Which Detroit Red Wing is the next to score 40 goals?

Going into last season, the Detroit Red Wings needed a boost to their offense. In the 2022-2023 season, they scored 237 goals, which was well below the league average of 258. The team stepped up big time last season and scored 275 goals, which was well above the league average of 253. The Detroit Red Wings just barely missed the playoffs last season and if they would have just scored a few more goals at some critical times, they could have made it. Someone on the team having a 40-goal season could have really helped.

It has been a while since the Detroit Red Wings have had a player put up 40 goals in a season. The last player to do this for the team was Marian Hossa in the 08-09 season. It's hard to believe that it was that long ago that a Red Wing scored 40 goals. Henrik Zetterberg put up 43 goals in the regular season the year before. It turns out that a 40-goal scorer on the team in back-to-back seasons is pretty rare.

Memory can be a funny thing. It seemed like in the days when the Detroit Red Wings were either winning the Stanley Cup or considered a favorite for winning it, there was someone scoring 40 regular season goals every year. Looking back at the stats on hockey-refernce.com, that was not the case. There were three times that Brendan Shanahan did it and in the 1993-1994 season, Sergei Fedorov and Ray Sheppard both scored over 50 goals. It didn't happen as often as my memory tricked me into thinking it did.

I was really hoping that last season was going to be the end to the 40-goal drought the team has been going through. With the all the new players that joined the team and the life that was shown, it seemed like it was finally going to happen. Although the offseason has not gone as well as I was hoping so far, I believe that there are some guys on the team that can put 40 pucks in the back of the net this season.

These are the Detroit Red Wings who can score 40 goals this season.

The number one guy on my list is the captain, Dylan Larkin. Last season he scored a career high 33 goals. Now this may sound like he was quite far off from the 40-goal mark, until you consider that he missed some significant time and only played in 68 games. His scoring pace was actually just a few decimal points below 40 goals for the season. If he can play a full 82 games this time around, there is no reason that he can't join the 40-goal club for the first time in his career.

The next player on my mind that can score 40 goals is Patrick Kane. After joining the Red Wings around the midway point last season, he was able to score 20 goals in 50 games. This pace puts him a little behind the 40-goal mark, however with a full offseason and training camp with the team, I believe he can be more effective this season. Kane already has two seasons in his career that he scored over 40 goals, so I really believe he can do it again.

Alex DeBrincat is another guy on the team that has the potential to reach 40 goals this season. After hearing he was joining the team last season, I was really hopeful he was going to at least come close to 40. Unfortunately, he was only able to score 27 goals like he did the year before in Ottawa. Just like Kane, he has scored over 40 goals in two seasons during his career. Considering he played a full season last year, he was further away from the needed scoring pace. I'm hoping that a full offseason with Kane can help him rediscover the magic they had together in Chicago.

Lucas Raymond is the last player on my list of potential 40 goal guys. Raymond had a great rookie campaign in the 21-22 season scoring 23 goals. He took a small step backwards in his sophomore season only getting 17 goals. Last season he came back strong and really came alive at the end of the season during the playoff push and ending up with a career high 31 goals. If Raymond can keep up that momentum and style of play for the full 82 games, I think he can have his best season yet and hit the 40-goal mark.

It is always possible that someone else on the team breaks out and has a career season scoring a crazy number of goals. I think the players above have the best chance to crack the 40-goal mark this coming season.

Who do you think is next for the Wings? Let me know in the comment section below or reach out with your thoughts on social media.