Coming into this season, I had an elevated expectation for this Red Wings team. I thought they were in a position to compete for a wild card spot and to be fair – they did for like, a week. Maybe.
Obviously that didn’t work out and the rebuild is still ongoing. It’s going to be a pivotal offseason for Steve Yzerman for a few reasons – mainly goaltending and an injection of young talent. Here are three questions that I can’t stop asking myself as we brace for another active summer.
What will they do to address goaltending?
We all learned that Steve Yzerman has himself a starting-caliber goaltender in Ville Husso. That’s a step in the right direction, but let’s be real – Husso is not Andrei Vasilevkiy. So when the team had to use him like he was, things went south.
Much has been made about Husso's workload and I think it's fair to question whether or not the workload got to him as his play dropped off substantially as the season progressed pic.twitter.com/8d2VLqfiH2
— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) April 12, 2023
Get the guy a solid backup. I think Detroit should move on from both Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg and target another netminder or two in free agency. Adin Hill seems like a good fit.
Keep in mind, next season is going to be a big one for Sebastian Cossa. He played lights out in the ECHL when he found his footing. The team needs him to take a step forward. I’d like to see him fulltime in Grand Rapids.
Who’s gonna stay and who’s gonna go?
It sure is a good thing that Steve Yzerman got Dylan Larkin’s extension taken care of during the regular season. Think about it – what if we were going into the offseason with the front office and a franchise player in a standoff? Woof.
Thankfully, that isn’t the case. There are a few pending UFA/RFA to think about, though. Joe Veleno will no doubt get some sort of bridge deal and I’d be willing to give Matt Luff a new contract as well. Luff showed late in the season that he can make an impact in a bottom-six role. Gustav Lindstrom is another RFA that will likely get a new deal. You’ve got a few guys in Grand Rapids who are also pending RFA. Would expect them all to be tendered. The pending UFAs are Alex Chiasson, Adam Erne, Pius Suter, Jordan Oesterle and Robert Hagg. I guess Mark Pysyk, too. No one asked, but my opinion is to move on from every UFA not named Pius Suter (depending on what kind of contract he’s looking for).
This upcoming field of NHL UFAs aren’t exactly the sexiest. Maybe one or two minor signings but Steve Yzerman finds himself at a crossroad. The fruits of his work in past NHL Drafts are hitting the pro-hockey pipeline. Marco Kasper, Carter Mazur, William Wallinder, Simon Edvinsson, Elmer Soderblom, Amadeus Lombardi – the list just keeps getting bigger. I think we’re going to be seeing a very young roster sooner rather than later – in both Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Speaking of Grand Rapids, that brings me to my next burning question.
Is it time for a change behind the Griffins bench?
I’ve been thinking about this one for a while. The Griffins finished dead last in their conference. Team captain Brian Lashoff is retiring and with Yzerman’s prospect pipeline finally starting to feed into the AHL, it may be best for the Griffins to move on from Ben Simon. To be fair to Simon, the goaltending sucked out loud this season. Still, I think a change is necessary.
Who should they hire as Simon’s replacement? I only have one name in mind and that’s Pat Ferschweiler. He’s built an amazing program at Western Michigan University and is familiar with the Red Wings and Griffins: He served as an assistant coach for both. This is speculation on my part; I don’t know if WMU wants to lose Ferschweiler – he’s morphed it into a “hockey school.” Go check out a game at Lawson Arena some time. You’ll see what I mean.
It’s going to be a big draft for Yzerman. He’s got another truck load of first and second round picks. That’s going to be something to watch. He has the firepower to pull off a “trade up” scenario. I wouldn’t get your hopes up about Connor Bedard. The team who gets the first pick would be stupid to trade it. The Wings have a 5% chance of winning the lottery.
The 2023 NHL Draft Lottery will be held on May 8 at 7pm. Who knows…. Maybe we get lucky for once.
