A 13-13-4 record and only three points above dead last in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Red Wings are at the breaking point. Injuries are an excuse and coaching has been questionable at best. We were told the offseason moves were to remain a playoff team, but this is no playoff team. Not when there doesn’t appear to be a solid structure game in and game out. The upcoming stretch could be brutal for Detroit, and will make or break the season. That is, if you’re not in the club that already believes the season is lost. The stretch in the next month between a 7 game road trip, coming home to play Pittsburgh, Montreal and Boston and having 10 of 11 on the road is brutal.
The defense has obvious holes that have been neglected for years and as expected are struggling. The offense, also struggling, even more so and is 27th in the NHL scoring just 2.23 goals per game and averaging 28.4 shots per game 26 out of 30 in the NHL.
Yes, Thomas Vanek has missed some time this season and has been one of the few bright spots. However, It’s about results. Riley Sheahan has no goals and has played all 30 games. Obviously Sheahan is not a goal scorer or the lone problem, but at some point (and it should have happened), shouldn’t he have been scratched even if to send a message to him that he needs to produce, something?
It comes down to results. When we look at the goals scored through 30 games, not one Red Wing has ten goals. Larkin leads the way with nine. They need more from Frans Nielsen and Henrik Zetterberg who have six goals. More is needed from Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist who only have four goals. Despite what anything else may say, it’s time for results in goals.
Someone has the opportunity, besides Vanek to step up and be a bigger difference maker. It hasn’t happened.
New Front Office Strategy Is Imperative
The Wings have $9 million per year tied up with Jonathan Ericsson and Niklas Kronwall. In a cap world this is a problem. To take it a step further Darren Helm and Nielsen combine for $9.1 million. Those four players take up $18.1 million a season. You can swap in and out several players, that need to be better that combined take up a huge chunk of cap space.
The Wings are boxed in cap-wise so much, that if a team wanted to trade a top defenseman for prospects and a 1st round pick to Detroit it’s an impossible deal to make. The Wings have too much money tied up in mediocre players.
Successful teams are doing the opposite of Detroit, they are for example, telling the Drew Miller’s and Helm’s of the world “thanks but no thanks” while using those dollars in a more useful way.
The projected cap space as of today for next season, depending on if the salary cap will rise or fall is $3,917,121 with 17 players under contract according to cap friendly. Vanek, Tatar, and Brendan Smith are the three notable names whose contracts are up at the end of the season.
Decision Time Looms
One of our great editors Kyle, has written about moving certain pieces via trade. For an organization that seems to only care about making the playoffs because of the streak and not about what is best for the long term success, will pride prevent the right decisions yet again?
It’s time for the Detroit Red Wings to become sellers and look toward the long term future of the franchise.
General Manager Ken Holland, ownership and head coach Jeff Blashill need to rethink retooling on the fly. It’s simply not working and is making the team worse. For example no matter what, you cannot afford Thomas Vanek next season; create a bidding war and move him to a legit contender, set the asking price high; a good young roster player, a good prospect plus a draft pick.
This is a downward trend years in the making. I can’t see any light ahead for the Red Wings if they keep doing what is simply not working. There have been many questionable decisions by Jeff Blashill, which is a subject for another article all by itself.
Make anyone 30 and up available, along with all pending unrestricted free agents (Nielsen has a no movement clause), including Brendan Smith. The problem is most of the wings players 30 and up are nearly impossible to move because of their contracts. Regardless of that the Red Wings should be thinking like sellers, no matter what happens between now and the trade deadline.
The next month will tell us a lot, does this team have it in them to surprise us and come out looking good by mid-January? What is the breaking point to get the franchise to change its ways? We will find out together, but whatever happens hopefully change comes soon.
Even if the team managed to get the last wild card spot. What would realistically happen, another first round loss, which put us right back in the same place next season. It’s time to stop delaying the inevitable.
