What is there to say about the 2024-25 Red Wings offense other than there was a massive 50/50 separation between the top six and bottom six in terms of offensive production?
It's no secret that the offseason moves made by general manager Steve Yzerman before the season had significantly cut the amount of offense the bottom six and defense could muster, but hope remained that some new additions and returning players could continue to produce and recover at least some of that offense.
I decided to go line by line and player by player, and once again graded the team based on how I believe they looked from the season's start to the season's finish.
Here's how the Detroit Red Wings forward group graded out
Criteria that I used to grade each player:
1. How well did they perform in the role they were given?
2. What did they bring to the lineup?
3. Were they able to play at or around the same pace all season?
4. How well did they produce in the role they were given?
5. Player must be part of the organization at the end of the season
Each player I graded had to have played at least 10 games with the Detroit Red Wings to be considered. Unfortunately, players such as Dominik Shine, William Lagesson, Sebastian Cossa, Carter Mazur, Petr Mrazek, Olli Määttä, and Ville Husso didn’t make the cut.
The first line while stifled at times, still produced
Dylan Larkin: A-
82GP 30G 40A 70Pts
Larkin was, as usual, the team's heart and soul, and when Larkin wasn't going, the team likely also wasn't going. Starting the season as one of the only Red Wings who could reliably put the puck in the net, he was once again heavily relied upon to carry a large part of the team's offense, and because of that, was regularly pitted against many teams' top defensive players.
That didn't stop him from producing, as for the first half of the season, he was phenomenal on the power play, continuously competing and holding the top spot in power play goals for a large majority of the season. He had some unusual slumps during the season, including after the 4 Nations Tournament, where he revealed that he had been dealing with injuries since the tournament that noticeably slowed him down in the final stretch of the season. He still managed to grab his fourth consecutive 30-goal season.
Lucas Raymond: A
82GP 27G 53A 80Pts
Raymond's ascension to Super Stardom began during the 2023-24 season and continued into the 2024-25 season. While he didn't start the season by scoring a boatload of goals, he covered for it by deciding he wanted to become an elite playmaker for the likes of DeBrincat, Larkin, and Kane in all situations, grabbing one goal and 13 assists through the first 15 games of the season.
He was finally able to get the goal-scoring rolling, and he rocketed into the stratosphere, becoming the team's most consistent point producer all season. While he wasn't able to hit 30 goals like last season, he was able to hit 80 points, becoming the first Red Wings to do so since the 2010-11 season. His defense was also noticeably improved, so much so that McLellan placed him on a penalty kill unit.
Jonatan Berggren: C-
75GP 12G 12A 24Pts
After a fantastic season in the AHL, Berggren was brought up to the main roster full-time and looked pretty good on the third line with Tarasenko and Kasper. The scoresheet never showed it, but that third line was the best third line the team had all season, in no small part due to Berggren's play at the time. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated that Kasper was needed elsewhere in the lineup, and Berggren was left alone on an island on the third line with Tarasenko and Compher.
His production basically disappeared and was scratched several times because of it. It wasn't until the end of the season when he was placed on the top line that we really got to see the same Berggren that we did in his rookie season. I think that, given another chance (and better linemates), Berggren can still prove himself to be a valuable middle-six scoring threat.