The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that weren’t playoff-bound plus some that were eliminated early in the playoffs. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Detroit.
It has been a rough few seasons for the Red Wings. After their streak of 25 straight playoff appearances came to an end in 2017, they haven’t seen the playoffs since then. They have brought in several promising youngsters in recent years and the expectation is that they’ll soon get back to battling for a playoff spot at a minimum. With that in mind, their summer checklist is more geared towards win-now moves compared to recent years.
Hire A Head Coach
First things first. After parting ways with Jeff Blashill, who had been one of the longer-tenured coaches in the league, Detroit now needs a new bench boss for the first time since 2015 when Mike Babcock left for Toronto. Blashill’s tenure wasn’t overly successful in terms of his record (204-261-72) but with the team going through a reset, it wasn’t as much of a concern. But now with an expectation of more on-ice success, GM Steve Yzerman decided now is the right time for a change.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see what direction they go. Are they looking for someone that is going to help them get back to the playoffs first and foremost or are they hoping for a longer-term fit? The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive but the first category opens up the ability to hire a veteran coach who can get quick results but who typically has a short shelf life, giving them some extra options to consider. On the other hand, if Yzerman is looking for a long-term fit, then the potential for a first-time hire stands out a bit more.
Either way, getting a coach in place well before the summer transactions get underway will be important as whoever takes the job will likely want to provide some input on what else the Red Wings do this summer.
Extension Talks
Two of Detroit’s top players will be eligible for contract extensions once free agency opens up in July in Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. Larkin, their captain, has been on a bargain contract for the past four seasons with a $6.1MM AAV, a price tag that’s below market value for a number one center. That will certainly change on his next contract as recent comparables will likely push his price tag over the $8MM mark per season. There’s no doubt that Yzerman will want to extend the Michigan native and keep him in the fold, especially since they don’t have an up-and-coming number one center behind him. In Tampa Bay, Yzerman’s talks with captain Steven Stamkos went right down to the wire. In an ideal world, that doesn’t happen so they’re likely to try to hammer something out this summer.
As for Bertuzzi, while he was in the headlines for not being able to play in Canada due to his vaccination status, that overshadowed a career year that saw him set career highs in goals (30) and assists (32) in 68 games while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night. That’s top-line production at a $4.75MM price tag which is also well below market value. Bertuzzi is a couple of years older than Larkin but at 27, he’s still young enough to be part of the core. This summer, Yzerman needs to find out what Bertuzzi’s asking price is to see if it fits within their future salary structure. If not, his name could be in trade speculation soon after.
Reshape The Back End
Detroit’s back end got a big lift this season with the arrival of Moritz Seider who is a very strong contender to win the Calder Trophy as the top rookie next month. However, their defense corps has been a weak spot for the past several seasons and will need to be addressed this offseason.
Long-time rearguard Danny DeKeyser is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and is unlikely to return unless it’s at a very steep discount. Marc Staal is also a pending UFA and while he’s not the higher-end shutdown player he was in his prime, he still filled a stable stay-at-home role for the Red Wings over the last couple of years. He could be back but would need to be replaced if he doesn’t return.
At the moment, there are only three other regular defensemen signed for next season beyond Seider – Filip Hronek, Gustav Lindstrom, and Jordan Oesterle. Hronek had a tough year in his own end but has some trade value if they decide to shake things up while Lindstrom and Oesterle are better as depth pieces. So, too, are recent signing Steven Kampfer and pending RFAs Olli Juolevi and Jake Walman. Beyond Hronek, none of those players should be in impact roles next season.
Detroit will have another top youngster coming to North America in 2022-23 in Simon Edvinsson and while he has shown plenty of promise, it’s hard to expect he’ll come in and suddenly solve all of their defensive issues. Adding an impact veteran (if not two) will be needed to help shore up a group that allowed the third-most goals in the league this season and help take some pressure off the goaltenders. Fortunately, they have over $35MM in cap space at their disposal so they can afford to shop at the higher end of the market this summer.
Find A New Second Goalie
Speaking of their goalies, Detroit needs to find a second goaltender to partner with Alex Nedeljkovic. Thomas Greiss had a particularly tough season and is unlikely to be retained while Calvin Pickard, their third-string option, is also a pending UFA and isn’t really in the mix for an NHL spot either. Magnus Hellberg signed late in the year but he’s more of a viable third-string option than a strong contender for the backup spot.
As usual, there are several Greiss-like goalies available, veterans that can be signed for a year or two to continue the platoon and maintain the status quo. Alternatively, a handful of netminders could be moved this summer that could be plausible platoon options as well.
That said, are the Red Wings better off looking for a longer-term option? Darcy Kuemper still has a few years as a starter left in him while Ville Husso and Jack Campbell have both shown flashes and are young enough to be around for a while. While Detroit has Sebastian Cossa, a prospect they have high hopes for, it typically takes a few years for a goaltender to be NHL-ready. Instead of continuing to churn through goalies for short-term fixes, perhaps a longer-term solution that serves as a bridge to Cossa is a better way for them to go this summer. Either way, they will need a new netminder in the next couple of months.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Salary figures courtesy of CapFriendly.
It’s been rough ever since Nick retired. Miscues in our own end, losing puck battles, zone entries, moving the puck through the neutral zone, and just the lack of puck movement in general have made the Wings hard to watch.
Kenny Holland, for all the good he did for us in those Cup years, really struggled to keep us competitive after the salary cap was implemented. He handed out too many bad contracts and traded away draft picks to keep the playoff streak alive.
