One burning question, with optimism, might I add, that all Red Wings fans had every right to ask just two months ago was this: Will Todd McLellan lead this team into the top three? At the time, the Red Wings had 59 points and were just one point behind the Ottawa Senators.
As for the Tampa Bay Lightning, they were one point outside the wild card with 58 points, and things were finally looking different in what has been a static Atlantic Division. Two of the ‘haves’ in recent years, Tampa and the Boston Bruins, weren’t top-eight teams, and the ‘have nots’ looked on the verge of taking over.
Fast-forward to today, and the entire landscape has shifted. Tampa is back and fighting for the Atlantic Division crown. While Boston has fallen below the Buffalo Sabres as of Wednesday afternoon, the Wings continue their freefall after yet another loss, this one to the St. Louis Blues.
Red Wings fans might be asking an unfortunate burning question
While only four points separates the Wings and the Montreal Canadiens from the second wild card spot, it’s also worth pointing out that they’re just six points above the Boston Bruins, who have 69 points as of Wednesday afternoon.
Unfortunately for the Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins look like they’re figuring things out, the Philadelphia Flyers are surging with three straight wins, and even the Buffalo Sabres are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. It’s too little, too late for all of the above teams, but if I’m a Red Wings fan, I’m asking myself this burning question: “Are we destined to sink even further before the 2024-25 season ends?”
Luckily for Detroit, the New York Islanders hit another snag and have lost six straight as of Wednesday, but this was a position fans never would’ve even thought they’d see their team in. Not after those awesome early returns when Todd McLellan became coach, anyway. Right now, it’s just a harsh reality check that this team might not be finished tanking as the season reaches twilight mode.
If the Red Wings sink below the Sabres, something’s seriously wrong
To be generous, the Sabres have been okay this season outside of their 0-10-3 debacle, which spelled the end of their 2024-25 season. Take out that 13-game losing streak, and they’re not a half-bad hockey team, as outlandish as it sounds. They’re also a top-10 team in goals scored.
As for teams like the Red Wings, Islanders, and Bruins, they’ve hit multiple slumps this season and have slowly slid down the standings as the 2025 calendar year faded from the 4 Nations Face-Off to the end of February and now, finally, toward the end of the season. You can argue they have more issues than Buffalo if this trend continues until the middle of the month.
You can also add the Penguins and Flyers to the list of teams with fewer issues. The former of whom has a bare-bones lineup and an aging core. But they have plenty of reinforcements coming up through the prospects pool, something that will become more apparent in 2025-26 and 2026-27. As for the Flyers, it’s an ultra-young core that was going to fall on hard times.
But both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have improved as the season wore on despite recent events involving the Flyers, and the Sabres made the best out of a hopeless situation. The Red Wings? Either they start redeeming themselves now or they aren’t quite finished tumbling down the Eastern Conference’s ladder.