Detroit’s History of Failing Depth Players

The biggest problem with the Red Wings right now is no doubt the lack of talent on the roster. The best players have largely shown up this season. Seider has gone on a niche but fascinating Hart campaign at times this season. DeBrincat has had a career year on the stat sheet and has been the Red Wings best player at times. Raymond and Larkin, despite prolonged quiet stretches, have already notched 70 points and 30 goals, respectively. John Gibson has looked great this season, even if the recent results have been lackluster.

The problem lies with everyone else. From rookies not being able to produce or seize a roster spot to established veterans struggling to make do, if you’re not already a star, you won’t succeed in Detroit.

In part, this is Steve Yzerman, and the company’s fault for their continuous failure to evaluate talent at the management level. But I don’t think the sole brunt of the blame can lie on Yzerman and his team building, as he has made plenty of moves that seemed great at the moment, but fell flat.

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Free Agency:

Let’s start with some of the big ones before moving into the trade category of this all. To be fair to these guys, I’m going to be judging the past three seasons as those were the ones where Detroit has had serious playoff ambitions.

Andrew Copp: Copp has become the scapegoat at times for Red Wings fans anger. The rising cap and improved play as of late has alleviated a lot of the criticism around Andrew Copp, but fans haven’t been kind to Copp the past few seasons. Most of that blame comes from the $5.5M deal that he’s signed to.

When Detroit brought in Copp, he was coming off a season where he was on pace for 60 points and around 25 goals as a two-way center. The season prior to that, he was on pace for 58 points and a similar goal total yet again. Putting it bluntly, the deal made sense at the time, and if anything, it was a pretty solid move.

Since getting in a Red Wings sweater, Copp hasn’t sniffed those totals. Copp hasn’t recorded 15 goals in a season with Detroit and hasn’t notched even 45 points.

It’s hard to say it was Yzerman’s fault for bringing in a guy like that, he seemed like a pretty reasonable alternative to Vincent Trocheck. In Detroit, Copp hits less than he used, wins less face-offs and can’t seem to find a consistent spot in the lineup.

I think there are valid arguments for why Copp has struggled. He hasn’t been able to get the same kind of offensive talent he had around him in New York, playing primarily with Strome and Panarin, nor the Scheifele and Ehlers pairing. It would be disingenuous for me to say he hasn’t been around talent, though, largely getting the reins to play with DeBrincat and Kane for the past two seasons.

Justly or unjustly, Andrew Copp has seen a serious dip in production since joining the Red Wings. What was supposed to be a bolt-on, productive, gritty second line center has become the best option in a thin group who is doing his best to tread water.

J.T. Compher: Similar archetype to Copp and a similar contract. So, of course, Compher has similarly become a pretty common whipping boy for the fans. Compher also had similar narratives surrounding him to Andrew Copp when he was signed.

He was a two-way center and a really responsible one at that. He finished 17th in the Selke vote in his contract year. If that means nothing to you, so far Compher has more Selke votes than Seider has Norris votes for best defenseman.

His first year with Detroit was honestly really steady. He was super trustworthy and nearly scored 20 goals and 50 points. That offseason, I found myself thinking really highly of Compher as one of my favorite players during the 2023-24 campaign.

Since then, Compher hasn’t done much of anything. Last year, hilariously being last on the “stuff per/60” J-Fresh stat. This season he’s largely been on the ice for cardio except for a brief stretch of stepping up recently.

The difference here being, his line mates in Detroit are probably better than the ones he had in Colorado. DeBrincat and Kane have been put with him plenty of times, and he’s been comfortably beaten out by other players for the spot. Cogliano and O’Connor were good players, but certainly not the ones he’s had in Detroit.

Compher also seems like another case of something in Detroit just leading him to rot on the cap sheet.

Other Notable Players:

Mason Appleton: For a guy who spent years as an established 25-30 point guy who can give you really solid compete and good minutes, he’s certainly not been that in Detroit. Most nights, not only is Mason Appleton actively doing nothing on offense, but he also has this really cool habit of taking late-game penalties for no reason. Again, another big signing for a guy who hasn’t done much.

Christian Fischer / Tyler Motte: Both guys were supposed to be established bottom-six grinders. I’m not trying to be hyperbolic when I say this, but these guys literally did nothing. Hilariously, in 2023-24, every Red Wings forward other than him recorded 10+ goals.

