The Hockey News’s Adam Proteau names the Red Wings as one of three teams whose rosters have not improved enough to make the playoffs:
The first such team is the Detroit Red Wings, who posted a 35-37-10 record last season and finished seventh overall in the Atlantic Division. Wings GM Steve Yzerman added skill and grit to his lineup, most notably with forwards Alex DeBrincat, J.T., Compher, Christian Fischer and Daniel Sprong, defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl and Jeff Petry, and goalie James Reimer.
When you look at the other Atlantic playoff contenders – Buffalo, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Florida, Toronto and Boston – can you say the Wings have the high-end quality of talent that its opponents do? Stranger things have happened, but on the whole, the answer to that question is “no.”
The Red Wings need all the stars to line up perfectly to be a post-season team in 2023-24. As we all know, very rarely do all the stars line up perfectly for any team. A fifth- or sixth-place finish is in the cards for them, and that won’t please long-suffering Wings fans, but that’s the sense many NHL observers have for them.
Continued; I’m with coach Lalonde here. Bah, humbug.
