Two things: on lower-tier Wings and Ville Husso facing pressure

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Score’s John Matisz ranks the Red Wings as a team that will not quite make the playoffs this upcoming season in his “Bottom 16” rankings:

Detroit Red Wings

A high-level recap of the Red Wings’ offseason: David Perron, Shayne Gostisbehere, Walman, Robby Fabbri, Daniel Sprong, and James Reimer are out. Vladimir Tarasenko, Erik Gustafsson, Tyler Motte, and Cam Talbot are in. Patrick Kane re-upped. Restricted free agents Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider remain unsigned but should be extended soon.

Despite all the action, Detroit still lacks a weapon or two up front; its goaltending is still nothing special, though slightly improved; and its blue line still has only three top-four defensemen. The Red Wings are decisively mid.

Florida, Toronto, Boston, and Tampa Bay will battle for the Atlantic Division’s three playoff spots, with the loser grabbing a wild card. That leaves Detroit to jostle with Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, and a couple of Metropolitan teams for the other wild card. It won’t be a massive surprise if the Red Wings take it, but several other teams have higher upside.

It will be a massive surprise if the Red Wings aren’t written off by everyone this September and October. They’ve got to earn their respect.

2. Daily Faceoff’s Shane Seney discusses Eastern Conference players “under pressure” this upcoming season, and he zeroes his sights in on Ville Husso:

Ville Husso, Detroit Red Wings
Age: 29
23-24 Stats: 19 GP, 9-5-2, 3.55 GAA, .892 Sv.%,
Contract: One year remaining, $4.75 million AAV

Husso battled a slew of lower-body injuries last season and couldn’t stay in the lineup. With just one season left on his deal and with expectations that haven’t been sniffed in Motown, the clock is ticking. It’s become quite obvious Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman wants his team to take the next step as he’s added a number of veterans this offseason. Yzerman also wasn’t happy with his goaltending depth and reshaped it, bringing in Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell. They’ll join Alex Lyon and Husso in the battle for minutes and if Husso doesn’t prove throughout the preseason he’s capable of consistent production, he could quickly become the third option and a complete afterthought in Detroit. Lyon is probably the favorite for the backup job right now.

I’m loath to make predictions as to goaltending hierarchies when the Red Wings have an 8-games-in-12-nights exhibition schedule. Injuries and impact over the course of minimal playing time will help sort out the pecking order, and then the first 10-15 games will probably sort things out.

Make it “three things,” because Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz offers a tired, old reason “why your team won’t win the Stanley Cup“:

Detroit Red Wings: Defense is not good enough

The Red Wings have not made the playoffs in eight years, but they finally showed some progress in 2023-24 by coming closer than they have since their last appearance in 2015-16.

They lost out on a tiebreaker for the second wild-card spot, wasting what was one of the best offensive performances in the league.

The reason they fell just short? They did not defend well enough, finishing 24th in the league in goals against.

They did not do much to address those defensive shortcomings this offseason, and they may have actually made their blue line worse by trading Jake Walman to San Jose in a salary-dump trade.

Top prospect Simon Edvinsson should be ready to make an impact and Moritz Seider is a tremendous young player, but those two guys alone are not going to be enough to make up for the shortcomings elsewhere defensively.