To say things have gone from worse to as bad as they can go for the Red Wings is the understatement of the season. In fact, you can even say that this season’s collapse is worse than what we saw during the latter half of 2023-24 since they at least got it together in the end.
Miraculously, the Red Wings are still in this thing since the Montreal Canadiens also seemed to have run out of talent and lost four straight. But right now, and with Year No. 9 of no playoffs looming, you can’t help but wonder if the Red Wings have become their own worst enemies, especially when you look at their recent lack of productivity.
No, not the Buffalo Sabres despite all that fighting going on the last time the two teams squared off, not their Original Six rivals, and not even those inter-conference rivals like the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. Nope, the Red Wings biggest enemies right now are the Red Wings.
Red Wings have it stuck in their minds that they can’t win down the stretch
This time last year, the Wings had gone seven and soon to be eight seasons without a playoff appearance. And even if hardly anybody from the last time they made a postseason berth is still with the club, that kind of drought still casts a significant dark cloud over them. We know this because the Wings did the same thing last year, even if they eventually started winning again.
And it’s not like they don’t have the talent, as they were a top-three team in the Atlantic in 2023-24 before falling back to reality and current head coach Todd McLellan brought out the best in them earlier this season. But McLellan still hasn’t changed what has become a losing culture for one of the league’s most decorated franchises.
Boasting the talent is one thing and bringing the best out of it on occasion is another. But if the mentality doesn’t shift, there’s a problem, and McLellan hasn’t solved it yet. This isn’t to say the Red Wings can’t get better on paper, because they need to, but that loser’s mentality’s going to plague anyone who steps into Hockeytown from another franchise.
Where does one even begin to change a team’s mindset?
Fortunately for the Red Wings, Todd McLellan knows how to bring about a winner, having done so in San Jose, and he also helped turn around the Los Angeles Kings, with a stint for the Edmonton Oilers sandwiched in between. He’s closing in on 1,200 games of NHL head coaching experience, so he’s dealt with just about every kind of situation out there.
It begins with McLellan and it’s on him as a coach to diagnose and fix the issue, preferably at some point this season and build some momentum heading into 2025-26. If he can’t fix it, then brace yourself for the same mediocre hockey when October 2025 arrives, even if general manager Steve Yzerman makes a splash in free agency or the trade market.
But right now, it will take more than just McLellan to realize that the Red Wings keep beating themselves, especially when games matter the most. He needs to point it out to the players, and they need to take ownership if this debacle of a stretch is to evaporate and for a culture shift to occur.