Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz has posted yet another midsummer list, discussing “5 teams that are still a mess,” and, not surprisingly, he lists the Red Wings among the “messes”:
Detroit Red Wings: It’s not that the Detroit Red Wings are a bad team, but they’re not a particularly good team. And they don’t seem to be willing to make any major strides toward becoming a particularly good team.
Their playoff drought is closing in on a decade, and six of those seasons so far have been under the watchful eye of general manager Steve Yzerman.
While he has made some big moves in recent years, not all of them have panned out as hoped and the roster remains stuck in neutral.
After the season, team captain Dylan Larkin said the locker room was a little hurt that more wasn’t done at the trade deadline to improve the roster, which was the first sign that some frustration might be growing with the lack of progress.
So what did Yzerman and the Red Wings do in the offseason?
Salary-dumped Vladimir Tarasenko. Re-signed Patrick Kane. Signed James van Riemsdyk. Acquired John Gibson.
Is that going to be enough to make up the gap between them and the Eastern Conference playoff teams? Or them and the serious contenders?
Not likely.
They do still have $12 million in unused salary-cap space, so there is time for a meaningful trade to improve things. But they have to actually complete one.
As of now, this is still a mess of mediocrity.
Continued; I’d describe the Red Wings as an unfinished picture, not “a mess.” It’s clear that the Red Wings need to add another top-six forward and another top-four defenseman via trade, there’s no doubt about that.
But the split with Tarasenko was more about “fit” than it was about money, JvR and Mason Appleton are, a the very least, big improvements upon Tyler Motte and Craig Smith, Jacob Bernard-Docker is a wild card in terms of his potential to take a 3rd-pair spot, if John Gibson is healthy, he’s going to help the goaltending, and I have no complaints about a roster that runs a little lean and puts more emphasis on depending on prospects to fill in gaps in the lineup.
Is that going to be enough to pass Montreal and Ottawa? I really don’t know, because I don’t believe that Steve Yzerman or the Red Wings’ management team are done making meaningful changes to the roster.
Would I call the Wings a mess? Meh. They’re a team still in progress of being built for the 2025-2026 season, which might be a little rough around the edges, but it’s July 16th. A little messy is okay on July 16th.
