The Detroit Red Wings Season Preview
The Detroit Red Wings have not made the postseason five seasons in a row. This has come after a 25-year consecutive playoff appearance streak that included four Stanley Cup titles. I think it’s safe to say you can mark Detroit down for a sixth straight year ending on the final day of the regular season.
The Red Wings are in the midst of a rebuild and are just flat out young. In their projected starting lineup, they have just one forward in his 30s. Sixty-seven percent of their forwards – and 60% of their 20 total starters – are 25 or younger.
Detroit is hoping they can get better and putting the puck in the net. They were dead last in the NHL in ’20-’21 with a 2.16 goals-per-game average. The Red Wings converted on just 11.4% of their powerplay opportunities last year, while also killing just 77.6%. Both were bottom-six in the NHL. It’s funny because Detroit was a middling team in terms of goaltending last year, and if they could have done anything at all offensively, they might have finished closer to the mean than fifth-worst in the standings.
Offseason Moves
The Detroit Red Wings made a handful of moves this offseason, and the biggest one came with the acquisition of goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Carolina Hurricanes. Entering the offseason as a restricted free agent, Carolina made a surprise decision to trade Nedeljkovic rather than make the choice between giving him a smaller bridge contract or extending him long term at a higher price. The Red Wings gave up the rights to goaltender Jonathan Bernier (who became an unrestricted free agent and ultimately signed with the New Jersey Devils) and a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL draft for the 25-year-old. Detroit immediately extended him to a two-year deal worth $6 million in total. Though undersized at 6’0”, Nedeljkovic put together a spectacular season in ’20-’21. He finished third in the Calder Trophy voting by positing a league-best .932 save percentage and 1.90 GAA. He had made appearances in three seasons prior, but finally got his chance and outshined both veterans James Reimer and Petr Mrazek in Carolina last year.
Nick Leddy is also joining the Detroit Red Wings via trade. Detroit sent forward Richard Panik and a second-round pick in 2021 to the New York Islanders. Leddy, 30, is your typical puck moving defenseman. He found a role as the top powerplay defenseman in New York, racking up 198 assists in seven seasons.
Froward Pius Suter, 25, and defenseman Jordan Oesterle, 29, were each signed to two-year contracts in free agency. Players leaving Detroit this offseason include forwards Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Evgeny Svechnikov, and Valtteri Filpula and defenseman Dennis Cholowski. All were let go in free agency with the exception of Filpula, who went overseas to play in Switzerland.
Lineup Projection
Here are my projected lines for the ’21-’22 Detroit Red Wings:
| Tyler Bertuzzi | Dylan Larkin (C) | Lucas Raymond (R) |
| Robby Fabbri | Pius Suter | Filip Zadina |
| Vladislav Namestikov | Michael Rasmussen | Adam Erne |
| Givani Smith | Michael Stephens | Sam Gagner |
Larkin will enter the ’21-’22 season as the team’s captain for the second straight year. The 25-year-old American has been a productive NHLer in his six-year career. He has accumulated 290 points in 434 games. He has also stayed healthy, and here’s to knocking on wood it remains that way.
How about Lucas Raymond? It appears general manager Steve Yzerman is ditching his plan regarding patience. Raymond is just 19 and will make his NHL debut this year after being selected #4 overall in the 2020 NHL draft. He brings a high offensive IQ to Detroit, and, man, can he sling that puck around. Raymond won’t make a “wow” play every night – he’s more of a safe player but being on a line with Larkin and his speed will allow Raymond more space and time to operate.
This team is going to severely miss Jakub Vrana and his lethal wrist shot. His recovery from shoulder surgery will keep him out for about half the season. It’s most likely Vrana’s situation that allows Raymond to slide into a role in on the top line. If Raymond isn’t working early on, Filip Zadina could move up. Zadina, the sixth overall pick in 2018, had just six goals and 13 assists in 49 games last season. He’s getting a lot of buzz as a potential breakout candidate.
| Danny DeKeyser (A) | Filip Hronek |
| Nick Leddy | Moritz Seider (R) |
| Marc Staal (A) | Gustav Lindstrom |
This defensive core is very interesting. The entire left side is composed of veterans 30 or older, while the right side is all 23 or younger. Hronek, Seider and Lindstrom are going to be staple names in Detroit for years. Seider, a top-10 pick from 2019, is ready to become the face of the franchise. This 20-year-old German is 6’3” and stupid good, and he’ll be operating the first powerplay unit by the end of the year. Leddy mans the top unit for now, but that job belonged to Hronek in ’20-’21. Twenty-five of Hronek’s 65 career assists have come on the man advantage. Also, fun fact: in each of Filip Hronek’s three NHL seasons, he has finished with 13 even-strength assists.
| Alex Nedeljkovic | Thomas Greiss |
I’ve already told you about Nedeljkovic. Thomas Greiss, 35, is coming off a decent year. In his 12-year career, he has been a good NHL goaltender. Greiss’s career numbers are a 145-105-36 record with a .915 save percentage and 2.63 GAA. The Red Wings aren’t expected to be a playoff team this year, so I would expect Nedeljkovic to carry the main load. I’d bank on a 60/40 share in net favoring the younster, but if Greiss performs well early, he could earn more starts.
Where Will They Finish?
Outside of the playoffs, and not particularly close, either. The Detroit Red Wings have the unfortunate circumstance of playing in the Atlantic division where the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. Toronto, Boston, Tampa Bay, and Florida are expected to dominate the other four teams again this year. I think the Red Wings will be able to beat teams like Buffalo, Ottawa, and Montreal and maybe even steal a few from the big boys, but it won’t be enough to make the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The good news is, after years of misery, I believe the Detroit Red Wings have bottomed out. They can’t get much worse than what they have been recently. They’re better than teams like the Arizona Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres but aren’t quite at the compete level of a team like the New Jersey. It should be interesting to see who on the Red Wings roster takes a jump and who maybe proves Yzerman should have waited another year or so to start this phase of the rebuild.
The Detroit Red Wings open the ’21-’22 NHL season at +20000 odds to win the Stanley Cup.
Check out Vendetta Sports Media on Youtube, Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram!
