The Detroit Red Wings came into this season with high expectations. Fresh, new faces coming in from free agency, Lucas Raymond beginning another season in his young career, season two for Head Coach Derek Lalonde, and the playoff hopes were high.
Detroit had many things going for them and they knew there would be bumps in the road. However, this season has been successful regardless of how it ends.
The Red Wings started hot, leading the league in scoring as a team. Every player on the roster was playing well and the systems Lalonde put in place were working to perfection.
Goaltender Alex Lyon, who did not see action early in the season, finally got his chance between the pipes and performed well above expectations.
The Detroit Red Wings need to keep working but this season has been great
Then the team hit a massive wall after the new year and seemed like they could not recover to make another run. Detroit has played well enough to get back into the playoff race again with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs.
With every season and every team, there are highs and lows, injuries, winning and losing streaks, and multiple moves with the roster.
The Red Wings have shown time and time again this season they will not be denied. They have come back to win games, they have fought out of losing streaks, and have dealt with injuries this season to be within striking distance of a playoff spot.
This team deserves credit for being in the position they are in despite their shortcomings during the season.
While it does not seem like it, mainly because of the losing streak, this season has been a success, with or without a playoff spot.
With the 89 points the Red Wings have, it is the most since the 2015-16 season when they had 93. They also have the highest winning percentage, and most wins, since that same season. This has also been a good season for the scoring depth on the roster, as the Red Wings have 13 players that have scored 10+ goals this season, the most since the 2017-18 season.
Raymond, Michael Rasmussen, Joe Veleno, and Jake Walman all have career highs in points. These four players are expected to be a few of the more important pieces going forward as the process continues to build a Stanley Cup contender.
Is there still room for improvement? Yes. However, the success and development of the team goes beyond wins and losses. The team now is the best it has been in years and is slowly growing into a playoff contender.
The roster still needs another goal scorer and some fine-tuning of the defense but Detroit is right there. This team, behind General Manager Steve Yzerman, is improving and it shows from the statistics over the past few seasons.
Yzerman has his work cut out for him this off-season with little cap space and the need for improvement on the roster. This would be a good time for him to pick up more quality than quantity.
The Red Wings have dipped into free agency and signed multiple players over the past couple of seasons but have nothing to show for it.
Those top-tier players will cost Detroit and Yzerman some prospects and draft picks, yet the team is going in the right direction and could use another big fish to put this team over the top. Plenty of positives this season but, with the right moves, could make next season even more special.