Which Red Wings Could Potentially Score 20 Goals This Season?

As the Detroit Red Wings continue to sign its remaining free agents, the organization heads into a season that should see the rebuild take the next step.

Red Wings General Manager Steve Yzerman has added pieces that should address some of the scoring  issues the team has faced the past few seasons. Bringing in Nick Leddy puts an offensive minded defenseman who can help drive the attack at even strength and the man advantage.

Pius Suter is a new forward who could potentially reach the 20-goal plateau after having a promising season in Chicago. Jakub Vrana netted eight goals in his 11 games as a Red Wing and of all the names–seems the strongest lock to the 20-mark.

From there, those on the roster like Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Robby Fabbri seem like logical bets–if injuries don’t get the best of them.

Adam Erne–who led the team in scoring last season–might have a chance. And we can’t forget about Filip Zadina–who seems poised to breakout and finally start filling the net as he once promised.

Here’s a look at eight Red Wings who could have a chance at hitting 20 goals this season.

Jakub Vrana

Last Years Stats with Detroit and Washington (56 games) 19 goals & 17 assists for 36 points

Why Vrana will hit 20 goals: Simply put, he could have arguably had 30 if the season went its full 82 game slate. Eight of the 19 goals he scored were with the Red Wings, a team offensively challenged and absolutely besieged by injury last season. With a healthy team and some more scoring depth, Vrana should coast to 20 goals and challenge to get 30.

Why Vrana won’t hit 20 goals: From a statistical standpoint, it seems more unlikely that he won’t. In his previous seasons, Vrana scored 24 and 25 goals in 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively. The latter was in 69 games due to the season not completing because of Covid. Again, he was knocking on that door to 30. Outside of injury, Vrana to me is the biggest lock to get 20 goals.

Tyler Bertuzzi

Last Year’s Stats (9 games) – 5 Goals & 2 assists for 7 points

Why Bertuzzi will hit 20 goals – He’s been one of the most consistent forwards on the team and would likely have scored 20 if not for the back injury that limited him to just nine games. As Detroit was going through its brutal stretch of COVID protocol, Bertuzzi was one of the few actually finding the back of the net. In previous seasons, he had 21 goals in consecutive seasons. Along with Vrana and Larkin, I feel like he’s another lock to score 20 if he stays healthy. Beyond that, this will be one of the best offensive teams he’ll be a part of, with some more depth both 5on5 and at the man advantage.

Why Bertuzzi will not score 20 – Injury. There are obviously always unknowns and even head coach Jeff Blashill has urged caution along with optimism in Bertuzzi coming back on time. Other than injury, there really isn’t an argument as to why he won’t hit 20.

Dylan Larkin

Last Year’s Stats ( 44 games) – 9 Goals & 14 assists for 23 points

Why Larkin will hit 20 goals – Like Bertuzzi, Larkin has been the Red Wings most consistent scoring forward. He scored 32 goals in 2018-19,  and would have 20 (he had 19) during the God awful 2019-20 season had it not been shut down by Covid. Larkin found himself handcuffed last season by a team decimated by injury, and also missed a handful of games with injuries of his own. If he’s healthy, and if the team stays healthy(ish), expect Larkin to notch 20 goals easily and flirt with 30.

Why Larkin will not score 20 – Injury. Blashill preached caution with his recovery in case things don’t go according to plan after his brutal neck injury last year–courtesy of Jamie Benn. There’s one other part, too, though I’m sure film study has revealed this at some point. Larkin’s patented move is blowing around the defense, curling around the net and then either finding a teammate with a pass or shooting. Last season, teams caught on and essentially valved off the low slot, which forced bad passes from Larkin or weaker shots that were gobbled up by the netminder.

It often felt like Larkin tried to carry the team each night–which unfortunately makes sense when they struggled to score. With some more scoring threats on the roster, this should hopefully not be the case.

Adam Erne

Last Year’s Stats (45 games) – 11 Goals & 9 assists for 20 points

Why Erne will hit 20 goals – Last year’s barrage of 11, which technically made him the leading scorer for the Red Wings after the trade of Anthony Mantha, earned him a nice raise for the next two seasons. Now, will the organization cash in, too? Erne could be a huge asset up front on the power play and with some more skill on the third line, matching his 11 and building on it shouldn’t be too far out of the realm of possibility. Eight of his 11 goals came at 5 on 5. For a team that struggled to score, it was a huge boost for both him and the Wings. Can it continue?

Why Erne will not score 20 -It was Erne’s highest goal total as an NHL player and came in a burst with nine goals in an 18 game stretch. Erne was one of the unlikeliest candidates to top the team in scoring yet there he was. Not known as a goal scorer, we’ll see if that consistency continues.

Filip Zadina

Last Year’s Stats (49 games) – 6 Goals & 13 assists for 19 points

Why Zadina will hit 20 goals – As echoed throughout this article, there’s a much better supporting cast around him. At times, Zadina would find himself on the third line and well, the linemates there weren’t going to give him the opportunity to score goals as he would on a stronger top 6 line. Zadina stands to benefit greatly from the offensive talent infusion Yzerman has slowly added to this season in Leddy, Suter, and Vrana–the latter being a boon for Zadina when he arrived last April. If there was ever a season to see Zadina make a sizeable jump, it’s this one. As if he needed any more motivation, his ELC comes to an end after this season, giving him a chance at a handsome raise should his scoring numbers increase.

Why Zadina will not score 20 – As he’s progressed with the Red Wings, Zadina has shown strong playmaking skills where at times, he’s looked hesitant to snipe as he was drafted to do. This seems a result of the insistence on a 200 foot game, which is certainly not a bad thing at all. While Zadina has looked stronger on the puck and better on both ends of the ice, he was ultimately drafted to score goals.

Michael Rasmussen

Last Year’s Stats (40 games) – 3 Goals & 9 assists for 12 points

Why Rasmussen will hit 20 goals – If anyone is likely to pull an Adam Erne impression when it comes to goal scoring, it’s Rasmussen. The ninth overall pick of the 2017 draft, Rasmussen finally got to stick with the big club after injuries opened spots and he was stellar in Grand Rapids during his seven games there. He looked stronger on the puck last season and seemed more comfortable than he ever did in Detroit. Rasmussen has always been projected to get the lionshare of goals in front of the net on the power play–which is how he’ll have a shot at 20 goals.

Why Rasmussen will not score 20 – Even in Grand Rapids, Rasmussen never really screamed goal scorer. He had a weird arrival to the NHL–staying with Detroit as a result of not wanting to send him back to Juniors when he was clearly ready for a professional league. It wasn’t until he spent time in the AHL that he looked to grow more comfortable. Of the other players mentioned, Rasmussen seems like the least likely to hit 20 this season–but if he sees a strong season in 2021-22, it could be a possibility later on.

Final Predictions

Of the names mentioned here, it feels like if all goes well without injury eating up significant playing time, Larkin, Bertuzzi, Vrana and Suter seem like the safest bets to hit 20 goals. Zadina and Fabbri seem like fringe 20 goal scorers while Erne and Rasmussen seem most likely to fall short of the 20 goal mark. It’s a crapshoot to even predict, but this feels like the first time in a long while Detroit could have multiple players score twenty or more goals.

In fact, four players had 20 or more in 2018-19 in Larkin, Bertuzzi, Anthony Mantha, and Andreas Athanasiou. Prior to that, you have to go to 2014-15 when Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader hit the 20 mark.

Could this be the first time in a long while multiple Wings hit 20? We’ll see soon.