Could it be? Maybe, but no, not yet. There’s no magic in a Detroit Red Wings team that’s seen quite a strong turnaround under head coach Todd McLellan. Yet, anyway. And ‘yet’ is the keyword here.
No, the Red Wings aren’t anywhere near the 2019 St. Louis Blues, in part because, well, McLellan’s won nothing apart from 15 out of his first 20 games in Detroit. And that’s nowhere near enough to compare him to Craig Berube, who stepped in and turned around an ailing St. Louis Blues team back in 2018-19.
But, this doesn’t mean the Red Wings can’t be what the Blues were. So when can we start truly comparing them to the Blues? There are three obstacles standing in Detroit’s way. .
1 - They haven’t earned a playoff berth
The Blues looked down and out when Craig Berube took over and few, if anyone, had them on their playoff radar. Nobody had a high opinion of the Blues, either. Nor did anyone take them seriously except as a team that may’ve had a decent future under Berube. Just not in 2018-19.
But the Blues ended up in the 2019 NHL Playoffs, so that alone was an accomplishment and a reflection of the job Berube did in Gateway City. Yeah, McLellan deserves a lot of credit in his first 20 games. He’s been great, really. Still, it’s 20 games, roughly one-quarter of an NHL season.
2 - They haven’t won a playoff series
Even if the Red Wings complete Step 1 and earn a playoff berth, they still wouldn’t be anywhere near the 2019 Blues. Why? Because the Blues won not one, not two, but three playoff series for the right to play in the Stanley Cup Final.
Hockeytown has every reason to celebrate should the Wings earn a trip to a place they hadn’t been in nearly a decade. But let’s take the Blues out of the equation for the time being, because if the Wings want to compare themselves to that magical 2018-19 team, they must win in the First Round, the Conference Semis, and the Conference Championship.
At which point, you can justify that they’re more comparable to the Blues. In fact, you could even rank them as one of the best teams in recent memory to have enjoyed such a turnaround campaign. But they still wouldn’t be the Blues.
3 - They haven’t hoisted the Stanley Cup
The Red Wings and every team that enjoyed a turnaround after firing their head coach since the 2019 Stanley Cup Final can’t compare to the Blues unless they hoist the Cup itself. Still, there’s hope abound in this situation, as the 2023-24 Edmonton Oilers recently came close.
Still, Edmonton wouldn’t have superseded the 2019 Blues because myself and I’m sure most of the hockey universe knew the Oilers were just holding back. They were a star-studded team that was bound to figure things out. It just took them a minute and a coaching change to get there.
This would, should the Wings even earn a trip to the Final, put them over the Oilers if one ranked them. On paper, this current squad isn’t as good as the 2023-24 Oilers. Still, if they wanted to contend for the top spot and end a season more magical than that of the 2019 Blues, the Wings must end the season by hoisting the Cup.