Detroit Red Wings: “Going through the motions” is not an option

The Detroit Red Wings are struggling to say the least, and after trading away some pieces at the NHL Trade Deadline, things look much worse. The Red Wings are 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

At the NHL Trade Deadline, general manager Steve Yzerman kept with his “Yzerplan” and traded away pieces like Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek, Jakub Vrana, and Oskar Sundqvist. The Detroit Red Wings got draft capital in return for all of those players, but it shows that the struggling team pushed them out the door.

Of course, it was always a part of the plan to be “sellers” at the deadline, according to Yzerman, but the team, having played well this season and within striking range of a playoff spot, made the decision to be “sellers” more difficult.

Detroit Red Wings cannot afford to go through the motions.

With the team in striking range of a playoff spot and even waking up in a wildcard spot at times, all went away when they got embarrassed by the Ottawa Senators in a back-to-back set, and things haven’t turned around since then.

Head coach of the Red Wings, Derek Lalonde, still thinks the team should be playing better hockey despite losing some key players and being a “long-shot” for the playoffs.

"“There’s no doubt the boys felt sorry for themselves… it’ll be my job to get them out of that. We are not going to go through the motions over these games. We are going to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. This lineup is not much different than at the beginning of the year and we were extremely competitive….“…It’s on me to get the group motivated to stay on track… now that our lineup is settled – these are our 12 forwards, these are our seven D. Hopefully, we can get some rhythm and find ways win some tight games like we could have on the weekend.” (per interview with Lalonde)"

Most of the players on the team aren’t playing their best hockey, and many are far from it, but Lalonde noted, as most hockey fans can see as well, it is about getting back to the basics for this team, getting back to doing the simple things that made this team one of the toughest teams to play against in the early months of the season.

The Red Wings can get back on track as the season continues. They need to pile together some wins and continue moving the wagon in the right direction. Going through the motions and coasting is not an option.

Instead, focusing on development and building for the future is what is essential for the Red Wings down the home stretch of the 2022-23 season.