Detroit Red Wings 24-25 Season Preview

Detroit Red Wings
Atlantic Division

2023-24 Recap

Record (W-L-OTL): 41-32-9
Over/Under: 46-35-1
Home Favorite: 10-8
Home Dog: 9-10
Road Favorite: 7-1
Road Dog: 11-21
Win Score 4 or more: 34 of 41
Lose Give Up 4 or more: 29 of 41
Puck Line Wins: 24 of 41
Puck Line Losses: 22 of 41
Front End Back-to-Back: 5-4
Back End Back-to-Back: 5-4
Goals Scored Per Game/Rank: 3.35 (9th)
Goals Against Per Game/Rank: 3.33 (24th)

Additions: Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Motte, Erik Gustafsson, Cam Talbot, Jack Campbell
Subtractions: David Perron, Daniel Sprong, Robby Fabbri, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jake Walman
 

The Red Wings have gone 8 straight seasons without making the playoffs and 11 straight without winning a playoff round. Whatever the Yzerman plan is, it’s not working. Detroit had just four regulation wins in their final 23 games, ultimately costing them the final playoff spot.

Offense
The Red Wings finished 9 th overall in both goals scored and power play efficiency. Detroit has four legitimate snipers in Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and Lucas “Everybody Loves” Raymond. Raymond is coming off his first 30 goal season, led the team in points, and did everything he could to try and propel the Red Wings into the playoffs with 14 goals in the final 18 games.

Detroit’s depth scoring took a significant hit with the decision to not resign Daviel Sprong and David Perron and trading Robbi Fabbri to Anaheim. Vladimir Tarasenko comes over from Florida and brings his two Stanley Cup rings to the Motor City. It’s fair to say that Tarasenko is more offensively gifted than Perron. Detroit did nothing to replace the loss of Sprong and Fabbri (both scored 18 goals last season). Tyler Motte who spent last season in Dallas is more of a defensive specialist. Motte has scored just 14 goals over the past three seasons and will likely play on the fourth line and kill penalties. It will be interesting to see if Tarasenko and Kane play together as the two didn’t seem to mesh in their brief time together with the Rangers.

Defense
I am a huge Moritz Seider fan, and I firmly expect he will one day win the Norris Trophy. But Seider can’t do it alone and needs help. Detroit finished in the bottom third of the league in team defense and instead of bolstering the blueline, Yzerman trades away Jake Wallman in what looks like a pure salary dump. Walman led Detroit defenseman in goals, game winning goals and skated just shy of 20 minutes a night.

With Wallman gone Yzerman is banking on 2021, 6th overall pick, Simon Edvinsson to fill the void. At 6’6, the 21-year-old from Sweden has all the tools. He spent the past two seasons playing for the Wings top minor league team in Grand Rapids learning the North American game and getting adjusted to a smaller rink size. Detroit also moved on from Shayne Gostisbehere, their scoring leader from the backend and replaced him with a less productive Erik Gustafsson. Veterans, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Oli Maata fill out the top six.

Goaltending
Alex Lyon didn’t get a start until mid-November (Game 17) and then proceeded to start 43 of the next 65 games. A lot to ask for a goalie who had just 31 starts in his previous six seasons. In the end he just ran out of gas giving up 4 or more goals in five of his last 10 starts. The Wings signed 37-year-old Cam Talbot who put up stellar numbers in the regular season in Los Angeles. Ville Husso is also in the mix so it will be interesting to see if Detroit once again employs three goalies.

Outlook
Detroit will be in tough to be a playoff team this season. The Red Wings did nothing to improve their blueline and while Cam Talbot is an upgrade over James Reimer, he won’t have the same defensive support that he benefited from in Los Angeles. A ninth consecutive season of missing the playoffs seems likely.

Regular Season Point Total: 90.5 (-115)
To Make the Playoffs: +130
To Miss the Playoffs: -160
To Win the Atlantic Division: +1100
To Win the Eastern Conference: +2000
To Win the Stanley Cup: +4000