Todd McLellan took over as the Detroit Red Wings' bench boss just over a year ago. While the Wings had their ups and downs with him at the helm, McLellan has turned this team into legitimate playoff contenders at midseason.
Detroit fans have grown accustomed to seeing mass stagnation over the past two seasons. In 2023-24 and 2024-25, the Wings played like a top-three team in the Atlantic at times, but they also struggled through stretches when they looked like one of the worst teams in the NHL.
That trend looked like it was about to continue in 2025-26, but there have been far more ups than downs lately. Still, McLellan knows the stakes, and he knows the Wings have been far from perfect. Following their big win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, McLellan said, “I’m happy, because we obviously want to win as many games as possible every month. The evolution of our team has obviously been a positive throughout December, but we still have a lot to do.”
Every single Wings fan saw this team evolve like none other in a month where they finished 11-3-1, with 50 goals scored and 41 allowed. The power play ended with 13 goals in 38 chances, and the penalty kill allowed just seven goals in 37 opportunities. But there are numerous caveats here at midseason, as McLellan implied in the above quote.
Detroit Red Wings can't get complacent as the calendar year turns to January
Here is some of what McLellan is seeing: When the Red Wings are having a bad game, they're bad. In their three regulation losses in December, opponents outscored the Wings 13-4, and Detroit never lost by fewer than three goals. It's a trend that spilled over from November, when five of Detroit's seven regulation losses came by three or more goals.
Tack on another three regulation losses by three or more goals in October, and you get 11 of Detroit's 14 regulation losses by that margin. That's over 25 percent of their games, if you're doing the math. For a team that wants to earn a playoff berth for the first time in a decade, you can't let that happen so often.
This has led to the Wings, despite boasting a slim lead in the Atlantic Division and carrying a remarkable 0.622 point percentage, with a minus-3 goal differential. They're one of the highest scoring teams in hockey with 127 goals scored, but you can't allow 130 goals through 41 games and expect to be a legitimate playoff contender when the competition heats up during the back half of the season.
Todd McLellan was right to exercise cautious optimism heading into the new year
The Wings look like a team built on a rocky foundation, and one small crack in that foundation could cause the entire building to tumble. The negative goal differential is one thing, but what about depth scoring? It has come through lately, and it became a recurring trend in December. But they have yet to see month-after-month consistency in the bottom six and bottom pairing.
It's also easy to forget how young the Red Wings are, with Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Nate Danielson, and Emmitt Finnie all in their rookie seasons. Meanwhile, Marco Kasper, Elmer Soderblom, Albert Johansson, and Simon Edvinsson are all either in their second season or, in Soderblom's case, have limited NHL experience.
Ultimately, it will be up to Todd McLellan to keep this ship heading in the right direction toward a postseason berth. While the Wings enjoyed an outstanding December and sit atop the Atlantic Division at midseason, they must carry that consistent play over into January, keep seeing their depth players produce points, and keep developing their young players well while minimizing pressure. All during a time when that pressure rises.