Red Wings Outlook

The Red Wings enter this season with a solid defense something they lacked even when they won the cup. On that run to cup they did on the back of 6 bottom pairing defenders. That is something which may never be done again in this league.

This season they enter with one of best top 4 units in the league. Much of the work will be on the shoulders of Theodore, Fox, Hughes and Hronek but it doesn’t end there. The Red Wings were able to bring in 2 veteran defenders on 1yr deals to help solidify that unit in Bogosian and Kempny. By bringing them into the fold it will help the organization not rush youngsters such as Bean and Brannstrom and let them gain another year of experience playing for the Griffins where they will have larger roles.

The offense will once again be led by the dynamic duo of Draisaitl and Kucherov  who have been together since the 16/17 season and will be the two work horses for this offense. They will be looking to rebound stat wise from last season and get back to the 100 point mark.

The Wings still have the usual’s flanking them in Boeser, Trocheck and Dvorak but this offseason they were able to bring in the leadership of Dustin Brown to help out on the top 2 lines and add that much needed grit.

Gm Valle thinks that Dustin Brown is in the perfect situation to hit the 30 goal mark. “ I think with his work ethic and put in the right situation we will see him get those dirty, hardworking goals. I can see him being on a line with the Dynamic Duo adding that toughness so they aren’t pushed around or possibly on a line with Boeser and Trocheck.

 This season we see a jump in a couple of youngsters in Farabee, Comtois and Puljujarvi who’s finally coming into his own. The Wings never gave up on Puljujarvi even when he wasn’t showing the flashes he had shown earlier in his career. Offers came in for low picks, or for a straight swap of another youngster who hadn’t lived up to their potential by GM Valle saw something in him and he knew he just needed to be patient and it paid off so far. The Wings won’t be rushing him either but he should have a huge role come next season.

The goaltending situation has been stable now for the last couple of seasons as the Wings have one of the best goalies in all the EHE. Hellebuyck is now entering his 5^th year as the Red Wings starting goaltender and has proven to be one of the best steals of the Inaugural Draft.

Chosen with the #439^th pick his best season came in the 18/19 season when the Wings won the cup. That year he posted 46 wins and another 16 in the playoffs to the Wings to their 1^st Stanley Cup and onto winning the Vezina Trophy.

The Red Wings should be consider one of the better teams on paper in the EHE but there are definitely some teams out there who GM Valle thinks are better contenders at the moment but you can never count out his team he said.