DETROIT — The preseason is finally over, and that means it’s time for real, meaningful hockey to begin.

The Detroit Red Wings will drop the puck on their 2023-24 season Thursday night in New Jersey, when the anticipation will finally give way to reality. Will it be cold? Will it be sweet? That all remains to be seen.

But before it all gets rolling, it’s time to make 10 Red Wings predictions for the season — with a goal to be bold but also have one foot still rooted in reality. Let’s dive in.

1. A Red Wing scores 40 goals — but it’s not Alex DeBrincat

Detroit hasn’t had a 40-goal scorer since Marian Hossa in 2008-09. You know that. You’ve heard the stat ad nauseam the last few years. And this is the year you finally stop hearing it, because after the Red Wings acquired a two-time 40-goal man this summer, it’s time to reset the counter. Only it won’t be Alex DeBrincat, that prized trade acquisition, breaking the streak. It’ll be his centerman, Dylan Larkin.

While DeBrincat brings a finishing ability Detroit has lacked for years, he’ll also immediately be a focal point for opponents to key on, especially on the power play. We saw that in the preseason, and it led to lots of space opening up for Larkin. Tack on rebound opportunities created by DeBrincat, and Larkin’s ability as the Red Wings’ reigning leading scorer, and the ingredients are there for him to reach new heights in 2023-24.

2. Lucas Raymond rebounds with a 65-point season

I felt a little better about this one before the preseason, when Raymond was held without a goal, but he nonetheless has popped throughout training camp, tallying three assists and looking stronger on the puck in addition to his trademark skill. This is a big year for Raymond, coming off a sophomore slump with his entry-level contract set to expire next summer, but the bet here is the young winger will rise to the occasion.

The biggest question is simply with whom he will play. The Red Wings have shown looks with Raymond on each power-play unit, and at even strength, he’s split time next to Larkin and DeBrincat on line one, and with J.T. Compher on line two. There’s a difference in octane there, but Compher’s shown enough playmaking this fall to believe Raymond can top his rookie production (57 points) on either of Detroit’s top two lines. There might be no more important X-factor to Detroit’s short- and long-term outlook.

3. Jake Walman scores 15 goals

The Red Wings haven’t had a defenseman score 15 goals since Niklas Kronwall did it in 2011-12. Even Mike Green, defenseman goal scorer extraordinaire, only reached 14 in Detroit in 2016-17. So this one’s probably bolder than it sounds.

Though Walman doesn’t have the national name recognition those two had, he does have the recipe to achieve it. His nine goals in 63 games last season would be nearly a 12-goal pace over a full 82 games, which would get him close. And his role could expand from the 19:43 he logged while working his way up the lineup, to north of 21 playing full time next to Moritz Seider. The make or break could come down to power-play usage, as Walman appears to be behind Seider, Shayne Gostisbehere and Jeff Petry for man-advantage usage. Still, all nine of Walman’s goals last season came at even strength, and he should keep on humming next to Seider.

4. Detroit’s team save percentage stays below .900

Boldness level: 2/5
Confidence level: 60%

Is this bold? Or not so bold? I lean toward the latter after Detroit’s goalies only mustered an .894 save percentage last season. Though they invested in depth this summer, bringing in James Reimer and Alex Lyon to help keep Ville Husso fresh, I’m still not fully sold Husso will be able to hold up to league average in 50-plus starts, or frankly that Reimer — who seems to be the No. 2 — can do so as a backup. Some of this will be decided by the Red Wings’ team defense, which the team feels can improve, but I still see this Red Wings team as vulnerable in goal.

Simon Edvinsson won’t have to wait too long for his shot on the Red Wings roster. (Dan Hamilton / USA Today)

5. Simon Edvinsson is called up by Halloween and never sent back down

Boldness level: 3.5/5
Confidence level: 50%

After what Edvinsson showed this preseason, I just can’t see any way he isn’t playing a role for the Red Wings at some point this season. Frankly, I thought he deserved to break camp with Detroit — but instead, the team leaned toward its seven veterans, and Edvinsson was among the players sent to AHL Grand Rapids on Sunday night. Regardless, there is no such thing as a “final roster” in the NHL, and Edvinsson won’t have to wait too long for his shot.

