Month: October 2024

Bleh. The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman preview the Red Wings this morning, and they’re predicting that a team that earned 91 points this past season will earn 80.9 points…As well as predicting that the Red Wings are going to be an “also-ran” for some time to come:

Here’s what they say about Luszczyszyn’s “model,” which predicts that the Wings have an 8% chance of making the playoffs…

We admit, this does feel low for the Red Wings. Detroit had a respectable 91 points last season and looks poised to finally take the next step — but the model isn’t quite convinced this team is legit. At least not as currently constructed.

At 80.9 points, the team’s forecast is actually below where they were to start last season (85 points) which may surprise some. That’s a byproduct of uninspiring underlying numbers last season (weaker overall than the year prior when Detroit earned just 80 points) and a tepid offseason that saw the team arguably get worse.

Perhaps the core can take a massive leap or a prospect will surprise, but the Red Wings still have a lot of holes that have been filled rather poorly via free agency — especially on defense. With the rest of the East looking a lot better, this may be a season primed for disappointment.

Then there’s some bagging on Raymond and Seider’s statuses as ranked by the Luszczyszyn/Gentille/Goldman player tiers, which were quite hard on a “fringe star player” and a middling defenseman given his hard minutes, respectively…

So their bottom line comes down to defense, and Seider, specifically:

Continue reading The Athletic’s ‘model’ predicts an 80.9-point performance from the Wings this season

The Red Wings’ special teams were pretty mediocre over the course of Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the Wings going 1-for-6 on the PP, surrendering a power play goal against and a shorthanded goal against.

As such, MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the special teams issue this morning, suggesting that repetition will probably solve what ails the power play:

“(The power play) needs its reps,” Derek Lalonde, who coached in the home game, said. “Their penalty kill played a little more pace than our power play. I didn’t hate our five-on-five. Again, talk about reps. Our inability to hit the net. A little credit to them to block shots, but it’s exactly why you have exhibition games. They need reps for the guys.”

A team consisting mainly of prospects and AHL players will play at Pittsburgh on Tuesday (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit), before the Red Wings close out the preseason with three games in three nights Thursday through Saturday.

Lucas Raymond’s power-play goal, on his team’s fifth opportunity, cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 at 9:31 of the second. It was his second goal in as many preseason games.

The Red Wings lost some key contributors on a power play that ranked ninth last season – point man Shayne Gostisbehere and forwards David Perron, Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong. Two of their replacements, winger Vladimir Tarasenko and point man Erik Gustafsson, played on Monday.

“I think we have a lot of skillful players who make good plays and can finish as well,” Raymond said. “I think it’s about getting on the same page, moving the puck well and taking the shots and create opportunities from there. I think when we got the best chances tonight is from retrieval. It’s not always the prettiest, but retrieve the puck well in a quick attack, and I think that leads to a lot of good stuff.”

Continued; the Red Wings need to simplify their power plays a bit. Less passing on the perimeter, more shots on goal from high-danger areas, and better rebound retrieval–the fundamentals of good power play habits–will solve the issues pretty quick, regardless of personnel.

You don’t often lose twice in the same period of time, but the Red Wings managed to do just that on Monday night, with their “split squad” dropping a 5-1 decision to Pittsburgh at Little Caesars Arena, all while the “Wiffins” lost a 4-3 OT decision to the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo.

Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Red Wings as tomorrow night’s rematch in Pittsburgh will include a star-studded Penguins lineup, and, after a day off on Wednesday, the Wings host Ottawa on Thursday, host Toronto on Friday, and head to Toronto to battle the Leafs on Saturday.

That’s a whole lot of hockey to play over the course of the balance of this week, even if you’re able to dress two different rosters.

Anyway, the story at Little Caesars Arena was the one that the Wings’ media corps followed for the most part. As MLive’s Ansar Khan noted, the Wings kind of blew their special teams advantage, going 1-for-6 on the power play, surrendering a power play goal against, and surrendering a shorthanded marker as well:

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins and Red Wings-Sabres wrap-ups: pressure mounts after the Wings go 0-1-and-1 vs. Pittsburgh, in Buffalo