Detroit Red Wings: Top 5 Right Wings Of All Time

1 of 5

Yesterday was the 5 Best Left Wings of All Time. Today we Octopus Thrower features the 5 Top Right Wings in Detroit Red Wings history.

5: Daniel Cleary 2005-present (forever)

I had a gentleman’s agreement with Dan Cleary to include him on this list for his decade long service for the Detroit Red Wings. Putting all joking and Cleary-bashing aside, let’s take a second to remember that there was a time not too long ago where Detroit hockey fans weren’t tired of Cleary. And for better or worse, you may not find a more devoted Detroit Red Wing than Dan Cleary.

Cleary ranks 28th in Detroit franchise history amongst all-time forwards, and 7th among Right-Wings. He has played in 609 regular-season games for the Red Wings, scoring 275 points (124 goals, 129 assists). Cleary has also been a iron-man for the Wings in his ten years of service in Detroit. In 8 of his 10 seasons with the Wings (including the shortened 2012-13 season), Cleary has played in 75% of the 82 regular-season games. He has had three 20 goal seasons and is currently a +9 with the Red Wings.

Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore the impact Cleary has had with the Red Wings over the last dozen or so years. He’s a tough and loyal hockey player whose love for the game/Red Wings can’t be argued.

Next: The Mule At #4

#4: Johan Franzen 2005-present

You could argue that Johan “The Mule” Franzen could be placed higher on this list, and a small part of me might agree with you, but you can’t have a top 5 Detroit Right-Winger list without including Franzen at some point. As we all wait to see if Franzen will be healthy enough to play in the upcoming season, let’s take a look back at some of his past accomplishments.

The Mule has played 600 regular-season games for the Red Wings, tallying 369 points and a +93 (isn’t it ironic?) rating. Those numbers are good enough to put Johan at #3 on the all-time Red Wings Right-Wing list. Had Franzen not suffered 3 injury-filled seasons in Detroit, I’m sure his numbers would be much higher.

Johan also holds some impressive Detroit franchise records:

NHL record for most goals in a 4-game playoff series (9).
Detroit Red Wings record for most game-winning goals in one month, March 2008 (6).
Detroit Red Wings record for most goals in a single playoff series (9).
Detroit Red Wings record for consecutive playoff games with a point (12, tied with Gordie Howe)
Detroit Red Wings record for consecutive playoff games with a goal (5, tied with Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay).
Detroit Red Wings record for most goals in a single playoff year (13, tied with Henrik Zetterberg).
Detroit Red Wings record for most game-winning goals in one playoff year (5, 2008)
Detroit Red Wings record for most points in a playoff game (6), May 6, 2010, vs. San Jose Sharks.

Next: D-Mac grinds into #3

#3: Darren McCarty 1993-2004 & 2007-2009

Putting Darren McCarty at #3 on this list was a bit of a personal choice on my part. Darren McCarty was a hockey player, and a hockey player who perfectly embodied the blue-collar aspect of Detroit. D-Mac was one of the last great classical “tough guys”, but he was a tough guy with skill.

In his two stints with the Detroit Red Wings, McCarty played in 659 regular-season games. In those 659 games Darren scored 275 points (120 goals, 155 assists), good enough stats to rank him #8 all-time among Detroit Right-Wings. Along with those stats, McCarty also won 4 Stanley Cup Championships with the Red Wings.

But it wasn’t McCarty’ stats that make him memorable to Detroit hockey fans, it’s the memorable moments that Darren gave Hockeytown. Who can ever forget Darren McCarty making Claude Lemieux crawl into his shell during “Fight Night At The Joe”? Darren’s most memorable moment may be scoring the Cup-clinching goal in 1997 to help give the Red Wings their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

Next: Shanny Takes The Second Spot

#2: Brendan Shanahan 1996-2006

My fellow Octopus Thrower writer Zach Roethlisberger recently included Shanahan on his top 5 Left-Wing list and I thought it would only be fair to include Shanny on the Right-Wing list too. Shanahan was an important piece to the Red Wings’ success in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. He was a gritty leader with a great scoring touch.

Shanny played in 716 regular-season games for the Red Wings, scoring 633 points and having a career rating of +144 with the Red Wings, numbers good enough to solidify him at the #2 spot on the Red Wings’ all-time Right-Wing list. In his 9 seasons with the Red Wings, Shanahan never played in less than 75 regular-season games, and never scored less than 25 goals in a season. He had four 30 goal seasons and two 40 goal seasons, and three Stanley Cup Championships in Detroit.

Next: Paging Mr. Hockey

#1: Gordie Howe 1946-1971

Was there ever any doubt? Gordie Howe’s legendary career has solidified his place as not only the Red Wings top Right-Winger, but also as one of the greatest to ever play in the NHL. Gordie played 25, yes 25, legendary seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, appearing in 1,687 regular-season games. In his 1,687 games with the Wings, Howe scored 786 goals and 1,023 assists.

Along with Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel, Gordie Howe helped form one of the most successful lines of all-time in the NHL, “The Production Line”. The three legendary players helped lead the Wings to 4 Stanley Cup Championships. Between 1950 and 1954 Gordie led the NHL in points for four consecutive seasons, he would also lead the league two other times in his career.

Gordie’s list of accomplishments and records would be whole other article all together, but it’s just as easy and obvious to say that without a doubt Mr. Hockey is the top Right-Winger in Detroit Red Wings’ history, and quite possibly the league.

Next: Top 5 Detroit Left Wings Of All-Time

More from Octopus Thrower

Home / All-Time Lists