The Three NHL Teams That Will Soon Plummet in Standings

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings have been an NHL doormat for a number of seasons. They have missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons and their 17-49-5 record in 2019-20 was one of the worst NHL seasons of all time. That was just two years ago, so it takes time to get back into the playoffs after bottoming out so hard.

Last season saw some improvement, I guess. They weren’t good at 19-27-10 but the were not as bad as the previous season so that is a step in the right direction. This season, they started 8-7-2 and sit third in the Atlantic Division.

That means they are in a playoff spot. But it isn’t going to last.

While the Red Wings are getting some great contributions from young players like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, it just isn’t enough to turn this ship around this quick. Their top line of Raymond, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi are all averaging about a point per game to begin the year.

That is a great start, but it will take depth to actually make the playoffs in the Atlantic Division.

With the strength of the Metropolitan Division this season, it already looks like just three teams are going to get in from the Atlantic. That means the Red Wings would have to be better than two of the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins.

The Panthers and Maple Leafs are already ahead of Detroit and it is just a matter of time before the Bruins and Lightning pass them as well. In fact, the Bruins and Bolts both have better points percentage already, but they have just played less games than the Wings.

It has been a great start for the Red Wings and it has been a long time since they looked this good. But they just don’t have the depth and talent to compete with the other top teams in their division over an 82 game season.