Yahoo Sports’ Justin Cuthbert penned a column in which he discusses several hot topics from around the NHL, and the Red Wings’ 7-5-and-2 start is one of those topics:
The Detroit Red Wings have seven wins from their first 14 games this season, but few if any have been more impressive than their victory Tuesday night over the Edmonton Oilers. No team can have their fastball every night, however McDavid, Draisaitl, and the incredible forward group in Edmonton looked merely average in its stop at Little Caesars Arena.
Which is, to put it mildly, an accomplishment.
What we needed to see from the Wings this season was some progress after five years as the single least-successful team in the league. (Yes, behind Buffalo). And between the performance of the top line, the emergence of Moritz Seider, and other key contributions around the lineup, the Red Wings have shown that so far.
Tyler Bertuzzi has driven some of the best results league-wide, and with Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin the Red Wings finally have a No. 1 that can threaten the opposition with regularity. With more goals and points than any other rookie, Raymond could be considered the Calder Trophy front-runner, but his biggest competition could be Seider, his teammate on the back end.
Seider, who saw nine-plus minutes versus Draisaitl in the Edmonton win, continues to log major minutes against quality competition and sits just three points off the lead held by defenceman and Norris Trophy pace car, Adam Fox.
We’re starting to see, now, what Steve Yzerman has envisioned.
