The Athletic posted an Atlantic Division preview this morning, and Max Bultman weighed in as to which players left, which players joined the fray, and he offers reasons for optimism and reasons for concern as the 2023-2024 season approaches:
Reason for optimism: Did you see all those new names? The Red Wings turned over nearly 40 percent of their roster and addressed some huge needs in the process. The most glaring need entering the summer was for a scorer, and they got one of the league’s most dangerous in DeBrincat, plus a 2022-23 breakout story in Daniel Sprong. They needed to improve their blue line, and they made a significant investment there as well, trading for Petry and signing a bona fide power-play QB in Gostisbehere and a minute-eater in Holl. Compher gives them a deep center group and a much-needed right-handed option on draws, and he, Kostin and Fischer should make them tougher to play against. DeBrincat is the big one, and he’ll naturally grab the headlines, but the real story of Detroit’s offseason is how much deeper the team could be.
Reason for concern: There are a few. First, while the Red Wings got deeper, they still may not have the top-end stars to really threaten in a division teeming with them. To stack up, they’ll need continued steps forward from young standouts Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond plus likely a surprise or two. Second — and relatedly — DeBrincat (and Sprong) alone likely won’t be a total cure for Detroit’s scoring shortage. This was a bottom-10 scoring team in the league last season, which leaves a lot of ground to make up. And then there’s the goaltending: Ville Husso was very good for long stretches of last season, but his final line — an .896 save percentage and a 3.11 goals-against average — left a lot to be desired. The best explanation is fatigue, as Husso’s play noticeably dropped as a heavy 56-game workload piled up, but the Red Wings will likely count on him for at least 50 starts again, and they’ll need him to hold up better this time around.
Bold prediction: Raymond breaks out for 30 goals and 70 points. After Raymond’s dazzling rookie season, when he had 23 goals and 57 points, predicting this kind of output in Year 3 hardly would have seemed bold. But that was before a classic “sophomore slump” last season, when he finished with 17 goals and 45 points. The bet here, though, is Raymond bounces back in a big way, putting it all together and becoming the top-line threat the Red Wings so badly need him to be.
Continued (paywall); The Athletic’s beat writers still believe that the Wings will finish seventh out of the Atlantic’s eight teams.
