The Athletic ranked its top 100 players in the NHL via “player tiers” yesterday, and if you recall, they ranked Moritz Seider in the third tier and Dylan Larkin in the fourth tier. This morning, they rank the NHL’s teams by tiers as well, deeming the Red Wings to be a “bottom-feeder”:
The teams at the bottom aren’t all that surprising. The Blackhawks are in the process of stripping their roster down, and two of their core players remain in Patrick Kane and Seth Jones. Kane resides in 3B thanks to his elite playmaking abilities, despite some of his flaws. Jones was a bit tougher to place because his last two seasons have been so disappointing. The combination of the two is 4.9 points, which is tied for Bottom Feeders’ lead with Detroit. Technically, both teams qualify for the tier above[, the Bubble Teams], but the two feel more at home here.
The Red Wings may be tied with Chicago in points, but have a lot more hope thanks to depth behind Dylan Larkin (4A) and Moritz Seider (3B). There’s also a legitimate possibility for those two to move up, plus newcomers like Lucas Raymond to crack the list in the future.
Continued; for better or worse, it’s going to take wins and star power for the Red Wings to regain respect around the NHL, and the Wings are in the process of adding both to the mix…
But the team had to spend its summer adding capable depth players, too.
