ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski posted a massive preview of the 2021-2022 NHL season, and here’s his take on the Red Wings’ season outlook as part of a list of “power rankings”:
Last season: 19-27-10, missed playoffs
Key players added: C Pius Suter, C Mitchell Stephens, D Nick Leddy, G Alex Nedeljkovic
Key players lost: G Jonathan Bernier, C Luke Glendening, C Darren Helm, D Dennis Cholowski (expansion draft)
Most fascinating player: We’re going to disqualify Jakub Vrana from this category because he’ll miss around four months thanks to shoulder surgery. Otherwise, watching Jake the Snake slither around the offensive zone for the Wings would have been the pick. Instead, we’ll go in the other direction: Moritz Seider, the team’s 20-year-old rookie defenseman. The German-born sixth overall pick in 2019, Seider got a professional season under his belt in 2020-21 while playing for Rogle in the Swedish Hockey League. He’s been paired with Nick Leddy in the preseason, giving him a solid veteran on whom to rely. One of those Red Wings prospects whose arrival on the main roster portends the eventual end of this rebuild.
Best case: The slow, steady pace of GM Steve Yzerman‘s rebuild extends for another season, one that sees Detroit’s younger players show sparks of potential and the Red Wings get a top-three pick for the first time since drafting Keith Primeau at third overall in 1990.
Worst case: The Red Wings somehow generate more offense than last season (2.23 goals per game, 30th in the NHL) with Vrana out of the lineup, get solid goaltending and are a shock contender for a wild-card spot — thus delaying the progress of their build.
X factor: The Hurricanes felt that Nedeljkovic hadn’t shown enough beyond three great months — great enough to earn him a Calder Trophy nomination, mind you — to warrant an investment as their goaltender. The Red Wings swooped in, traded for him and handed the restricted free agent a two-year deal. Detroit has gotten incrementally better defensively in the past couple of seasons, which will benefit Nedeljkovic. But it’s on him to show that months like April 2021 (5-1-1, .941 save percentage and a 1.72 GAA!) weren’t notes from a one-hit wonder.
Fantasy outlook: Keep an eye on rookie defenseman Seider. He has the skill — and the Red Wings will present him the opportunity — to become a fantasy factor on the blue line. More on fantasy outlook
Bold prediction: 2020 first-rounder Lucas Raymond hits the Red Wings’ roster sooner than later, and makes absolute magic with Dylan Larkin.
Continued (paywall)
