By Sean Gentille, Shayna Goldman and Julian McKenzie

Every season, we at The Athletic love it when teams get creative with their uniforms. Even if there’s no Reverse Retro program where every team comes up with an idea, a handful of teams put together some fun alternate jerseys for fans to enjoy for the upcoming season. Of course, some jerseys are better than others. That’s where Sean Gentille, Shayna Goldman and Julian McKenzie come in.

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Here are The Athletic’s rankings of the best alternate jerseys released so far during the 2025-26 season. This list exclusively features alternates and not the teams’ new home and away jerseys. So, no, you won’t find the St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes on the list.

1. Detroit Red Wings

Gentille: 8 (points)

Goldman: 10

McKenzie: 10

Brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique. Preorder yours today at https://t.co/ZiDiQSteTx pic.twitter.com/Qh1jcJPzrQ — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 15, 2025

Sean: The Red Wings’ alt jersey history is a combo of spotty and bad, so I was prepared to hate on these, but I love the added detail to the logo and I love the numeric font. Not surprised to see that I’m the outlier here, either, because people lost their minds over these when they dropped.

Julian: How do you design a jersey that uses one of the most iconic shirts in pro sports as an inspiration, on the eve of a centennial birthday no less? The Red Wings could serve as a blueprint for other teams and leagues to follow. The majestic red, the vintage font for the numbers and the white striping at the bottom of the jersey. This is a perfect 10 for me.

Shayna: Yep, absolutely agree. This is a 10/10, thanks to all the little details throughout. The embellishments on the logo, the texturized lettering/numbers, the old-timey fonts, the narrow stripes bookended by thicker ones, the helmets, the everything. For a team that generally has such a simple approach, this feels bold in comparison in the best way. And it’s sharper than the 2014 Winter Classic kit, which also used red and cream. Like the Rangers, points are earned for the ad patch going on the shoulder, instead of the chest.

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