Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2023-24 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team over the course of the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings.
2023-24 Detroit Red Wings
The 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings’ season kicks off in under a month with preseason just over a week away and the prospects in Traverse City. The team enters the second year of Coach Derek Lalonde’s tenure with new faces and more depth at every position. This is also Steve Yzerman’s fourth year running things from the front office, and fans are looking for results. The Red Wings will have a hard road to the 2023-2024 playoffs, but growth from young players and a more established system under Lalonde could have them making noise late in the year.
2022-23 Season
The Red Wings were a surprise spender in free agency before the 2022-2023 season as Yzerman filled out the roster around Dylan Larkin with some veteran players that required term and cost. Ben Chiarot, Andrew Copp, and David Perron were the biggest additions, and all played heavy minutes for the Red Wings last season. Newcomer Ville Husso handled a starter’s load in net for the first year of his three-year contract. Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond both had growing pains in their second year but still showed what made them such high picks.
Trade Deadline Sellers
The turning point of the season was a back-to-back with the Ottawa Senators mere days before the trade deadline. The Senators dominated the Red Wings in every facet of both games, 6-2 and 6-1 losses for Detroit. Yzerman quickly changed course, shipping off Filip Hronek, Oskar Sundqvist, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Jakub Vrana, the last two players having only appeared in a combined 34 games that season. The Red Wings stumbled to the finish, albeit with two extra first-round picks and other capital from their trades.
2023 Offseason
The Detroit Red Wings’ biggest departures came at the trade deadline, but the Bertuzzi trade and the pick he brought was key in the Red Wings adding Alex DeBrincat. The former second-round pick, two-time 40-goal scorer, and Dearborn, MI native came over from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Dominik Kubalik, a first- and fourth-round pick, and a prospect. He signed a four-year contract at $7.875 million a year. The Detroit Red Wings also traded for Jeff Petry and Klim Kostin and signed J.T. Compher, Justin Holl, Shayne Gostisbehere, Daniel Sprong, Christian Fischer, James Reimer, and Alex Lyon.
Lineup Projections
Forwards
Jonatan Berggren–Dylan Larkin–Alex DeBrincat
Michael Rasmussen–Andrew Copp–Lucas Raymond
David Perron–J.T. Compher–Robby Fabbri
Klim Kostin–Joe Veleno–Daniel Sprong
Top Six
The Red Wings have had poor offensive output, shot totals, and zone time the past few years, but the addition of DeBrincat could spell wonders for the team. DeBrincat slots onto the first line and could be the Red Wings’ first 40-goal scorer since Marian Hossa. Teams can’t focus on Larkin as much with DeBrincat there, and Berggren showed promise as a facilitator. Raymond has experience playing either wing, so slotting him on the first line could make it more dangerous, but Berggren’s passing compliments Debrincat. Having Raymond on the second line helps to spread out the offensive firepower and test the third-year player away from Larkin. Copp and Rasmussen showed chemistry last year, and Copp improved later in the season after undergoing core surgery before the season started. Rasmussen
Bottom Six
The options for the bottom six are even more fluid and likely to change. David Perron was a hard cut from the top six, but he and Sprong help to bring some scoring to their respective lines. J.T. Compher becomes the Red Wing’s only right-handed centre and should see matchups based on where the faceoff is. Kostin also brings some size and has room for growth, and Fabbri will look to stay healthy. The Red Wings also signed Christian Fischer from the Coyotes, and he expects to get some games on the fourth line with heavy penalty kill minutes.
Defenceman
Shayne Gostisbehere–Justin Holl
Top Four
The top pair is set with Jake Walman and burgeoning-star Moritz Seider showing instant chemistry last year. If they continue to build upon that chemistry and Seider continues to grow as a bona fide #1 Dman, that pair becomes a strength of the team, and they should see a lot of tough minutes. Simon Edvinsson is a dark horse for the top pair after getting games last year, but he’s recovering from shoulder surgery. He is likely to start in Grand Rapids and join the team if there are injuries or he forces himself into the lineup, which likely leads Yzerman to trade one of the other blueliners.
Jeff Petry was a late addition to the team this offseason, and it will be interesting to see how he fits the team. He has some experience with Chiarot when both were in Montreal, and they should be able to handle second pair minutes. The age of the defence behind Seider and Walman is likely to lead to some rest and a higher chance of injury, so there is sure to be some shuffling among the bottom pairs.
Bottom Pair
The bottom pair highlights two Red Wings’ signings from this offseason. Gostisbehere and Holl have different styles that could complement each other, but they’ll have to work out their chemistry. Both will see special teams time, Gostisbehere on the power play and Holl on the penalty kill, so this bottom pair certainly has more potential than years past. Olli Maatta is the odd man out in this 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings projection, but he’s excellent depth and a steady hand should injuries hit the team’s blueline.
Goalies
Husso started 56 games for the Red Wings last year after a previous career high of 38 with the St. Louis Blues the season before. He started off strong but faltered in the middle of the season with some improvement toward the end. Husso is better than his sub .900 save percentage shows, and the Red Wings hope that Reimer, who started 41 games last year, can keep Husso fresh. Alex Lyon should also get some games after providing a spark to the Florida Panthers in their push for the playoffs last season.
Players to Watch
Alex DeBrincat
All eyes will be on Alex DeBrincat for the 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings. The winger is by far the biggest trade addition to the team since Yzerman took over, and he brings a scoring ability that the Red Wings desperately lack. DeBrincat did have a down year in his lone season in Ottawa, but even that included 27 goals that would have put him second on the Wings last year.
This coming season, the expectations are high for DeBrincat fresh off his four-year contract with the hometown Wings. The front office, coaching staff, and fans are all hoping that he can bolster the team’s offence both at 5-on-5 and on the power play. This is also a big year for the player to prove that he was not just the beneficiary of Patrick Kane during their time in Chicago.
Lucas Raymond
It’s tempting to go with Seider, Larkin, or Husso here because they should all be leaders among their respective position groups, but Lucas Raymond has a key role to play. Raymond’s second year saw his point total drop from his outstanding rookie campaign, but some of that comes from fewer games and minutes played. The down year does leave questions about what to expect from Raymond moving forward.
Entering his third year but still just 21 years old, Lucas Raymond will largely determine whether the Red Wings can go toe-to-toe with the stacked Eastern Conference. If he can drive offence on the second line and raise the goal and point totals for himself and Copp, the Wings remain in the wild card race deeper into the season. If Raymond struggles to be what makes the second line tick, the Red Wings’ weak top six hurts their chances in the Atlantic Division.
Prediction for 2023-2024 Detroit Red Wings
This feels like a season where the playoffs are out of reach even if the Red Wings improve and players grow. The Atlantic Division feels reminiscent of when the Red Wings battled in the stacked Central years ago, but with Detroit now being the younger team trying to take a spot from a more established one. The most likely outcome for the Red Wings’ 2023-2024 season seems to be growth as a team but still one that ends with them outside the playoffs after game 82.
Main Photo: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
