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Red Wings’ Present Look Fine But Future’s Even Brighter

Red-Wings-Present-Look-Fine-But-Future's-Even-Brighter

With the Detroit Red Wings being one of the “original six” NHL teams it’s just natural the organization can boast a long and rich history. The franchise which was first known as the Detroit Cougars and then the Falcons has been home to numerous hockey stars throughout the years such as Sid Abel, Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, Niklas Lidstrom, Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman and of course perhaps the greatest of them all Gordie Howe. The Red Wings have captured 11 Stanley Cups, which ranks third all-time and the best for an American-based franchise. They’ve also made the playoffs in 64 of their 92 seasons.

Sports, like many things in life, are often cyclical though. The Red Wings have iced some fantastic teams over the decades, but they’ve also endured some dry spells as well. For example, between 1966/67 and 1982/83 they made the playoffs just twice. They then rebuilt and reached the postseason every year for a quarter of a century between 1991 and 2016 as well as 30 times in 32 seasons since 1984. However, another cycle kicked in two years ago and Detroit hasn’t made the playoffs for the past pair of seasons. Management of course is hoping to nip this in the bud quickly by returning to the postseason as soon as possible.

To be honest though, the general consensus is that the Red Wings won’t make the playoffs again this campaign, stretching their drought to three years. It’s understandable really, as a quick look at the team’s roster shows there’s a lack of star players in the lineup. In fact it may be hard to find even one with 22-year-old center Dylan Larkin being the most likely to graduate to that status in the future. It’s not like the Red Wings are dreadful, but they just don’t appear to have what it takes to bust their way into the upper echelon of the league right now. At the quarter mark of the current campaign the team was sitting in sixth place in the eight-team Atlantic Division with 22 points, but still in the thick of things when it comes to a wild card playoff berth.

They’ve been playing well lately with an 8-2 mark over their past 10 games leading up to American Thanksgiving Day and were scoring close to three goals per game. The problem is they’re giving up more goals than they’re scoring. For the roster they have, the squad has been more than respectable so far this season. There have been ups and downs in the Motor City over the past couple of years as franchise owner Mike Ilitch passed away at the age of 87 in February 2017, the club’s new home rink Little Caesars Arena opened seven months later and then team captain Henrik Zetterberg had to retire due to a chronic back injury. It was basically the end of one era and the beginning of another and with it the Red Wings have gone on a bit of a youth movement.

Head coach Jeff Blashill is relatively young at the age of 44 and his assistant Dan Bylsma is 48. It’s true that nine players on their 26-man roster were over the age of 30 and the average age is 28.9, but another nine were 24 or younger. There’s also a good chance many of the veterans are nearing the end of their tenure with the team such as Trevor Daley (35), Jimmy Howard (34), Niklas Kronwall (37) and Tomas Vanek (34). In addition, a total of five players have appeared in their very first NHL game with the Red Wings this season as the handful of rookies all suited up on opening day of the season. These were Dennis Cholowski, Christoffer Ehn, Filip Hronek, Michael Rasmussen and Libor Sulak. And let’s not forget the team’s top scorer Larkin is just 22 years old.

The future looks quite bright for Detroit considering the amount of young core talent the club has on hand. It’s uncertain what the team will do later in the season if they’re still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but it’s a good bet general manager Ken Holland won’t sacrifice the future for rental players. If any newcomers are acquired he’s more likely to deal a veteran or players in their upper 20’s. Right now he needs to figure who’s going to replace injured two-way center Darren Helm as he’s expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks. In all likelihood Ehn will take Helm’s spot on the roster. The Red Wings aren’t rushing anybody though as they realize their youngsters need to grow and learn together as a team and it’s going to take some time.

Holland is expected to tweak the roster through free agency in 2020/21 as the club’s salary cap situation will be more flexible. He’ll then have enough room to offer a big contract or two as long as he can persuade players to head to Detroit. In the meantime, Red Wings’ fans should realize the team may be a couple of years way from returning to its glory days. They may see a trade or two this season, but in general, the future lies in the hands of the organization’s youngsters such as Larkin, Cholowski, Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha as well as its prospects such as forward Filip Zadina and defenseman Hronek of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

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