When that time comes, most likely as an injury call-up, it’ll be on Edvinsson to make sure he makes it impossible for the team to send him back. That means using his remarkable physical gifts and creating offense, of course, but it also means not allowing himself to get caught out of position after doing so. It’ll be a balancing act, but one Edvinsson continues to manage better and better. He looks ready to be a factor for the Red Wings.

6. Lucas Raymond scores a hat trick in a Global Series game

Boldness level: 5/5
Confidence level: 10%

If Edvinsson does get to Detroit by November, it will come with the bonus of getting to play in his native Sweden, when the Red Wings head to Stockholm on Nov. 16 and 17. But whether he’s with the club or not, the Red Wings will have at least one Swede on the roster for those games. And after Mikko Rantanen netted a hat trick in Finland last winter, look for Raymond to do the same in Stockholm this time around.

7. The Red Wings will have a better combined record against Toronto, Boston and Tampa Bay than against Ottawa, Buffalo and Montreal

It’s no secret the Red Wings struggled with the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators last season, losing all four games to Buffalo and going 1-3 against Ottawa. Quietly, though, the Red Wings managed to be pretty pesky against the perceived class of the Atlantic Division, splitting the season series with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs and picking off a win against the record-setting Boston Bruins, too. I’ll say that continues in 2023-24, with Detroit’s newfound depth being enough to frustrate the increasingly top-heavy Lightning, Bruins and Leafs, but not enough to keep up with the flashy young Sabres or Senators — even when throwing the Montreal Canadiens into the mix.

8. The Senators become the Red Wings’ next big rival

This one feels like it’s already well underway, after last season’s disaster for Detroit in Ottawa. On back-to-back nights, the Senators both boat-raced and bludgeoned the Red Wings, forcing Detroit to look in the mirror and find a way to get tougher to play against. These two teams will meet early in 2023, with an Oct. 21 date in Ottawa just five games in. And you have to think the Red Wings will go into that one looking to send a message.

Maybe you can’t have a real rivalry before you see a team in a long playoff series, but these two division foes feel like they’re headed in that direction. And though I don’t see a playoff series in the cards this year, I could see the regular season match-ups being enough to get the venom flowing. If my X, formerly Twitter, mentions are any indication, the fans are already way ahead on this one.

9. The Red Wings finish with 88 points

As you can tell by some of these predictions, the Red Wings will be improved this season. They’ll score more goals. Some key young players will take the needed steps. And their best player has another jump in him, too.

But in a brutal Atlantic Division, I’m just not sold that it’s going to add up to the kind of overall improvement needed to make a serious playoff push. Last year, the bar was lower than usual at 92 points, and if it stays there again this season, then I could see Detroit threatening into the final week or two of the season. But that threshold will more likely rebound back to about 97, and in that case, it’s just asking too much from a Red Wings team that finished with 80 points a year ago. My best guess is Detroit ends up at 88 points, which is a clear improvement, but not enough to move up from seventh in the division. That’s not bold, but I guess I’ll give myself a half-point for the specificity.

10. Moritz Seider becomes the highest-paid Red Wing next summer

OK, this one might be cheating, because I’m not expecting Seider’s contract extension to get done in-season. There just isn’t the same urgency that there was for, say, Larkin or Walman last season, when they were set to become unrestricted free agents. Seider will still just be a restricted free agent at the conclusion of his ELC.

But when it is time to negotiate, the Red Wings have to be hoping to sign him to the maximum eight-year term — locking him up through his age-30 season. They won’t get to make that call unilaterally, though and Seider’s taking a bridge deal now would set him up for a monster payday at its conclusion. So to sway him, the prediction here is the Red Wings make him their highest-paid player, paying him just north of Larkin’s $8.7 million — before that number looks like a bargain in two to three years.