Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz grades every NHL team’s “Stanley Cup chances” as training camps begin today, and he gives the Red Wings a surprisingly positive grade:
Detroit Red Wings: C
So far it’s been another underwhelming offseason for Steve Yzerman and the Yzerplan, continuing a rather underwhelming tenure.
The Red Wings have remained in the NHL’s no-man’s land where they are not quite good enough to make the playoffs, not quite bad enough to be a top lottery team and not quite interesting enough to make people pay attention to them.
There is still a promising collection of young talent here and a nice prospect pool, but they need to start getting some return on it. They also have more than $11 million in salary cap space, which is baffling to look at when you realize how long this team has been outside of the playoffs and how many holes it still has.
The playoffs can be within reach, and should be within reach, but they need some more help before they can get there.
Continued; top-six forward, top-four defenseman wanted. Apply within, before the 2025-2026 trade deadline.
As for the rest of it, I don’t mind the Red Wings running a little leaner in terms of depth this season, because it means that we’ve got a better chance of seeing young players cracking the roster.
