How Far Away Are the Red Wings From Competing for the Stanley Cup?

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The Detroit Red Wings are in the late stages of a rebuild. Well, at least it appears that way doesn’t it?

The Detroit Red Wings are best known for their stretch in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s when they were constantly competing for the Stanley Cup. However, since that point in time, things have begun to decline and now they are missing the playoffs for six straight seasons.

Back when the Red Wings were considered the top team in hockey, they had some all-time greats on their roster. Between Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, just to name a few, they were in good hands. However, when those players got older, they started their decline. That brings us to the 2010’s.

Looking back at the last decade of Red Wings hockey, they missed the playoffs four times, lost in the first-round three times, lost in the semifinals two times, and lost in the quarterfinals once.

While listing that out there was one thing you can’t tell: How they declined throughout those years. In other words, they worked backwards from how I listed it above.

So, where does this leave us? Well, it pretty much drops us off in the middle of the desert with no supplies. But after a long stretch, they have started finding themselves near water and they are nearing the road.

Detroit Red Wings celebrating a Stanley Cup win. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

How Close Are the Red Wings From Making the Playoffs Again?

The Red Wings are not going to make the playoffs this season which will mark their sixth straight season of missing the playoffs. However, they can’t be that far off from competiting can they?

It’s no secret that the Red Wings are in a very tough division and that them finding any success will be difficult. Between the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins, it will be rather difficult for them to win the division. Additionally, they have another team right on their heels: the Ottawa Senators.

Now, I’m sure me saying that has you confused. So let me enlighten you really quick.

Every team that struggles goes through the draft as a form of a rebuild. As the Red Wings have been doing for the last couple years, so have the Senators. Quite frankly, I feel the Senators may even have a jump on the Red Wings. However, it’s not that much if any. They are very close.

So, getting back on track- How close are they to competing again?

Well, the Red Wings currently have a prospect pool that ranks inside the top 10 amongst teams in the NHL. Between Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Sebastian Cossa, Simon Edvinsson, and Joe Veleno- the talent they have budding and growing is remarkable. However, they still need to grow as players before they can comepte. That’s where this next group of names comes into play.

As players look to take their talents to the NHL, they need to learn and grow. That’s where the term ‘veteran leadership’ comes from. Lucky for us, the Red Wings have some very, very, very talented players.

Between Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Sam Gagner, Danny DeKeyser, and Thomas Greiss come into play.

They all have played in this league for a period of time and they are going to be great leaders to the young guys who start are starting their jounrey in the NHL. That there, is what’s going to be the deciding factor between the Red Wings competing for next season or them competiting five to ten years from now.

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If the Red Wings can approach free agency aggressivley and make things happen, as well as have players like Vrana, Raymond, and Zadina continue to grow, they could look to compete as early as next season in my eyes.

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