Offseason checklist: Detroit Red Wings

Establish Consistent Scoring

Since the 2019-20 season, Detroit has had a massive problem putting the puck in the net. The team has yet to finish outside the bottom 10 in GF/G since the 2018-19 season. Luckily for the Red Wings, there should be players outside the organization that will help them improve in this category. 

In this year’s upcoming free agency period, the high-end scoring talent has already been thinned out, with the likes of David Pastrnak, Joe Pavelski, Andrei Kuzmenko and Bo Horvat having already signed extensions. Of the remaining players set for the market, only Alex Killorn, Patrick Kane, Max Domi, J.T. Compher and Vladimir Tarasenko would present real opportunities for Detroit. However, with the average age of the team only getting younger with prospect graduation, none of these players seem to fit the Red Wings’ timeline. 

Enter the trade market. Looking ahead at this offseason’s potential trade options, there are three players that seem to stand out as viable solutions to Detroit’s goal-scoring issues. Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames, Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators, and Brock Boeser from the Vancouver Canucks. 

All three players fit into the Red Wings’ timeline, all three have all shown an ability to score goals and all three find themselves in precarious situations on their current teams. The Flames and Canucks appear to be heading toward serious shakeups this offseason while DeBrincat has been very noncommittal on signing a contract extension in Ottawa. 

If any of these players become available, it would make sense for Detroit to swing a big trade to bring one of them in.

Goaltending Upgrades

After acquiring goaltender Ville Husso from the St.Louis Blues following his brilliant 2021-22 season, the Red Wings may have thought their goaltending issues were finally shored up. Unfortunately, the move did not pan out as they may have hoped. 

This season, all of Detroit’s three goalies -- Husso, Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg -- held a Quality Start Percentage of less than 50 percent while producing a Goals Saved Above Average of -13.5, -4.4, and -8.2, respectively. In more topical statistics, none of the team's goaltenders produced a GAA of 3.00 or less and none were able to sport a SV% of .900 or more.

After trading up in the 2021 draft to select goaltender Sebastian Cossa at 15th overall, it is evident that the organization views him the goaltender of the future in Detroit. He is likely sitting above another goaltending prospect, Carter Gylander, in their prospect depth chart. 

For the time being, with this year’s free agent market for goaltenders sporting the likes of Joonas Korpisalo, Antti Raanta, Semyon Varlamov and Adin Hill, Detroit must once again be on the lookout for a better stop-gap until Cossa is ready to make the jump to professional hockey.

Name An AHL Head Coach

As the Red Wings are prepared for an influx of talent to the minor league level, Yzerman highlighted the need for a winning culture when it comes to prospect development. In mid-April, after a last-place finish in the AHL’s Central Division, the Grand Rapids Griffins announced they would not be renewing the contract of head coach Ben Simon.

One of the top coaching candidates that comes to mind for the AHL affiliate is Norm Bazin, the current head coach of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, of the Hockey East conference. Since taking over as head coach for the 2011-12 season, Bazin has accrued a 254-145-39 record, plus one Frozen Four appearance in 2012-13, losing to the eventual champion Yale University.

With a track record of success, and a clear ability to coach younger players, Bazin would be a prime candidate to take over behind the bench for the Griffins next season. If the team is unable to convince him to coach in Grand Rapids, Yzerman and assistant general manager Shawn Horcoff will have plenty of work to do this summer in finding the best candidate.