{"id":71141,"date":"2020-03-13T11:28:43","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T15:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=71141"},"modified":"2021-12-27T12:26:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-27T17:26:26","slug":"looking-for-bright-spots-on-the-2019-20-detroit-red-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/03\/13\/looking-for-bright-spots-on-the-2019-20-detroit-red-wings\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for Bright Spots on the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much like the final scene in Monty Python\u2019s \u201cLife of Brian\u201d, the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings<\/a> are trying to look on the bright side of life. However, that\u2019s been <\/span>a hard task with the team languishing as the worst in the league.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Detroit has taken their lumps this season and <\/span>there\u2019s been a lot of bad statistics. <\/span>The Wings are dead last in goals allowed with 265, which is 30 more than the next worst team (Ottawa Senators<\/a>). <\/span>They\u2019re also last in goals scored with 142, which is 32 less than the 30<\/span>th<\/span>-place Los Angeles Kings<\/a>.<\/span> Those statistics obviously mean that Detroit has the worst goal differential in the league.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other glaring stats <\/span>are the team is the worst at the penalty kill with 74.3 percent and 28<\/span>th<\/span> in power play success rate at 14.9 p<\/span>ercent. <\/span>Detroit is at the bottom of the league in save percentage at .886 and Ottawa is the next worst at .900.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s not been all bad <\/span>for the club in 2019-20. One does have to go a ways to find some positives, but they’re out there.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2019-20 Detroit Red Wings Bright Spots<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Jonathan Bernier<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

This may contradict the <\/span>worst team save percentage, but Jonathan Bernier<\/a><\/strong> carries a .907 save percentage this season. <\/span>The Red Wings are fifth in shots allowed with 32.8 and worst in shot differential at<\/span> \u20135.7.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bernier is 14<\/span>th<\/span> in High-Danger Shots against according to Natural Stat Trick<\/a>. <\/span>He\u2019s saved 232 of those chances, which is good enough for 13<\/span>th<\/span> among all goalies. <\/span>The Laval, Quebec native has an .838 high danger save percentage.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those numbers are middle of the pack, but let\u2019s also consider the Wings have a <\/span>defence<\/span> made up of mostly struggling veterans and younger players trying to find their way. Bernier has settle<\/span>d in after scuffling in his first year in Hockeytown.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding a long-term solution in net should be on general manager Steve Yzerman<\/a>\u2019s to do list, but Bernier can at least be a stop gap if Yzerman doesn\u2019t land a big name via trade or free agency. Jimmy Howard<\/a><\/strong> will probably<\/span> not be back due to his age and troubles in net this season. At least Bernier can hold the fort until a new course is found.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Robby Fabbri<\/span> & <\/span>Tyler Bertuzzi<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Both Robby Fabbri<\/strong> and Tyler Bertuzzi<\/strong> <\/a>will be restricted free agents at the end of the season, but both will be high priorities for Yzerman. Fabbri<\/span>\u2019s 15 goals is close to matching his rookie season with the St. Louis Blues<\/a> in 2015-16.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bertuzzi and Fabbri were teammates together with the Guelph Storm in the OHL and have been on the same line and power-play unit at times. <\/span>The duo has shown some flashes of their old chemistry in an otherwise <\/span>lacklustre<\/span> offensive season.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The younger Bertuzzi leads the team in goals with 21 and brings plenty of energy to the squad. He gives a maximum effort and isn\u2019t afraid to throw around his weight.<\/span> Yzerman will make sure both are locked up at least for the next few seasons.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Filip Hronek<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Detroit\u2019s <\/span>defence<\/span> has taken its lumps this season, but Filip Hronek<\/strong> has stood out. <\/span>The young Czech has gotten an increased workload this campaign and he has nine goals and 22 assists to show for his effort.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He started to put things together at last year\u2019s IIHF World Championships and that\u2019s seemingly translated<\/span> to the NHL. However, one wonders if he\u2019s getting <\/span>too much too soon<\/span><\/a>. Here\u2019s hoping that <\/span>his minutes can be thinned out and he doesn\u2019t have to do so much.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

D<\/span>efensive Development<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The current Red Wings <\/span>D<\/span>-group with Filip Hronek has struggled. However, there is some promise in a pair of young defenders. Sixth-overall pick Mortiz Seider<\/strong> has shown flashes of what made Yzerma<\/span>n take a risk on him in the draft.<\/span> Seider was playing other younger players, but he was showing a complete game with physical hits and solid passes. The young German looks to be a cornerstone <\/span>of the team\u2019s blue-line group for years to come.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rookie Gustav Lindstrom<\/a><\/strong> has also shown his <\/span>simple yet effective game<\/span><\/a> with the team. He has one assist in 16 games played, but is also using his physical play. <\/span>He\u2019s looked like an experienced veteran despite him being in the league for just over a dozen games. The Swede may be another part with Sei<\/span>der and Hronek that will be key in the team\u2019s turnaround.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More Ping Pong Balls<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The main thing is the Red Wings will likely have the best chance to land Alexis <\/strong><\/span>Lafranierre<\/strong>. Detroit is assured a top-four selection if the standard draft procedure is used. A talen<\/span>ted player like Quinton Byfield, <\/strong><\/span>Tim St\u00fctzle<\/strong> or <\/span>Jamie Drysdale<\/strong> will be there for the taking even if the Wings miss out on the top pick.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the recent suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 outbreak has put uncertainty into the whole lottery process. This will be one of the things the owners will have to sort out once t<\/span>hings get up and running again. However, it\u2019s likely that Detroit will have a favourable draft position.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What It Means for the Future<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

If it\u2019s the end of the season for the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings, there are some positives. There may not be a lot, but they\u2019re there.<\/span> Detroit got some big wins over the Boston Bruins<\/a>, Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> and made life miserable for the Montreal Canadiens<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The rebuild is still going to take at least a few more seasons, but there will be some of the bad contracts coming off the books. Detroit will <\/span>have six more picks <\/span>in the upcoming NHL Draft barring any deals made before or during that weekend.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much like the final scene in Monty Python\u2019s \u201cLife of Brian\u201d, the 2019-20 Detroit Red Wings are trying to look on the bright side of life. However, that\u2019s been a hard task with the team languishing as the worst in the league.\u00a0 Detroit has taken their lumps this season and there\u2019s been a lot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":68804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[4410,95,631,2793,4232,817,323,3916,3184,1015,399,4230,679],"class_list":["post-71141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redwings","category-featured","tag-alexis-lafreniere","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-filip-hronek","tag-gustav-lindstrom","tag-jamie-drysdale","tag-jimmy-howard","tag-jonathan-bernier","tag-moritz-seider","tag-quinton-byfield","tag-robby-fabbri","tag-steve-yzerman","tag-tim-stutzle","tag-tyler-bertuzzi"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}