With the 2019-20 NHL season on hold we are going to take a look at where each NHL team stands at this moment with a series of posts examining their season. Have they met expectations? Exceeded expectations? Who has been the surprise? All of that and more. Today we look at the Detroit Red Wings.
Detroit Red Wings
Record: 17-49-5 (71 games), eighth place in Atlantic Division
Leading Scorer: Dylan Larkin 53 points (19 goals, 34 assists)
In-Season Roster Moves
- Acquired Brendan Perlini from Chicago Blackhawks for Alec Regula
- Acquired Robby Fabbri from St. Louis Blues for Jacod De La Rose
- Acquired Eric Comrie from Arizona Coyotes for Vili Saarijarvi
- Acquired Kyle Wood from Carolina Hurricanes for Oliwer Kaski
- Traded Mike Green to Edmonton Oilers for Kyle Brodziak and a conditional 2020 fourth-round draft pick
- Traded Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner to Edmonton Oilers for Sam Gagner, 2020 second-round draft pick, and 2021 second-round draft pick
Season Overview
Everyone had to know this was going to be a tough season for the Detroit Red Wings.
They are in the middle of a complete teardown and rebuild and had already missed the postseason three years in a row. The roster was already short on impact talent and depth when the season began, and it was a given that even more talent was going to be traded away during the season.
But it was still difficult to imagine things being this bad.
The Red Wings not only have the worst record and worst goal differential in the league this season, they were on track to be one of the worst teams in the modern NHL era.
They have won just 17 out of their first 71 games, putting them on pace to win only 19 this season. Since 1990 there have only been 11 teams that failed to win at least 20 games in a season (excluding lockout shortened seasons), and out of that group most of those examples were early expansion seasons for teams like Ottawa, Atlanta, and San Jose.
At the time of the NHL’s season pause they had a minus-122 goal differential for the season, by far the league’s worst. The next worst team? The Ottawa Senators at minus-52. That minus-122 mark is among the 20-worst marks in NHL history through the first 71 games of a season.
For the season they are 31st in goals scored, 31st in goals against, 31st in shots on goal per game, 31st on the penalty kill, 31st in total shot attempt share at even-strength, 29th on the power play, and 27th in shots on goal against per game.
In other words, this particular version of the Red Wings has performed at a level that is comparable to some of the worst expansion teams in NHL history. They are not an expansion team.
That is not to say that the entire situation is hopeless long-term. They do have some intriguing young players to build around, they have stockpiled draft picks, they will have the best shot at landing the top pick in this year’s draft lottery, and Steve Yzerman is one of the most respected executives in the league. He helped turn the franchise once as a player. Now he has a chance to do it as the general manager.
Highlight of the season so far
There are actually a couple! If you wanted, you could point to Anthony Mantha’s four-goal game against the Dallas Stars back in early October. But we are going to go with their two -- TWO! -- different wins over the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins are the NHL’s best team this season and running away with the Presidents’ Trophy. They have lost just 14 games in regulation. Two of those losses have come against a Red Wings team that has won just 17 games.
This is why they play the games.
More:
• Red Wings biggest surprises and disappointments
• What is the Detroit Red Wings’ long-term outlook?
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.