It’s been a couple weeks since the most recent Detroit Red Wings collapse kept them out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the tenth-straight season. And the Wings have found themselves in one of the least desirable positions in sports. They’re not good enough to clinch a playoff berth, but they’re not bad enough to bottom out. Fortunately for Detroit, they can fix this before it becomes a problem.
Recent Detroit Red Wings Collapse Confirmed the Team is at a Crossroads
When you’re not bad enough to land future surefire top-six forwards or top-pair defencemen, but not good enough to be the playoff team capable of easily acquiring sound talent, you can stay in the middle of the pack for years. Looking at the 2025-26 Red Wings lineup, it was too middle-of-the-road.
Credit Image: © Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
They don’t have a surefire game-changer on the team, but solid talent that rests a smidge under the game’s most feared players. Dylan Larkin proved to be a warrior, and Alex DeBrincat showed his best seasons are yet to come. Ditto for Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. But you don’t build a team around any one of them.
That said, they’re an underrated core four who are solid franchise cornerstones. Instead of building around any one of them, you build the walls between them. This is how the Red Wings can escape the perpetual “just average” stigma they’ve acquired.
One Division Rival Has Given the Red Wings a Blueprint
The Red Wings situation is eerily similar to what the Buffalo Sabres struggled with before breaking through. Like the Wings, the Sabres never possessed surefire elite talent, and they still don’t. Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson are as close as they come, but you don’t bless them as the centrepiece of a franchise.
Alex Tuch and Ryan McLeod make up the final two cornerstones but again, nobody’s building around them. How did the Sabres escape perpetual mediocrity? They got deeper, more physical, and completely changed their team’s identity under head coach Lindy Ruff.
Beck Malenstyn and Peyton Krebs knocked around opponents. They traded for players like Logan Stanley who could fill the third-pairing role when needed and lean into the intimidation factor. They also spent time finding ways to get deeper, adding names like Josh Norris in March 2025 and Josh Doan in June 2025. Both are young, promising talents that won’t always grace the first or second lines, but they can play.
Buffalo also let Zach Benson develop in the NHL and come into his own. The Sabres also never gave up on Peyton Krebs. Besides his checking ability, Krebs enjoyed his most productive season after four years because the Sabres found the right linemates for him.
The Red Wings Boast Ingredients to Forge a Sabres-Like Puzzle for 2026-27
Despite this collapse showing fans how far the Red Wings are from legitimately contending for a Stanley Cup, it’s all about identifying the issue. Detroit has players who can play with Larkin, DeBrincat, Raymond, and Seider. They also have young talent with a lot of upside with players like Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper, and Emmitt Finnie. Detroit has veterans like Patrick Kane who they should retain for at least another year.
But there’s talent they have mishandled. Kasper is a lot like Peyton Krebs. Not productive early, but a big hitter. Still, he’s talented enough to thrive if you find the right linemates for him. Finnie is a high-energy player reminiscent of Josh Doan – someone who has flashed potential and displays a never-say-die edge.
No, Detroit doesn’t have anyone like Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, or the 2015-16 version of Sidney Crosby. You can argue they don’t even have someone like Matthew Tkachuk, who’s one of the faces if not the face of the Florida Panthers. But like the Sabres, they have enough talent to finish in the top three of the Atlantic, get into the playoffs, and play like they belong there.
Also like the Sabres, they’ve spent years lacking the toughness needed to kick things up a notch. Until they add enough of those edgy players to their lower lines and bottom pairing, and by edgy, it means guys willing to land two or three hits a game, then Detroit will remain stuck in the middle. They also need more productivity from their depth players. If general manager Steve Yzerman understands this, then you will see a deeper, grittier Red Wings team next season.
Main Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