Yzerman has been fantastic against the cap though. He pulled the Wings out of cap hell, stockpiled picks, and built up our prospect pool enough to be excited again. The rebuild was always going to be a waiting game for those bad contracts to fall off, and now we’re nearing the end of it.
Just this past season, especially at the beginning, the Wings were at least watchable again. They started moving the puck better and the power play had some life at times. Seider and Raymond were fun to watch and there’s more help on the way. We’re not there just yet but I’m expecting a good offseason and more progress for 22-23.
lots & lots of work to do yet. They have no legit #1 center, Larkin is a #2 for sure. Have no scoring at all. Only have one line that can produce. I think Blashill did a disservice for a couple players we had that could score but didn’t buy into his horrible systems. Mantha & AA come to mind. Lets HOPE that our new coaching staff can establish some offense, shore up our D and bring back some excitement. I had season tickets for a long time & it was hard to watch. I did not renew for 2022-2023
Think AA is a good example of how Wings fans overvalue players. He was a speedster diva who wanted to just score flashy goals and not play a complete game and he wanted to get paid like a star. That does not fly with Yzerman no matter who the coach is. Fans like it since you don’t see all the behind the scenes or things that come up in film later that you miss during the game. Contract with Wings was 3M mostly based on future potential to be more complete and was expiring. Rumor was he wanted 5Y+/5M+ min and really noted wanted much more. Yzerman did not like his attitude and moved him regardless of the money. Smart guy he is.
What has he done since? Unable to be a great compliment to McDavid even with his blazing speed. He would not sign for 2Y and more money (think it was 2.5M per) to keep playing in EDM. Who would not want to play with McDavid and pad their stats to get to a big payday?? Went on to take barely over 1M (1.2M I think) for one year with LAK instead, where, and get this, he was told he had to be a more complete player or they would not resign him. He committed to do so and worked to do just that and is much better because f it and they still signed him to 1Y 2.7M and told him to keep working on getting better and they will hopefully have a place for him going forward.
So is he a star scoring machine being held back by the system? Or a player who wanted to just score and is finding he has to play more complete and when he does he loses his ability to score as much? He is not making 6-7M a year now n the big contract he wanted. Did the Wings miss out? Hmm, or is the system horrible everywhere he goes then? Not sure what your thinking but I remember being very happy when Yzerman got those picks for him. The AA supporters were calling me crazy. You will rue the day they let him go and it was all Blash not him. Anything less than a 1st and a top prospect was robbery. BLah blah blah. I was right you have to play a more complete game to have Yzerman keep you and it costs you offense (just like it did for Stevie when Bowman forced him to do it). Not always right, but that was an easy one. AA was full f himself and it has proven out Yzerman was right and even Holland for not going crazy to keep him (finally maybe he learned something after all those bad contracts).
So this is a player you think the Wings were holding back due to coaching and not his attitude? Seems like that is what you think. Yzerman disagreed thankfully.
“Win-now moves”
I find that hard to believe. You cannot note this direction until a coach is first hired. Do they go with a coach that can maximize a team’s personnel even though they are weaker in comparison to other teams, or a learning coach catered to teaching the Wings’ prospects and extending the rebuild atleast 1 more year.
Not withstanding coaching, there are so many holes on this team, and with the weak free agency this year there are not nearly enough worthwhile elite caliber players to push the Wings into win-now mode. Their 2nd half of the season play points more to extending the rebuild atleast 1 more year, beneficial for a deep 2023 draft, and reassessing the following year with a deeper free agency as of right now.
I agree they have at least one more year on the stock the prospects part of the build before moving to Win Now moves. They will be more competitive nd he will add pieces, but it takes time (especially on D) for prospects to mature and for them to see what they actually have or need. After this year it will be the win and get in the playoffs to learn the difference needed to win there phase.
Yeah, $35 million SEEMS like a lot, but eeesh. They’ll need to set aside $5-6 million more for extensions for Larkin and Bertuzzi. They’ll need to hand a couple million or so to Zadina. They’ll need a minimum of $3, 3.5 for a decent goalie. They’ve got the usual cast of UFAs to resign or replace.
So yeah: they need to get two good defensemen, and two top-six forwards, and at a minimum, that’ll cost them $20 million … and they’re in the most loaded division in hockey.
they have plenty of cap room to work with.
Idk within two years our defense should be in great shape maybe could sign one long term outside defenseman if makes sense. Need a center and another good 1A 1B type goalie. Another winger in top 6 prob but I like Raymond, Bert, Vrana for top 6 next year.
You are right to realize the cap space now is a luxury (should use some of it to get picks) but first it is not as much as people think and second it will not last long so be an issue in the future not a luxury. Just think in 4 years when this team should be a cup contender like TBL. Seider, Edvinsson, Raymond, Cossa and likely a few more we don’t know yet are going to get paid. Ned might cost 5-6M as the backup, You can’t have 8-10 guys take up a big chunk of the cap and be long term good. getting players at the TDL or in FA to help you keep winning is not cheap. They will be pushing the cap soon enough. Now is not the time to think we can go crazy using cap space and lock in anything.
Right in a couple years we will be much better on D and/or at least know for sure what our prospects actually turned into. Berggren could also be top 6 even though is maybe on the 3rd line to start. A gritty vet winger would be a good add for depth and the mentoring. Don’t think you can get a good top 6 in FA at a good value.
I think Yzerman is holding off on things until he knows more what he has for sure. Still if they could get a good vet D it would be OK to sign them longer term since you need some vets in there. Can always move down a line as things go. Walman might surprise too so who knows.
Yeah, top 6 forwards from FA aren’t good value, agree, maybe Jonatan Bergeron becomes one or Zadina takes a step forward.