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:
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.
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
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 the
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.