Bleacher Report offers a pair of NHL articles with Red Wings-related note this morning.
First, Adam Gretz issues “final grades” for NHL teams‘ offseason moves…
Detroit Red Wings: The 2023-24 Red Wings were a very good offensive team that was simultaneously objectively bad on defense, where they needed help on the blue line and in goal.
The 2024-25 Red Wings are setting themselves up to look the exact same way.
While there is reason to expect some regression from their offense, which prompted the need to bring back Patrick Kane and sign Vladimir Tarasenko, they still didn’t do much of anything to address their goal-prevention problem.
Jake Walman was traded to San Jose in a salary dump trade, and the big hope on defense is going to be that top prospect Simon Edvinsson can step in and make an impact. He’d better, because this defense is paper thin once you get beyond him and Moritz Seider.
Getting core players Lucas Raymond and Seider signed long-term was a necessary bit of business, and the Red Wings did well getting each of them under $8.6 million per season.
Still, not doing more to address the defense or find a better goalie than Cam Talbot is a potentially huge problem.
Grade: C+
(yadda yadda yadda)
And Lyle Fitzsimmons offers the Stanley Cup-winning odds for each team:
17. (tie) Detroit Red Wings, +4000
It won’t yield a Cup and may not even end an eight-season playoff drought, but the Red Wings have gotten a look at the future with the impressions made by Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson, who combined for five points in their first five preseason games.
