At one point in 2024-25, the Red Wings looked like they finally turned the corner. Maybe we should’ve known better, but if you fool us once, we’re likely to shrug it off. Unfortunately, the Wings fooled us again, and now, they’re giving us less of a reason to believe that the Yzerplan is working.
But what else were we to expect when the offense was clicking and the goaltending overperformed? Add in a monster power play and a brewing star in Lucas Raymond taking over games, and could you really blame the fans for getting excited? I sure can’t.
Then came the collapse, with the Red Wings finishing the season 39-35-8. Respectable? Sure, but respectable is no longer good enough. I mean, if you make the playoffs with 86 points, it only means that you’re the best wild card team of a weak crop.
Unfortunately for the Wings, what we saw wasn’t a weak crop in the East, and they missed out. They further embarrassed themselves when the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators passed them up.
What went wrong? Inconsistency’s the given. Plus a paper-thin blue line
Let’s start with the obvious: the Red Wings couldn’t keep their act together when it mattered. From late February through the end of the season, the Wings were anything but a well-oiled machine in the defensive zone, and they looked like a revolving door.
They gave up leads, let themselves fall behind by multiple goals when they couldn’t keep pace with an opponent, and gave their netminders even less help. Jeff Petry and Justin Holl were liabilities, and Moritz Seider was left trying to salvage a mess. It didn’t help that he couldn’t play in every single shift, as it’s virtually impossible at most levels of hockey.
The coaching improved, but the team’s problems were so paramount that even Todd McLellan could only temporarily fix the issue. It didn’t help that Dylan Larkin disappeared for stretches, and neither Lucas Raymond nor Alex DeBrincat could do enough to make up for their captain’s shortcomings.
How can the Red Wings fix this mess?
Let’s call it like it is: This offseason’s do-or-die for Steve Yzerman and Company, and the excuses have expired. The core, while still young, isn’t full of kids, and they need to realize it. But, we can’t blame that core too much, because it’s Yzerman’s job to put solid assets around them.
So, how do you prevent this from happening again? Go defense. Upgrade the blue line, around the likes of Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson. Petry and Holl proved they no longer have what it takes, so it’s more than past the time to replace them.
They also need to add bite to the forward group. Yeah, Patrick Kane is still viable, but Vladimir Tarasenko? Oh, give me a break? Honestly, unless they’re in that core group of forwards, and you know who they are, give me a break. Upgrade that group, and find one more 20-plus goal-scorer.
Finally, commit to Todd McLellan and give him time to build the system. If there’s one thing about the NHL that absolutely annoys me, it’s the ‘fire a coach’ culture and carousel that we see virtually every season. Be the outlier and stop conforming.
McLellan needs to be the last coach Steve Yzerman should hire for a while, should the much-maligned general manager stay.
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