in Motown and was the consummate gentleman on the ice, winning four Lady Byng Trophies as well.

By the time he retired in 2016, Datsyuk had finished eighth all-time in goals for the franchise and sixth in assists. The Russian came close to scoring 1,000 points during his career and retired from the NHL at age 37 before going back to his home country to play for SKA Saint Petersburg.

Honorable Mentions

• Chris Chelios
• Igor Larionov
• Reed Larson
• John Ogrodnick
• Chris Osgood
• Bob Probert
• Marcel Pronovost
• Brendan Shanahan
• Norm Ullman
• Henrik Zetterberg

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