Are the Detroit Red Wings finally ready to make more than just a playoff push in 2025-26? That's the burning question every fan wants answered, but this isn't a 'yes' or 'no'' response.
The Wings have too many question marks to be shoo-ins for the 2026 playoffs, and there's a good chance they can fall even further in the Atlantic before they inevitably get a legit chance to end the latest 'Dead Wings Era' for good.
But if they improve in just three areas where they were unbelievably bad at times (or all season) in 2024-25, then the 2026 playoffs aren't outta the question. Still, if they're not willing to work long and hard, they can forget about busting through to the postseason.
The blue line
Listen, Moritz Seider can't be the only consistent player in what's often a six-man unit. Everyone needs to hold their weight, and we can already name one defenseman who won't over a month before the puck drops.
Others, like Simon Edvinsson, Ben Chiarot, Erik Gustafsson, Travis Hamonic, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and Albert Johansson, need to step it up. But with Edvinsson and Johansson another year older and more experienced, I'm convinced they'll be fine.
Bernard-Docker's got potential to be a savvy third-pairing guy, while Hamonic brings a veteran presence the Wings missed last year. Overall, the group's better, but Gustafsson and Chiarot are question marks, and they need to give us something more if the Wings are to break this drought.
Penalty kill
I know what you're thinking. "Yeah, Todd, thanks for reminding us. Like we all needed someone to once again tell us why the PK unit was so laughably bad that, if it doesn't improve, could single handedly make life miserable for the Wings and the fanbase."
Historically bad doesn't even start to explain it, given their 70.1 PK percentage. And as mundane as some of Steve Yzerman's free agent signings were, if there's an upside, it's that Mason Appleton and James van Riemsdyk will at least stop a repeat.
But here's another burning question for ya: Is it enough? Honestly, I can't tell you if it is. And I wish I could.
Consistency
The Red Wings only consistency over the past two seasons has been their sheer inconsistency. How many times did they look like the best team in hockey after Todd McLellan took over, only to prove once again they weren't a true playoff team?
Yeah, that needs to stop this season. You can't keep looking like a top-three team in the Atlantic Division when you feel like it, indicating that you just enjoyed a good run before showing your true colors.
And I hate saying "true colors," because you don't go on such dominant runs and even stick around the top three in your division or in a top wild card slot until you don't. It's time to end consistent inconsistency from now until the current crop of players age out.
And maybe, if the Yzerplan ever gets into full force, consistent inconsistency won't even be part of Detroit Red Wings lexicon for a generation or two.