The Detroit Red Wings entered the 2023-2024 regular season with a revamped lineup and slight hopes of making a push into the playoffs for the first time since the Henrik Zetterberg years. They fell short of that, obviously, but depending on who you ask — the team largely exceeded expectations in the meat-grinder that is the Atlantic Division.
Today, I’m giving you my “roses and thorns” from the season that was. It’s simple — roses are good, thorns are bad. Everyone has different opinions on what went well and what went wrong this season, so please drop yours in the comments section and let’s chat about it. Now, let’s start with the ugly.
The Thorns
Defense
This is the biggest one perhaps, no? Detroit was a top-10 team in terms of goals against, with 273 total — one less than the Arizona Coyotes and six more than the Calgary Flames. We can sit here and dissect each player, but it ultimately boils down to a couple of players who simply did not belong on this roster. Those names include Jeff Petry, Justin Holl, and perhaps others depending on your opinion. Petry played 73 games and averaged 18:48 of ice time. His play doesn’t need much expectation – slow, lumbering “puck-moving” veteran who was always noticeable when he was on the ice — and not in a good way. Petry, 36, has one year left on his deal with a cap hit of around $2.34 million. It was never a good signing for Steve Yzerman, and when you consider that Petry has a modified no-trade clause and a no-move clause baked into his contract, it makes it just a little bit worse for fans to digest.
Meanwhile, Justin Holl, who signed a three-year deal worth $10.2 million last offseason, fell far short of the small expectations he had as a depth defenseman. Holl played 38 games – that’s a pretty expensive benchwarmer for any team. In hindsight, Yzerman was better off picking one of Holl or Petry in the depth rotation while Simon Edvinsson would take full-time duty. You probably don’t even need hindsight to make that conclusion. Many of us, including me, would have rather had that scenario going into the regular season. Did that derail the season? Probably not, but it certainly didn’t help.
Injuries
The Wings dealt with injuries to key players all season — that includes captain Dylan Larkin, who only played 68 games, plus others like Jake Walman and Ville Husso. Despite missing a chunk of time, Larkin still managed to end up second in scoring on the team, with 33 goals and 36 assists. Husso, the team’s bonafide starter going into the regular season, only played in 19 games. A series of lower-body injuries soured his season and now he goes into the offseason with a lot to prove.
Sputtering Depth Scoring
Early on in the season, it was clear that one of Detroit’s strengths was the offense they got from guys further down in the lineup. The team managed to win a lot of games on the back of depth scoring, but as we got into the “dog days” of the regular season, that scoring touch started to fade. Daniel Sprong, who at one point made a case to play in a top-six role, put up a bunch of goose eggs in March and April. Still, on a one-year deal worth $2 million, 18 goals and 25 assists isn’t too shabby.. Though if you watched most games this season, you likely saw Sprong’s flaws. With the fourth-most shots on the team, you would expect Sprong to put up 20 goals. He narrowly missed that and wound up with just a few more points that David Perron.
Perron is another one of the “depth scorers” that simply did not perform up to expectations. Coming off a season where he had 24 goals and 32 assists, the 35-year-old only produced 47 points (17-30–47). That is simply not good enough for a guy who carries a cap hit of $4.75 million. His ice time was down a little compared to last season, so perhaps that has a little to do with it. Regardless, the Wings needed more out of these types of players late in the season.
And then we get to players like Andrew Copp. With a cap-hit of $5.625 million, 13 goals and 20 assists simply won’t cut it. That four-year contract, which Copp has two years left on, was questionable at best when the ink dried. It’s looking uglier today. Copp turns 30 in July, so the odds of a dramatic improvement are still there, but the confidence (speaking in terms of the fanbase), is low. Reality is, that money would work wonders for this team going into this offseason. I expect Copp to play out the rest of his deal in Detroit, and the good news for him is that the bar is set pretty low.
The Roses
Everybody Loves Raymond
We can all agree that Lucas Raymond is a tremendously gifted athlete. Raymond had slumpish sophomore season and came into the final year of his ELC with a chip on his shoulder. The now 22-year-old Swede posted career-high scoring with 31 goals and 41 assists. Raymond was truly one of the driving forces late in the season as the Wings fought for a playoff spot. There is an argument to be had that Raymond was the sole reason Detroit was alive in the playoff race until the very last game. Lucas Raymond popped off 11 points in the final six games, and likely earned himself a nice payday this offseason.
Kane Takes the Motor City by Storm
When the Red Wings landed free agent Patrick Kane, it finally felt like this team was headed a different direction. With a lot to prove coming off a critical hip procedure, 88 showed that his offensive capabilities have yet to sunset. The concern now, is that after posting 20 goals and 27 assists in 50 appearances in the Winged Wheel, the now-free agent has made a case for himself to other contenders looking to load up this offseason.
Lyon Roars
For a while there, Alex Lyon was the biggest reason Detroit was able to stay in a playoff spot. Lyon had a career year in many metrics – which isn’t surprising given his historical workload, but as the old saying goes.. What goes up, must come down. Sure, Lyon’s performance slipped later in the season, but that’s not enough to pin him as a thorn this season. I still don’t think he’s a viable full-time NHL starter, but more of a higher-end backup option. If Husso can bounce back and stay healthy, the tandem in net looks a lot better. Clearly the Wings need to improve at this position. Perhaps a free agent signing is on the cards if Sebastian Cossa is going to get more time in the AHL. The focus should really be on improving the players in front of this position.
Doing Captain Shit
I have to mention Dylan Larkin as a rose this season. This guy was the victim of some bad luck and unfortunate dirty plays. Larkin missed a big chunk of time from late November to mid-December due to a hit from behind by Mathieu Joseph during a 5-1 loss against Ottawa. That hit left Larkin unconscious on the ice. Fast-forward a couple of months, he was then sidelined again for a couple of weeks in March with a lower-body injury. That’s a lot of time to miss for the team’s best player – and yet, Larkin managed to score 69 points (33-36–69) in 68 games. That’s the least amount of games Larkin has suited up for in any season other than the COVID year. To have those numbers despite missing 14 games is impressive, and further fortified the fact that he is the beating heart of this team. Let’s say Larkin played all 82 games — what’s his stat line look like then? And does that propel the Wings into a wild card spot? The answer to the second question is most likely.
Cat goes Meeeeeeeow (honorable mention)
I realize that it may be a hot take, as he went through a brutal stretch where he couldn’t seem to buy a goal. I just really enjoyed watching Alex DeBrincat play. Outside of his scoring ability, he brought energy and speed to the lineup. Obviously, the Wings are a better team, but DeBrincat topped his production from his prior season in Ottawa. He was a little short on shots on goal, but he still led the team in that stat. If it weren’t for a downright comical streak of bad luck, he’d be a 30-goal scorer and the Wings would likely be playing hockey right now. In this case, I ask myself “what would the team have looked like WITHOUT him?”
Maybe you agree with my roses and thorns, maybe you don’t. Despite some glaring issues on defense, this team showed a lot of improvement from years past – and that sets up a huge offseason for Steve Yzerman.
Next season, we can expect this team to look a lot different again. There’s going to be an injection of youth, no doubt — Jonatan Berggren and Albert Johansson are no longer waiver exempt, meaning they will stay with the big club or else face the risk of being lost on waivers. You can also expect players like Nate Danielson, who has been playing out of his mind since the trade to Portland, to push hard for a spot on this roster.
