Detroit Red Wings: Adding a top scorer needs to be a priority this offseason
This seems to be the common summer theme regarding the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit must add a top-tier goal scorer over the offseason to complement captain Dylan Larkin and the current supporting cast.
Larkin, 26, lead the Detroit Red Wings with 32 goals and 79 points this past season, but the drop-off in offensive production following Larkin continues to be significant. Veteran winger David Perron, Detroit’s biggest offseason addition from a summer ago, was second in team scoring this past season, netting 24 goals and totaling 56 points.
Following Larkin and Perron, it was another newcomer Dominik Kubalik along with second-year winger Lucas Raymond recording 45 points. Kubalik scored 20 goals for Detroit, but his inconsistent play forced head coach Derek Lalonde to move him up and down the lineup all season long and even made him a healthy scratch for a brief period as the Red Wings were near full health ahead of the trade deadline.
The Detroit Red Wings have plenty of work to do this summer.
For years it seems the Detroit Red Wings have had a gaping hole in their lineup at the second-line center position. The need really stems back to when the tandem of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg ended with the organization. When you dissect Detroit’s lineup, they’ve got some pieces but haven’t been able to put the whole package together.
The Detroit Red Wings took a step in the right direction under first-year head coach Derek Lalonde who took over for Jeff Blashill as they finished the 2022-23 regular season with a near .500 record of 35-37-10.
If the Red Wings hope to continue to trend on an upward trajectory, Steve Yzerman needs to have a very productive summer.
The Detroit Red Wings have a glaring need.
I am a big proponent of building a roster from the inside out, meaning building a team down the middle with a couple of top centers, a true top defensive pairing, and a legitimate NHL number-one netminder. Whatever side of the fence you sit on regarding Larkin, he is a top one or two center; that’s part of the equation I’ve laid out, but Yzerman needs to find a top-scoring center to pair with the captain.
At this point, I will settle for any top-tier scorer. It doesn’t need to be a center, although I feel Andrew Copp is best suited as the team’s third-line center moving forward; I’d be elated if Steve Yzerman finds a 30-goal scorer, even if said player is a winger.
As the title suggests, I am not nearly as concerned with the backend as I’ve been in years past, but the organization will need to seek out a second-pairing right-handed defender this summer. The Detroit Red Wings have another significant piece in Moritz Seider anchoring the top pairing.
Jake Walman did a tremendous job this season paired with Seider, but if you are Yzerman, you need to ask yourself, is Walman a true top-two defender, or is he better off anchoring a second pairing down the road? Perhaps Simon Edvinsson will grow into a top defenseman to pair with Seider.
And then we are the final part of my equation—the goaltending. Ville Husso proved this season that he could be Detroit’s top netminder moving forward. Husso isn’t a top-eight goaltender on this current Red Wings team, but with a sounder supporting cast, I believe he can get into that second tier of NHL goaltenders.
Steve Yzerman can upgrade the Detroit Red Wings roster this off-season in various ways.
Yzerman may look to cash in on his stashed draft capital and make a blockbuster trade. Max Bultman of The Athletic (subscription) recently pointed out that the Detroit Red Wings could find a top scorer on the trade market this summer. Bultman speculates that depending on what happens in the postseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets could be destined for a major shakeup this summer due to being extremely tight to the salary cap with stars to sign.
The Leafs enter the summer with star center Auston Matthews and William Nylander both entering the final year of their deal. Matthews is the priority, with Nylander perhaps landing on the trade block. Teams generally avoid trading within their division which makes this scenario very unlikely.
Bultman also mentioned the Jets have Pierre-Luc Dubois’ RFA negotiation to deal with. However, it may be a pipedream that could leave former Michigan Wolverine forward Kyle Connor expendable.
Another option, but again unlikely due to being in the same division, is looking to acquire Detroit native Alex DeBrincat from Ottawa. The Senators, like Detroit, are building, so I can’t see a divisional rival like Ottawa moving a two-time 40-goal scorer to a place where he may eventually burn you.
The alternative is that Yzerman may keep all of his high-end draft assets and look to free agency for an impact forward. Jesper Bratt is a pending restricted free agent the Detroit Red Wings could consider submitting an offer sheet to.
However, offering RFA’s can be a dangerous game; ask the Montreal Canadiens. As wonderfully told in an article by Forbes, “On July 1, 2019, Montreal signed Carolina’s young restricted free agent center Sebastian Aho to an offer sheet that covered five years, with a cap hit of just under $8.5 million per season and an actual salary of $12 million in the first year. At that point, Tom Dundon had been the Hurricanes’ majority owner for just a year and a half, and there had been whispers that he might not have enough cash on hand to pay the $11.3 million in signing bonus money that would be due immediately if he matched.”
As they say, an elephant never forgets. In the summer of 2021, the Hurricanes returned the favor by signing center Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet worth $6.1 million.
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A few unrestricted free agents that may catch the Detroit Red Wings’ eye this summer are Alex Killorn, Vladimir Tarasenko, Max Domi, Timo Meier (if he actually hits the market), or maybe even a reunion with Tyler Bertuzzi.