In 2021-22, the Red Wings missed the playoffs for the sixth-straight year. This cost head coach Jeff Blashill his job on the bench after the team went 8-16-4 in their final 28 games to finish sixth in the Atlantic Division. Still, the rebuild under Steve Yzerman appeared to be bearing some fruit. Detroit got 30-goal seasons out of Dylan Larkin (age 25) and Tyler Bertuzzi (age 26) while Filip Hronek (age 24) posted a solid 38 points on the blue line.
The trait that set Detroit apart that year, however, was the work of a pair of Yzerman’s early draft picks. Moritz Seider, a surprising selection at sixth overall in 2019, became Detroit’s first Calder Trophy winner since Roger Crozier in 1965. Lucas Raymond, selected fourth overall in 2020, made his NHL debut at age 19 that year as well, notching 57 points in that span. With two young players in mind, the team looked poised to build a consistent contending roster.
Since then, progress has stalled, if not worsened. The Red Wings came within a tiebreaker of the playoffs in 2024, missed the postseason by five points in 2025, and are on the outside looking in entering the final games of 2026.
Yzerman tried to supplement the new core immediately
With a seemingly solid nucleus of young talent in tow and an opening on their bench, Detroit tabbed Derek Lalonde for their next head coaching role. They also promptly spent on free agency to shore up the bottom of the roster by adding Ben Chiarot, David Perron, Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalik and Olli Määttä while trading for Ville Husso.
Those moves added six point to Detroit’s year end total, going from 74 to 80 points, though they finished seventh in the Atlantic Division after landing sixth a year before. With the season going nowhere, the Red Wings decided to send Hronek and Bertuzzi away at the trade deadline to recoup some draft picks. Yzerman used the first rounder he got for Bertuzzi to find his replacement, landing Alex DeBrincat in a summer trade with Ottawa.
Additional roster updates helped, but at a cost
He then tweaked the roster further by adding J.T. Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, Alex Lyon and Justin Holl via free agency. After that, he took a flier on Patrick Kane, who promptly posted 47 points in 50 games.
The moves were nearly enough to get Detroit into the postseason, as they finished with 91 points and tied for the final playoff spot at the end of the season, but missed out on a tiebreaker with Washington. Still, Larkin netted 30 goals for the third-straight season, Raymond had his long awaited breakout with a 31-goal, 72-point campaign and DeBrincat finished just shy of the 30-goal mark in his first season in a Red Wings’ sweater.
The biggest flaw at that time was goaltending. Thus, Yzerman went back to the draft board.
Yzerman identified goaltending as the priority last summer
While Cam Talbot provided some stability and Alex Lyon did tolerably in tandem with him, Yzerman felt the team’s goaltending was below the level it needed to be to contend for the playoffs and sought to improve it. During the draft, Yzerman got his prize by snagging John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks for Petr Mrazek and some draft assets.
Gibson has provided exactly what the team needed, notching a 2.58 goals against average and .905 save percentage. That is especially impressive when you consider he had a 3.62 GAA .868 SV% through Dec. 2. Over his last 36 games, Gibson has a 2.18 goals against average and .920 save percentage.
Despite Gibson's dominance, the team is once again on the outside looking in. The contributions at the top of the roster come from the usual suspects: Alex DeBrincat is closing in on a 40-goal season. Larkin is close to his normal 30-goal, 70-point campaign. Lucas Raymond is averaging a point per game (71 points in 71 games). Seider enjoying his finest season as a pro with 53 points and being rated as the top defensive defensemen in the league in some circles.
Save for the continued heroics of Raymond and Seider, along with Patrick Kane's 46-point campaign, none of Yzerman's recent draft picks or signees have eclipsed the 40-point mark this season. This season, the Red Wings are as close to the playoffs as they've been in well over a decade. But glaring issues and inconsistencies are revealing a fundamental flaw in the roster: no matter how much talent they add, the roster just can't seem to get it done.