Michael Rasmussen: technically a re-signing, but this has also been pretty bleak. There was a time when Rasmussen looked like a solid 25-35 point guy who could give you solid offense and play with a big frame. Be it injuries or the more likely lack of skill, he’s never lived up to the deal Yzerman gave him.

Ben Chiarot: It’s been marginally better the past two seasons, I guess, but Ben Chiarot got here just two years removed from being a staple on a Montreal blue line that went to the finals. He’s been pretty ho-hum in Detroit, but certainly nothing special.

Vladimir Tarasenko: From pretty much a promised 20 goals per season to a depth threat that Detroit had to give away to Minnesota just to rid themselves of the contract. Tarasenko was a pretty reliable option to put the puck in the net. He still had the shot but lacked the speed, something that was fine with Kane in Detroit. Though the second he left, he’s already back to 21 goals and 21 assists for Minnesota.

Call it bad journalism, and that’s fair. It’s easy for me to sit and point out how much these players have crashed and burned in Detroit without giving a reason why, but that’s kind of the point. I can’t explain why players just fail in Detroit. It could be the losing culture, a lack of leadership or just a general air about the team. There were a few names I left out for the sake of word count but Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl also show some semblance of the point I’m making. But it goes beyond free agents.

Traded Players:

Justin Faulk: Let’s start with the recent. When Faulk came to Detroit, he was a steady, top-four defenseman who could produce really solid offense. Since coming to Detroit, his pairing with Ben Chiarot has largely been treading water, and he’s only recorded points in two of his games with the team.

Faulk was supposed to bring some life into the second power play unit, a unit that hasn’t scored a single goal since he’s been here, despite the top unit playing awful at times. Against Buffalo, Faulk had over 3:00 minutes of time on ice on the power play and didn’t record any points. Prior to that, against Calgary, he had over 2:00 and also didn’t record anything.

Defensively, it hasn’t been great either. The expected goals percentage at 49%, and a 36% goal share. Even in Faulk’s best game, where he scored a goal and tallied an assist against Florida, he was on the ice for every Panther goal, including deflecting two into his own net.

Despite playing fewer minutes behind the super-pair of Seider and Edvinsson, Faulk has looked considerably worse than he did in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the cost for acquiring Faulk was an unprotected first round pick that looks to be wasted.

David Perron: Perron’s second stint with the Red Wings is one I was excited for. He was a big game player who had no problem mucking it up and getting into the dirty areas. The cost to acquire him was peanuts as well. He was over a half-point per game when Detroit got him.

Since coming to Detroit, it’s been an unreal turnaround. Despite playing up and down the lineup, including with Lucas Raymond for stretches, Perron couldn’t get anything going. For a guy who was on pace for over 40 points in a full season, he hasn’t recorded anything in all 8 of his games with Detroit.

He’s played as high as 17:00 of time on ice in some games, compared to his usual 13:00 from Ottawa. Despite the extra ice time, he wasn’t able to record any point. Even in smaller roles, though, Perron still hasn’t done anything, joining the cast of jerseys on this team.

Other Notable Players:

Craig Smith: When Detroit nabbed him at last year’s deadline as a depth scorer, he had 16 points and 9 goals in a pretty bad Chicago bottom six. When he came to Detroit, he didn’t score a single goal and only tallied two assists in his time. Another veteran depth scorer who fell insanely flat in Detroit.

Jeff Petry: the season before Detroit traded for Petry, he was over a half-point per game with the Penguins, giving them solid physical play and great offense. When he stepped onto the ice for Detroit, well, I don’t think I need to remind you guys of how that went.

Villi Husso / Alex Nedeljkovic : Similar cases here. Both of them were young goaltenders who showed some pretty serious upside in their careers. Husso with the Blues and Ned with Carolina. Unfortunately, by the time they were done in Detroit, they were more often the reason for losses than they were wins.

Wrapping Up:

This isn’t to say that everyone Detroit touches sucks. DeBrincat and Kane have both come here and strived. But that’s the point I made at the start, unless you’re a superstar in this league, something about Detroit seems to rot you.

I have no idea the root cause, believe me, if I could find it, I’d probably be a General Manager right now. I just think that it’s important to acknowledge that the shortcomings aren’t always those of Steve Yzerman’s. The seat is hot, and I think that is fair, but I don’t think that it’s on him that good players come to Detroit and fall flat.

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