The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau predicts the order in which the NHL’s Atlantic Division teams will finish this upcoming season, and he’s predicting that the Red Wings will finish 7th, behind the Boston Bruins:
Why they’re picked in this position: We don’t believe the Red Wings will be closer to the bottom of the Atlantic than the fourth or fifth spot in the division, but the truth is, many of the moves Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has made in the off-season don’t strike us as being moves that can push them back into the post-season for the first time since 2015-16.
In particular, the free-agent signings of Compher, Holl, Petry and Reimer aren’t needle-movers in a positive sense. We do like the acquisitions of DeBrincat, Sprong, Fischer and Gostisbehere, but there’s so much competition in the division and only four or five playoff spots to be had. The question becomes, which team above Detroit in last season’s standings will be worse than them this year? The answer to that is not many at all.
We don’t want to count out the Wings altogether – if starting goalie Ville Husso posts a strong season, Detroit could nip at the heels of teams like the Sabres, Senators and Bruins and squeeze out a playoff berth. However, Detroit doesn’t have enough generational talents to keep up with the Joneses in the Atlantic, and that may prove to be the reason why they wind up on the outside of the playoff picture this year.
Should that prove to be their fate, Yzerman will be facing heavy criticism for the first time in his tenure as the Wings’ GM. But that’s what’s going to happen to an organization that, for years and years, was the gold standard for being a playoff team and a genuine Cup threat. Detroit’s players need to justify Yzerman’s investment in them, or more consequential moves could be made next summer.
Continued; we shall find out whether the Red Wings are able to battle their way up the Atlantic Division standings shortly.
