Luszczyszyn discusses the Red Wings’ offseason improvements

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted his list of the most-improved teams of the 2023 offseason, and, somewhat surprisingly, he ranks the Red Wings as the best-improved team not named the New Jersey Devils:

2. Detroit Red Wings

Goal Difference added: 14.4
Salary added: $22.9 million

In: Alex DeBrincat, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbehere, J.T. Compher, Justin Holl, James Reimer, Klim Kostin, Christian Fischer
Out: Dominik Kubalik, Robert Hagg, Pius Suter, Jordan Oesterle, Filip Zadina

The Red Wings were the offseason champion last summer and once again find themselves near the top of the list this year after a very busy offseason. The end result is a team whose goal differential improves by 14, a number that wouldn’t be enough to put them into a playoff position, but would bring them significantly closer. Let’s recap.

At the top of the list is Alex DeBrincat, a big-time get that immediately adds oomph to the top of Detroit’s lineup. I’m skeptical a team can contend with DeBrincat as their second-best forward, but he’s obviously an improvement over a team having David Perron as their second-best forward.

After DeBrincat is a steady stable of talent meant to improve Detroit’s depth. Up front, Daniel Sprong showed promise as a depth scorer last season, J.T. Compher should stabilize the middle behind Dylan Larkin, and Klim Kostin adds some strength to the bottom six. On the back end, Shayne Gostisbehere is a strong puck-mover that can play on the second pair while Justin Holl is a cromulent defender that can handle tough minutes. In net, James Reimer should be an improvement over Alex Nedeljkovic.

There’s a lot happening here and while it’s difficult to say how all the pieces fit, it’s very easy to say that all the pieces are better than what’s being replaced.

Slowly and steadily the Red Wings are getting there. But even after this summer, it’s more than likely that they still aren’t there yet. A little more patience is required.

Continued; a lot of things are going to have to develop correctly for the Red Wings to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference’s best division this upcoming season, from the goaltending sorting itself out to better special teams play and the team avoiding the worst of the injury but…

But it’s possible, maybe realistically possible for the first time in a long time, and that’s exciting.