NBC Sports’ Pro Hockey Talk blog will be examining the Red Wings via a series of articles posted over the course of this afternoon and evening.
Scott Billeck kicks off “Red Wings day at PHT” with an examination of where the Wings stand after the 2018-19 season:
Rebuilds aren’t about the win-loss record or the position in the standings. Instead, they focus on the bigger picture — long-term success with bouts of short-term growth to get them there.
And if we use that metric, and strip away the record and the fact that they’ve missed the playoffs now three years on the trot after making it 25 straight times before that, we can certainly find some positives.
Most importantly, the young core that will one day lead this team took another in terms of production.
Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi all took steps in terms of production, with all four setting career highs in goals and at least tying career highs in points. All four of those guys are also 25 or under, so there’s plenty more of where that came from to come and where the optimism in Detroit lies.
