As the 2017-18 National Hockey League season gets underway the Detroit Red Wings will have lots of questions to answer including who will lead the team in goal scoring?
At the end of last season, Tomas Tatar stood alone at the top of the Red Wings leading scorer list with 25 goals in 82 games played. The next closest player was Andreas Athanasiou with 18 goals and a host of other players followed with 17 goals apiece.
This season Tatar will certainly be a contender to lead the team in goal scoring once more but is he the one to do it? A confident Anthony Mantha and a potentially resurgent Dylan Larkin are two players in the cards who could have 20+ goal seasons. Additionally, Gustav Nyquist has the potential to surprise many with a solid season of offensive production.
Here’s a look at the contenders.
Tomas Tatar
Tatar has been a consistent producer of 20+ goal seasons. The past three seasons he’s accomplished that feat and has a chance to better his number of 25 from last year. It would be a stretch to say he could have a career year, which would put him at 30 goals, but the 26-year-old has to be feeling good about his new contract with the team.
Will he prove worthy of his new contract this season with even more goals?
Anthony Mantha
With 17 goals last season Mantha quickly became one of the Wings best offensive weapons. He played exceptionally in the preseason as he was not afraid to use his size and skill to his advantage in front of goal. In this writer’s opinion, Mantha will lead the Red Wings in goal scoring this season with 29 goals.
Dylan Larkin
After leading the Wings in goal scoring in the 2015-16 season, Larkin saw a decrease in his production with just 17 goals last season. However, it almost seems he is destined to put up career numbers this season in all areas. Expect Larkin to be right up there in the goal-scoring department.
Andreas Athanasiou
If he stays, Athanasiou will be a contender but he will have lots of pressure on him to produce after a long holdout with contract negotiations. Expect him to score more than he did last season but it is unlikely he will lead the team in goal scoring.
Gustav Nyquist
The outside pick in all of this is Nyquist. Only 12 goals last season saw Nyquist produce one of his worst seasons in goal scoring. After a stellar preseason, Nyquist could use his momentum to get him off to a good start. Staying consistent will have to be of vital importance for the forward.