I don’t think that many Red Wings fans would suggest that the additions of James van Riemsdyk, Mason Appleton, Jacob Bernard-Docker and John Gibson suddenly make the Red Wings Stanley Cup contenders.
The Red Wings’ management has done OK in terms of shoring up some deficiencies in the bottom six forwards, and, we believe, it’s addressed the team’s goaltending questions in Gibson.
All of that being said, the Wings’ management team is probably going to have to make a summertime trade or two to truly address the team’s need for one more top-six forward and top-four defenseman.
Not surprisingly, the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau deems the Red Wings to be a free agency “loser” this evening:
Detroit Red Wings: Like the Blackhawks, the Red Wings are an Original Six franchise who have seen better days. Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has been preaching patience with his lineup, but Wings fans are starting to grow tired of seeing him kick the competitive can down the road. And very few moves he’s made in the past few days qualify as legitimate roster improvements.
Yzerman did trade for former Anaheim Ducks star goalie John Gibson, so there’s an upgrade in net. But otherwise, Detroit has only retained aging star winger Patrick Kane, and signed veteran winger James van Riemsdyk and fringe defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. This is hardly the stuff of Grade-A acquisitions.
Even if Yzerman’s gamble on internal improvement comes to pass, the Red Wings don’t have the elite talent to compete with other Atlantic teams. So you can’t say they’ve been anything other than losers through the first couple days of free agency.
Continued; I’m not gonna bash 36-year-old Patrick Kane for posting a point per game under coach Todd McLellan, at the very least.
I think that it’s hard to be a free agency “winner” when the free agent class is so thin, and you’re just not a “destination team” despite your big-market status. I’d give the Wings a solid “C” in free agency. But I think that’s more of a neutral grade than a suggestion that the Wings have completely failed to address their needs through free agency and trades.
I hope there’s more to come, and that’s an optimistic tone, I know, but I’ve got to hope.
