2023–24 NHL team preview: Detroit Red Wings

LAST SEASON

Despite improving by six points from the 2021–22 season to 2022–23, the Detroit Red Wings fell from fifth to seventh place in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division. The Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators are right on the cusp of ending their respective playoff droughts, but the Red Wings apparently have a little more work to do. Steve Yzerman is approaching the end of his honeymoon period as Red Wings GM and he seems to know it, having gone all-out this summer in a bid to improve his team.

Shortly before the 2023 trade deadline, the Red Wings re-signed captain Dylan Larkin to an eight-year contract extension that will kick in this year. Shortly thereafter, the Wings traded both Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek. Yzerman used some of the assets he recovered by trading those two veterans to acquire top-line sniper Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators in July. Whether that maneuver substantively improves the Red Wings remains to be seen, but it certainly seems Yzerman wasn’t content with his team’s 80-point showing in 2022–23.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Alex DeBrincat, LW
J.T. Compher, C
Jeff Petry, D
Shayne Gostisbehere, D
Klim Kostin, LW
Justin Holl, D
Daniel Sprong, RW
Christian Fischer, RW
James Reimer, G

Departures

Dominik Kubalik, LW (OTT)
Filip Zadina, RW (SJ)
Pius Suter, C (VAN)
Alex Chiasson, RW (PTO w/ BOS)
Adam Erne, LW (UFA)
Robert Hagg, D (ANA)
Gustav Lindstrom, D (MTL)
Alex Nedeljkovic, G (PIT)
Magnus Hellberg, G (PIT)

OFFENSE

Even with Bertuzzi at his best, the Red Wings’ offense has been something of a one-man show for years. Dylan Larkin has been a man on an island with very little at his disposal in terms of complementary scoring threats. Now, instead of playing with the likes of Bertuzzi, Anthony Mantha, and Andreas Athanasiou, Larkin will get a chance to make hay with a two-time 40-goal scorer on his wing.

The Red Wings are banking a fair amount upon Alex DeBrincat rebounding from his underwhelming single season with the Ottawa Senators. Yzerman didn’t give up a whole lot to bring DeBrincat back to his home state — Dominik Kubalik, Donovan Sebrango, and first- and fourth-round picks in 2024 — and he proceeded to sign the 25-year-old winger to a four-year contract carrying a $7.875 million cap hit. If DeBrincat can do what he does best on a (projected) line with two strong offensive players in Larkin and David Perron, the Red Wings could take a big step forward.

Yzerman’s biggest move of the UFA period was to sign 28-year-old center J.T. Compher to a five-year deal. It’s the second summer in a row in which the Red Wings have made this kind of move — Andrew Copp was their target last year — and Compher’s $5.1 million cap hit feels a little rich given his relatively limited track record, but he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 and scored 52 points last season. Beyond signing Copp, the Wings also brought in secondary wingers Daniel Sprong, Christian Fischer, and Klim Kostin.

What Detroit really needs is for one (or both) of Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren to take a step forward. Raymond regressed to 45 points as a sophomore after establishing himself as a Calder Trophy candidate in 2021–22; Berggren burst onto the scene with 28 points in 67 games but struggled with inconsistency. Top prospects Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur could also factor into things at various points during the season … more on them later.

DEFENSE

The Red Wings have struggled to defend for quite a while. They allowed 279 goals last year while cycling through multiple different partners for sophomore rearguard (and reigning Calder Trophy winner) Moritz Seider, ultimately settling on Jake Walman after giving Ben Chiarot a long look in that spot.

There’s no other way to put it: Detroit’s cap sheet for its defence is ugly. Ben Chiarot, who posted a team-worst minus-31 rating last year, has three more years on his contract at a $4.75 million AAV. It was nothing short of inexplicable to see Justin Holl get a three-year deal on July 1, let alone one with a $3.4 million cap hit. And while Shayne Gostisbehere, Olli Maatta, and Jeff Petry aren’t bad players, it’s difficult to comprehend how the Red Wings will justify paying nearly $9.5 million for the three of them this year (or how to play all three of them on any given night).

One of Detroit’s big problems over the last two seasons has been with balancing its sides on defense. Seider shoots right, but the Red Wings have had very few competent left-handed options on their blueline. Gostisbehere is a good scorer, but he isn’t exactly suited to play on a top pairing. Petry shoots right and will be 36 in December. Holl also shoots right. Chiarot is a lefty (and Detroit’s highest-paid defender), but he might end up being a healthy scratch at points this year if he continues to regress.

The elephant in the room is top prospect Simon Edvinsson, who does shoot left and might have been slated to join the big club this year had Yzerman not installed three new wily vets directly in his way. But in the end, despite the Red Wings investing plenty of money into reshaping their defensive group over the summer, they’ll probably roll into 2023–24 with the same top pairing of Walman and Seider. To their credit, it seems to work just fine, but the other two pairings are riddled with question marks.

