Red Wings' Viktor Arvidsson Is Proving Detroit Made the Right Move

While not too many moves have been made by the Detroit Red Wings, one of their offseason decisions looks like it is paying off big.

Viktor Arvidsson is making a significant move to establish himself as one of Detroit’s most important forwards. The game against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday evening was just another indication that the Red Wings got it right.

The veteran adds value to this team. Through the first 12 games of the 2026-27 season, Arvidsson has five goals and five assists for 10 points.

Those are valuable contributions to a team that has so far struggled to find consistency and is constantly distracted by off-ice drama.

Detroit got this one right, though. They signed him to a two-year contract worth $5 million annually and so far, Arvidsson is proving to be a good investment.

It’s been 10 years since the Red Wings have seen the postseason and offense has been a problem for many of those.

Arvidsson came to Detroit as a proven scorer. During the 2025-26 season, he played with the Boston Bruins where he scored 25 goals and 54 points over 69 games.

Certainly, the hope for the Red Wings was that Arvidsson would carry that momentum over to their team and so far, he has.

It was the veteran who scored the first goal against Edmonton where he converted a power-play opportunity. Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat got assists on the goal and it tied the game at one.

Arvidsson came back later in the game to record an assist on Emmitt Finnie’s third-period goal, that once again answered when Edmonton was in the lead.

Being a team player, Arvidsson was quick to credit the team effort.

“We played as a five-man unit and we helped each other out, and ‘Posty’ was unbelieveable in net, so I think it was a great game by every single one,” Arvidsson said of his teammates.

He was an important part of that.

One of the most important parts of Arvidsson’s contributions to the Red Wings so far is his ability on the power play.

Four of his five goals have come with a man advantage.

He has a good sense about him on the ice. His goal against Edmonton proved that.

Raymond and DeBrincat were moving the puck. Arvidsson positioned himself in the left circle ready to strike. That opportunity came quickly before Edmonton’s defense could recover and Arvidsson made them pay.

With his early success on the ice with Detroit, it is making defenders pay more attention to him. They can’t concentrate on just DeBrincat or Raymond; Arvidsson is a formidable opponent, and if you leave him open, he’s dangerous.

He’s a little more conservative when talking about his role.

“I just try to work hard and get the pucks to the guys that can make plays. Just try to be around the net, create opportunities for them and myself. It’s been working out.”

That is, in fact, true. It’s been working out.

He is ranked second on the Red Wings for goals and his 10 points makes him one of Detroit’s leading contributors on offense.

Admittedly, it is early in the season. Just 12 games in is probably too soon to determine a free-agent signing a win, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was.

Of course, he needs to stay healthy and continue producing before it will be an official success, but his early results are getting hard to ignore.

For a team trying to end a 10-year playoff drought, Arvidsson is bringing talent and experience that could be very important.