The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan offers a “midsummer breakdown” of the Atlantic Division’s 8 teams this morning, and he suggests that the Red Wings’ trade for John Gibson won’t be enough (on its own) to push the Red Wings past the Ottawa Senators or Montreal Canadiens:
▶ Detroit, 39-35-8, 86 points:
Pros: The Wings appear to finally have solidified their goaltending with the acquisition of Gibson. The tandem of Gibson and Cam Talbot could be formidable. Gibson should be motivated after the way he lost his job in Anaheim and, if healthy, will make the Wings better.
Cons: The Gibson acquisition is big, but otherwise this largely still looks like a similar lineup to last season. Internal growth will be vital for the Wings. Projection: Sixth, no playoffs.
Continued; I’ve been thinking more and more over the past couple of days that the Gibson trade and the signings of Jacob Bernard-Docker, Mason Appleton [edit: and James van Riemsdyk] might be all the Wings do this summer…
And if that’s the case, the Red Wings are really going to lean upon internal improvement in order to hop over the Senators and Habs into a Wild Card spot. That’s skating steeply uphill for the Wings.
While I believe in the Wings’ roster, it’s hard to see them managing to leapfrog their divisional rivals unless everything goes right for the team this upcoming season.
So I’m crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that the Wings can swing an August trade and/or sign a couple of older players to Pro Try-Outs (see: yesterday’s discussion of Max Pacioretty’s fit) who can meaningfully help bolster the Wings’ bottom six or 2nd defensive pairing.
We’ll see. Training camp is a month-and-a-half away, and it feels like the clock is ticking, even though that’s an artificial construct.
I have seen people — including Max Bultman over at the Athletic — suggest that JVR slots into the top line. There’s a certain logic there, as he’s a big body who can do some of the “net front” dirty work needed to complement Raymond and Larkin. But… does this scare anyone? Is anyone shaking in their skate-boots wondering how they’ll shut down the Wings’ offense, featuring JVR on the top line? No. I mean, it might even work, it might be fine, but it’s just not a lineup that screams “playoffs.”
And that’s how I feel about the Wings’ offseason moves. Until one of the kids makes a leap and cracks the top six to join Kasper, or SY makes a “level-up” acquisition — it would have to be via trade at this point — the needle hasn’t moved nearly enough to justify hope that they’ve taken the next step.
That’s a very fair assessment. I am *hoping* that the Wings still make another trade or two to address their top-six forward corps and top-four defense before next season’s trade deadline.