ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski issues “bold predictions” for every NHL team this morning, and he’s not bullish on the Red Wings’ chances of making a playoff spot to say the least:
Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings hit reverse in Motor City
Last season, the Red Wings pushed right to the end for a playoff spot, thanks to the NHL’s ninth best offense (3.35 goals per game) overcoming the ninth worst defense (3.33).
Goaltending woes received some of the blame for the latter, and GM Steve Yzerman turned to 37-year-old Cam Talbot to help solidify that spot. He joins no fewer than five goaltenders trying to stake a claim on NHL playing time in training camp. I believe it was the great John Madden — the football guy, not the former NHL center — who was credited with saying that “if you’ve got two quarterbacks, you’ve got none.”
But in reality, their goaltending (17th in save percentage) wasn’t the problem that their 5-on-5 defense (22nd in expected goals against) was last season. The Red Wings have to prove they can defend well enough to earn a playoff spot. I’m not confident they will, nor am I confident that they’re going to post another 12.1% shooting percentage.
Continued (paywall); again, the Red Wings will simply have to prove the media corps wrong, because we’re going to continue hearing “the Red Wings will be worse this year!” by prognosticators and predictors this fall.
Speaking of which, before I hit “publish,” I spotted this Bleacher Report “roundtable” of “hot takes” regarding the upcoming season:
The ‘Yzerplan’ Fails to Get the Red Wings to Playoffs Again
The Detroit Red Wings haven’t reached the playoffs since 2016. Unfortunately for Hockeytown, that streak is going to continue after this season.
On the surface, the Wings would have everything you want in an up-and-coming team. Lucas Raymond, who just signed an eight-year extension, is a star in the making and led Detroit in scoring last season with 72 points. Moritz Seider signed a seven-year extension and could be the bedrock on the blue line the Red Wings have desperately needed ever since Nicklas Lidstrom hung up his skates.
But then you take a deeper look and you find a somewhat unbalanced roster with weak goaltending, overpaid depth players and reliance on veteran forwards who have seen better days in the past. No offense to Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, but they can’t be top-line forwards for you in a playoff charge with both men in the mid-to-late 30s.
The biggest glaring issue is the goaltending, with the three-headed monster of Ville Husso, Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon all better suited to be backups at this point in their careers. Talbot had the best numbers of the trio last season – a 2.50 goals against average and a .913 save percentage – but at the age of 39, it’s asking a lot to carry the load this season.
Things could change on the roster later this season. But until they do, expect Detroit to miss out on the postseason again.
– Lucky Ngamwajasat
Continued; One Cameron Talbot is 37, “he’s not old” to quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
In all seriousness, yes, the Red Wings need to sort out their goaltending, but I’m not believing the hype.