GOALTENDING

Ville Husso performed quite well behind a good St. Louis Blues team in 2021–22, posting a .919 save percentage and a 25–7–6 record in 40 games. But the 6’3″ Finn struggled to follow it up after signing a three-year deal with the Red Wings, with his save percentage dropping 23 points to .896 over his 56 games with his new team in 2022–23. Husso is 28 and still has two years left on his contract, so he’ll be given plenty of rope to start the season. But this new-look Red Wings defensive group looks very little like the one Husso thrived behind in St. Loo.

The Red Wings signed James Reimer and Alex Lyon to compete for the backup spot behind Husso, and our money’s on Lyon despite Reimer costing nearly twice as much this year. Reimer had an awful year with the San Jose Sharks (12–21–8, .890) and, at age 35, is near the end of his NHL rope; Lyon enjoyed a solid 15 games with the Florida Panthers and even started a few games for them during their Cinderella playoff run. None of these three goaltenders is a franchise-caliber option, but each could be a suitable stopgap for a team just trying to sneak into the postseason.

COACHING

Derek Lalonde is set to return for his second season as Red Wings head coach after guiding the team to a 35–37–10 record in 2022–23. The Red Wings improved by six points last year but fell by two spots in the Atlantic Division standings as the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators made much more impressive gains. Only the Montreal Canadiens finished below the Red Wings in the Atlantic last season.

Lalonde has plenty of experience, having won the Stanley Cup twice during his time as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but this is his first gig as an NHL head coach. Bob Boughner, Alex Tanguay, and Jay Varady will serve as assistant coaches on Lalonde’s staff in 2023–24.

The Red Wings’ special teams were thoroughly average in 2022–23. Their power play scored on 21.11 percent of its opportunities, enough to rank 17th in the league; their PK was successful 78.31 percent of the time, ranking 18th.

ROOKIES

Top 2022 draft pick Marco Kasper made his NHL debut with the Red Wings last season and didn’t look out of place before suffering a season-ending knee injury. The young Austrian enjoyed a strong 2022–23 campaign with Rögle BK in the Swedish Hockey League before joining the Red Wings in April. If all goes well, Kasper could become a top-six center in the NHL in the future. Given Detroit’s depth down the middle, Kasper might start the 2023–24 season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Carter Mazur and Simon Edvinsson could both also factor into the Red Wings’ plans this upcoming season. Mazur scored six points in six games with the Griffins after signing his entry-level contract with the Red Wings in March; the Jackson, Michigan product previously racked up 75 points in 81 games over two seasons at the University of Denver. Meanwhile, the 6’4″ Edvinsson collected two goals in his first nine NHL games with the Red Wings in 2022–23 but spent most of the year with Grand Rapids, establishing himself as the club’s top-scoring defenseman despite also being its youngest.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Can Dylan Larkin find another level? Larkin has yet to score 80 points in a single season. He’s never been a point-per-game player in the NHL, although he’s come extremely close the last two years. Now that Alex DeBrincat is in the fold, there’s no reason why the Red Wings shouldn’t be able to trot out a top line that can dominate in the offensive zone. Larkin is extremely talented — 85 or even 90 points shouldn’t be out of the question. If he can get there, the Red Wings should be in good shape.

2. Is Moritz Seider truly the guy? Seider endured some serious growing pains as a sophomore, although a significant chunk of that can be attributed to the team’s inexplicable acquisition and deployment of Ben Chiarot. Seider was a force to be reckoned with in his rookie season and he has all the tools to be a franchise defenseman in the NHL. If Jake Walman truly is his natural partner, Seider should be able to take off in a full season alongside him. But if that magic starts to wear off, the Red Wings are light on potential replacements.

3. Who will lock down the 2C role? Andrew Copp scored nine goals last year. He makes $5.625 million through 2027. Copp and J.T. Compher will likely duke it out for that 2C role during training camp and throughout the season, but it’s difficult to pencil either in as a bona fide top-six center until one of them proves he can handle the responsibility. Copp really only has one strong playoff run with the New York Rangers to hang his hat on, while Compher has always been insulated within the Colorado Avalanche system.

PREDICTION

The Red Wings are a team with an intriguing mix of veterans and young players. Dylan Larkin is a solid No. 1 center who finally has access to a winger with superstar potential. If that combo clicks, the Atlantic Division will be on high alert for quite some time. If not, well, Ville Husso will need to steal a lot of games.

Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, and Simon Edvinsson should form the young core of this Red Wings team for years to come, but all three still have plenty to prove before they can realistically make any noise past the middle of April. The competition in the Atlantic Division is mighty fierce. The Red Wings have nice pieces, but it might be a matter of them having to wait for teams like the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning to fall out of the picture before they can stake their claim to a playoff spot. At this point, both the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators are firmly ahead of the Red Wings, and it’s tough to project much more than a 90-point season for the boys from Detroit. That might be enough to finish sixth in the Atlantic.