RED WINGS’ PLAYOFF DROUGHT WILL END THIS SEASON
It’s been eight years since the Detroit Red Wings made the postseason. Eight. Before that, the Red Wings made the playoffs in 25 consecutive seasons (1990-2016), the longest active streak in North American professional sports at the time and tied for the third-longest in NHL history. It’s been a rough patch for Hockeytown. Little Caesars Arena – home to the club since 2017 – has yet to host a playoff game. A heartbreaking end to the 2023-24 season saw the Red Wings miss out on the postseason by a tiebreaker.
Now, the team is forging ahead with their eyes on the prize: ending the second-longest playoff drought in the NHL. Only the Buffalo Sabres have gone longer (13 years) without a postseason appearance. There are a lot of questions facing the organization heading into next season. How will Detroit respond?
The team has already seen significant changes this summer, and it appears that the youth movement fans have been clamoring for may finally be here. Prized prospect Simon Edvinsson should graduate to a full-time role with the team. Defenseman Albert Johansson is out of waiver options, and barring a trade, will be with the big club this fall. The same goes for disgruntled forward Jonatan Berggren, while forwards Carter Mazur, Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson should push for playing time this season.
The Red Wings signed Patrick Kane to a one-year deal and also added two-time Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko to solidify their top six. General manager Steve Yzerman is treading that fine line of blending youth with seasoned veterans while also making the organization competitive enough for a postseason push.
Red Wings’ Offseason Fixes
Yzerman tried to address the team’s biggest issues during a busy offseason: defense and goaltending. Out are Shayne Gostisbehere and Jake Walman. In are Edvinsson and Erik Gustafsson. Gostisbehere was the highest-scoring defenseman on the team last year with 56 points (10 goals, 46 assists) and effectively quarterbacked the top power-play unit for most of the season. But he was also a defensive liability on the blue line with a team-worst minus-16 and was routinely caught out of position in his own end.
The 6-foot-6 Edvinsson, the 6th overall pick from the 2021 Draft, is a much better defender, while Gustafsson also figures to see a prominent role in Gostisbehere’s absence. “On the back end, Gustafsson will contribute to some of the offense lost with Gostisbehere and Walman’s goals,” Yzerman said. “Hopefully, we can keep a few more out of the net, and maybe that nets out in a positive way.”
Now to the goaltenders. The combination of Ville Husso, James Reimer and Alex Lyon offered very little stability last season. Husso struggled out of the gate and missed most of the season with a leg injury. Reimer didn’t fare much better. His lack of consistency was a problem from the start. But Lyon was a bit of a surprise.
Originally signed to be the third-string backup, he played in a career-high 44 games and was admirable during important stretches. He went 21-18-5 with a 3.05 goals-against average (GAA) and a .904 save percentage (SV%); his previous high in games played before the season – 14. A ten-game winless streak by the 31-year-old netminder doomed the Red Wings during a brutal stretch in February and March. While defensive breakdowns were a big part of the losing streak, Lyon couldn’t provide that game-stealing ability that Detroit desperately needed.
Cam Talbot, come on down. Yzerman signed the 37-year-old journeyman to a two-year deal that should bridge the gap to prized prospects Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine. He spent last season with the Los Angeles Kings, posting a 27-20-6 record with a 2.50 GAA, a .913 SV% and three shutouts in 54 games. He was also named to the All-Star team for the second time in his 11-year career.
The 6-foot-4 Caledonia, Ontario native dominated in his first 25 appearances with the Kings last year, going 14-8-3 with a .925 SV% and 2.10 GAA. Among goaltenders – at the time – with at least 20 games played, Talbot’s GAA and SV% led the league. He also saved 10.7 goals above expected, ranked sixth among goalies who cleared the 50-game mark, according to Money Puck. But he, too, began to struggle as the season progressed, and the Kings turned to David Rittich for significant stretches during the second half of the season.
Now, is Talbot going to arrive in Detroit and be “the guy”? I don’t think so, but he gives the team options. The Red Wings now have three goaltenders with solid veteran experience. Husso is the wild card at the moment. His time in the Motor City hasn’t been anything to write home about. In two seasons with the club, he’s posted a 35-27-9 with a .892 SV% and a 3.22 GAA. While injuries have played a big part, he wasn’t stealing the show, either, and is not worth the three-year, $14.25 million deal he signed with the team before the 2022-23 campaign.
“We brought in three goaltenders last year, and our goal wasn’t to go with three throughout the season, and we debated initially of placing one of the goalies on waivers and waited, and with injuries, we were glad we didn’t,” Yzerman said. “We’ll see how Ville’s health is in training camp. We expect him 100% ready to go. We’ll play it by ear, and we’ll figure it out as we go along.”
I think there is still a chance that he could be moved before the season. Yzerman saw the goalie market and reacted accordingly. With Jacob Markstrom, Linus Ullmark and Juuse Saros off the board early, there was no reason to spend assets on a top-tier goalie, especially with the prospects I mentioned waiting in the wings.
I do have this feeling that Yzerman wants to give Husso one more look in the final year of his deal. When healthy, he has shown his potential, but it’s hard to trust him with more than 40 games at this point. I think we’ll see a battle in Traverse City between Talbot, Husso and Lyon, but it’s too soon to predict who comes out on top in that scenario. That will be one of the biggest storylines heading into training camp this September.
Red Wings Postseason Prediction
Ending the eight-year drought is no guarantee at this point. A lot of things have to go Detroit’s way this season. But do I think they are a better team than last year? Yes, I do. Yzerman has improved the defensive unit. While it didn’t get big headlines, signing rugged winger Tyler Motte was an extremely underrated move that will help improve the bottom six. Bringing back Christian Fischer was also warranted, as he was a valuable asset in last year’s postseason push. A fourth line of Motte – Kasper – Fischer could be a modern-day version of The Grind Line. Seriously.
At the end of the day, the key is finding the right mix of youth and veterans that will work together. A full season of Edvinsson and Kane, coupled with Tarasenko being a legitimate force in the top six, is what the organization needs to hit on. Defensively, Johansson and Gustafsson have to be impact players. One prospect will need to take that “next step”.
The Red Wings have lost close to 60 goals after the departures of David Perron, Daniel Sprong, Walman and Gostisbehere. But let me ask you this: would you rather have Edvinsson, Tarasenko, Berggren and Motte in the everyday lineup? I would. The problem wasn’t scoring last season – it was team defense. Detroit upgraded in that department. They improved the team’s goaltending depth, and if the club can find any kind of consistency there, then I think the Red Wings will end their playoff drought. That is a lot of “ifs”, but nothing is out of the question. A very pivotal season looms in the Motor City.
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