The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe suggests that 10 teams need to start very well this upcoming season, lest things go south, and McIndoe includes the Detroit Red Wings on his list:

Detroit Red Wings

The starting point: After missing the playoffs for a tenth straight year, the Red Wings embarked on the league’s most bizarre offseason. Dylan Larkin demanded a trade, Steve Yzerman held his ground, and then Yzerman was fired and replaced by … look, they’re working on it. But with Simon Edvinsson still unsigned and Alex DeBrincat needing an extension, the Wings front office looks like a ship without a rudder. And fans around the league are gleefully lining up to kick the team while it’s down.

If they start poorly: Blow it up. Blow it all up. This team is hopeless, and the GM should trade everyone over the age of 25. You know, after they get around to finding an actual GM. But yeah, definitely get Larkin out of here for whatever you can, because that’s a better option than putting him in the lineup to get torn to shreds by the home crowd.

If they start well: We all remember that this is a young team that had 92 points last year. And we start wondering what kind of Larkin boost they might be about to get — either from a trade, or from the former captain himself returning to the lineup with the mother of all chips on his shoulder.

Early schedule: Not bad. None of their first four opponents won a postseason game last year, and they make it all the way to November before they face playoff teams in back-to-back games. They’re also at home for seven of the first eight, which should be good for everything other than Larkin’s ego.

Continued (paywall)