The Detroit Red Wings have extended defenseman prospect William Wallinder on a two-year, two-way contract. The Swede, 23 and turning 24 on July 28, has spent three seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins and posted a career-high 20 points in 66 games in 2025-26
For Detroit, the risk isn’t just whether William Wallinder can play at the NHL level. It’s when the Red Wings might lose control of what they’ve built.
The Red Wings have re-signed one of their prospects, extending defenseman William Wallinder on a two-year, two-way contract. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Swede was drafted in the second round at No. 32 in 2020, and he turns 24 on July 28.
Wallinder has spent the past three seasons playing professional hockey for Detroit’s top farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins. In 2025-26, he recorded a career-high 20 points and finished with a plus-21 rating across 66 games.
The looming change comes with the calendar. For the 2026-27 season, Wallinder is no longer exempt from waivers. That means the Red Wings will have to decide if there’s room for him on their roster. or if they’re willing to expose him on waivers to send him to the minors once training camp and the exhibition season end in September.
It’s a crunch that arrives fast. With only four exhibition games remaining—since the NHL is switching to an 84-game format—Wallinder won’t have much time to show the kind of impact that turns a roster decision into a certainty. If he can’t make his case quickly. Detroit may start treating him less like an option and more like a movable piece.
Wallinder has never appeared in an NHL game. His pro resume is built in the AHL: he has seven goals and 47 assists in 194 AHL games.
And that gap is part of what makes his next step feel weighted. The difference can be measured right alongside him: forward J.J. Peterka, drafted two spots later by the Buffalo Sabres, already has three straight 20-plus goal seasons and 197 points in 320 NHL games.
Detroit’s situation on defense adds another layer. The Wings already have a full roster of established options back there: Moritz Seider. Ben Chiarot. Justin Faulk. Jacob Bernard-Docker. and Albert Johansson are signed through next season. Axel Sandin-Pellikka, a first-round pick from 2023, recorded 21 points in 68 appearances as a rookie with the Wings. Simon Edvinsson, who played in the top-four corps, is a restricted free agent.
So when Wallinder’s waiver status changes, the stakes aren’t theoretical. The Red Wings could keep him and find space, or they could risk exposing him after camp closes. Either outcome can reshape how Detroit’s organization plans for the following months—including whether Wallinder becomes a value you protect. or a name that ends up included in a trade package.
Helene St. James can be contacted at Hstjames@freepress.com. More coverage and updates are available on the Detroit Red Wings and through a Red Wings newsletter.
Detroit Red Wings William Wallinder two-year two-way contract Grand Rapids Griffins waivers NHL roster 2026-27 season
Waivers already? That’s crazy, just call him up and see.
Two-year two-way sounds fine until the part where they can lose him, like what’s the point then. I feel like they should’ve picked a side sooner.
Wait so he turns 24 in July and that’s why they gotta put him on waivers? I thought waivers was just if you were traded. Also plus-21 doesn’t mean anything if they never let him touch the NHL ice.
The article keeps saying “four exhibition games” like that’s nothing, but teams always do like 10 scrimmages right? Anyway if they expose him on waivers, another team will grab him for sure and Detroit will act shocked. Kinda seems like they’re extending him just to protect themselves, not to actually play him. Plus he had 20 points in 66 games… that’s not nothing, but defense prospects are always a gamble.