With the NHL regular season right around the corner, TSN.ca profiles each team leading up to puck drop. Next up are the Detroit Red Wings, who fought tooth and nail to make the playoffs last season and look to continue their lengthy run of post-season appearances. Catch up on their summer moves and the issues they face this season, as well as Craig Button's analysis of their top prospect and an analytical breakdown by TSN's Scott Cullen.

Division: Atlantic GM: Ken Holland Head Coach: Mike Babcock

2013-14: 39-28-15 (4th in Atlantic) Playoffs: Lost in First Round

Goals For: 217 (16th) Goals Against: 221 (16th) PP: 17.7% (18th) PK: 83.0% (12th)

That Was Then:

Detroit Red Wings CelebrateDetroit's first taste of the Eastern Conference last season produced a mixed bag of results and ended in a battle for playoff survival. The Red Wings were decimated by injuries to stars and supporting players alike. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk both missed 37 games, Johan Franzen missed 28, Darren Helm sat out 40 and free agent signing Stephen Weiss played in only 26 before missing the rest of the season with groin issues.

The Wings were in serious danger of having their streak of 22 consecutive playoff appearances end. But head coach Mike Babcock was still able to lead his remaining players to 93 points and the second wild card playoff berth in the East. Detroit was easily eliminated by the East-leading Bruins in the first round, as Boston held the Red Wings to just six goals and ousted them in five games.

In the absence of its biggest stars, the club was led in regular season points by Daniel Alfredsson and Niklas Kronwall. Jimmy Howard played the majority of games in net and went 21-19-11 with a .910 save percentage and two shutouts.

 

Scott Cullen's Analytics

 

Red Wings 2013-14 Stats by Quarter

 
Games GPG GAA SH% SV% SAF% PTS%
1-20 2.60 2.60 7.1% .922 50.5% .600
21-41 2.86 2.95 9.2% .908 52.8% .500
42-62 2.95 2.67 7.8% .934 50.8% .571
63-82 3.00 3.00 9.6% .916 52.4% .600
NHL AVG 2.67 2.67 7.8 .922 50.0% .562
 

Key: GPG= goals per game, GAA= goals-against per game, SH%= even-strength shooting percentage, SV%= even-strength save percentage, SAF%= score-adjusted Fenwick percentage (differential of shot attempts faced vs. shot attempts, excluding blocked shots, adjusted for game score), PTS%= percentage of available points.

Analysis:

Games 1-20: A very mediocre start to the season, but three OT and three shootout losses helped in the standings.

Games 21-41: Even as possession and shooting improved, goaltending dip left Wings at break-even.

Games 42-62: Goaltending rebounded, keeping otherwise average Wings in the playoff hunt.

Games 63-82: Scoring burst, led by Nyquist and Tatar, lifted the Wings into the postseason.

Key 2014 Additions: C Kevin Porter

Key 2014 Subtractions: RW Daniel Alfredsson, C David Legwand, RW Mikael Samuelsson, RW Jordin Tootoo

This Is Now: 

General manager Ken Holland didn't do much shopping over the summer. But if he has a healthy group this time around, the Red Wings should be competitive.

Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Weiss are all expected to be healthy to start the year. The next generation of Red Wings regulars are coming on strong, with Gustav Nyquist (28 goals, 20 assists last season) and Tomas Tatar (19 goals, 20 assists) up front and a blue line maturing with Danny DeKeyser and Brendan Smith.

Mike Babcock"You can have a wish list in the summer and a wish list in training camp, but really as a coach, whatever they give you, you get," Babcock told NHL.com over the summer. "If you start hoping and wishing for any more than that, that's just not realistic."

That said, Babcock still knows where his allegiances lie with his veterans getting healthy and back into the lineup.

"We used to say in training camp, and I'd say it every year, 'The tie goes to the veteran,'" Babcock said. "Maybe the tie still goes to the veteran, but we've shown, and we did it last year, you're allowed to take guys' jobs and the best players are going to play."

Gone is Legwand, who signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Ottawa Senators. Alfredsson is also unrestricted and could return to the Red Wings if he overcomes the back issues that hampered him at the end of last season.

 

DEPTH CHART

 

Forwards

Left Wing Centre Right Wing
Darren Helm Pavel Datsyuk Johan Franzen
Tomas Tatar Henrik Zetterberg Gustav Nyquist
Justin Abdelkader Riley Sheahan Tomas Jurco
Drew Miller Stephen Weiss Dan Cleary
Joakim Andersson Luke Glendening Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou Kevin Porter Teemu Pulkkinen

Defence

     Left Right     
  Niklas Kronwall Jonathan Ericsson  
  Danny DeKeyser Kyle Quincey  
  Brendan Smith Jakub Kindl  
  Brian Lashoff Ryan Sproul  
  Xavier Ouellet Alexey Marchenko  

Goaltenders

 
                                                                     Jimmy Howard
                                                                      Jonas Gustavsson
                                                                      Petr Mrazek

Craig's List

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button's Top Prospect: Anthony Mantha 

Anthony ManthaAnthony Mantha adds elite scoring ability to the Wings and was given a good shot at doing it in the NHL this season before a fractured tibia sidelined him. Mantha can score in all manner of ways; from forty feet with a shot or from five feet around net with a deft touch in tight.

He recognizes opportunity, moves to scoring position quickly and has a release that doesn't allow goaltenders to get themselves properly set. He is the type of scorer who needs just one opportunity to make good on it.

Because of his scoring instincts he gets multiple opportunities over the course of the game and that is a boon to any team offence.

Fantasy - Cullen's Player to Watch - Tomas Tatar

While the spotlight was brightest on Gustav Nyquist last season, Tatar's development was also crucial to the Red Wings reaching the postseason. He was playing a little over 13 minutes per game for the first couple months of the season, but as injuries hit theTomas Tatar Wings' lineup, Tatar was handed more opportunities and he responded with 19 goals and 39 points in 73 games, giving him 47 points in 100 career NHL games.

With more ice time, and perhaps the chance to play with highly-skilled veterans on the Wings' roster, Tatar should continue to develop as an offensive contributor in Detroit.