Many saw this coming. Yet it still feels strange to type the following sentence: The Detroit Red Wings will not participate in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Their 25-season playoff streak, tied for the third-longest in NHL history, is over.
For the first time since April 1, 1990, the only way the Red Wings will have any sort of investment in the postseason is if they decide to watch on TV. That was the date of the Wings’ 1989-90 season finale, a 3-3 tie in the old Spectrum in Philadelphia. That was the last time Detroit concluded a regular season without a playoff spot.
I was eight years old at the time. There were no current active NHL players playing in the league at that time. That’s right, even Jaromir Jagr hadn’t entered the league yet. He was still two months away from being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Current Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman topped Detroit in scoring with 127 points.
Ten players on the Red Wings’ active roster hadn’t been born yet when their streak began with their 1990-91 season opener on October 4, 1990, a 3-3 tie at New Jersey. Wings defenseman Nick Jensen was 13 DAYS old when the streak began. Fellow blueliner Danny DeKeyser was three days shy of turning seven MONTHS old. Current Detroit foward Gustav Nyquist, their second-leading scorer, was only a year and three days old when their playoff streak started.
Lets fast forward to March 28, 2017. A 4-1 loss to Carolina, combined with wins by Boston and Toronto, officially brought the Wings’ 25-year postseason run to a close. Joe Louis Arena, the oldest arena in the NHL, will host its final Red Wings game on April 9 when Detroit takes on New Jersey. Only two other arenas currently in use by the NHL hosted games when the Wings’ streak started: Madison Square Garden in New York and Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. In addition, nine NHL teams didn’t exist when Detroit’s playoff streak started; ten if you count the Vegas Golden Knights, who begin play next season.
The standard of excellence set by the Red Wings during that time, highlighted by four Stanley Cups, is extremely high.
However, if you’ve been paying close attention over the last four years, you could see the standard has been slipping. The last time Detroit won a playoff series? The opening round in 2013 against Anaheim, a seven-game series. The Red Wings have bowed out in the first round four times in the last five seasons. Three of those series ended after only five games.
Detroit was slowly slipping from their perch as one of the elite teams in the league. This didn’t occur overnight, but the decline slowly began in 2011 when defenseman Brian Rafalski retired. Forward Tomas Holmstrom and Hall of Fame blue liner Niklas Lidstrom soon followed suit, as each of them called it a career in 2012. As good as captain Henrik Zetterberg and human highlight reel Pavel Datsyuk had been for Detroit over the years, they weren’t getting any younger, and injuries began piling up.
Once known as a destination for top-flight free agents, the Wings struck out on the likes of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise in free agency. A team known for drafting and developing prospects, Detroit wasn’t striking gold as often as in the past. Rumors of Datsyuk’s departure became reality a year ago when he left, stating a desire to return home to Russia. Johan Franzen’s ongoing issues with concussions keeps him on the shelf, and he’s likely to retire at some point.
Players like Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar have been solid players for the Wings, but not difference-makers. The goaltending, once a strength with the likes of Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek, became inconsistent, as Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek often balance strong games with shaky performances. Detroit once prided themselves on having a strong puck possession game. Nowadays, the Wings rank in the bottom third of the league in many advanced puck possession metrics. Once known for their ability to fill the net, Detroit ranks 26th in goals per game and 28th on the power play this season.
However, two factors really stand out in the decline of the Red Wings.
One of them is the state of the team’s defensive corps. Without Lidstrom and Rafalski on the blue line anymore, the defensive corps has fallen into a state of decay over the last five years. Niklas Kronwall is the team’s number-one defenseman, but his advancing age (36) and injuries makes you wonder how much time he’s got left. Mike Green provides offense at the age of 31, but he’s not known for being a defensive stalwart. Danny DeKeyser appears to have hit his ceiling as a second-pairing defenseman. Jonathan Ericsson routinely faces criticism for turning the puck over. Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul, and Nick Jensen are in their first full seasons of NHL duty. There will probably be some more growing pains for them going forward.
The other problem facing the Red Wings right now is their salary cap situation. Saying the Red Wings are tight against the cap is like saying water is wet. Zetterberg is 36 and still has four years left on his contract at just over $6 million a year. Kronwall still has two years remaining on his deal at $4.75 million annually. DeKeyser’s contract runs through 2021-22 at an average annual value of $5 million. Ericsson’s contract is a boat anchor with an AAV of $4.25 million. Thirty-year-old forward Justin Abdelkader’s cap hit is $4.25 million and lasts through 2022-23. Last summer, Darren Helm was handed a new five-year contract at the age of 30 at an AAV of $3.85 million. Helm’s career high for goals in a season? Fifteen in the 2014-15 season.
In other words, this team is weighed down by contracts for players that are either aging and past their primes or guys that aren’t all that great to begin with.
If there’s one thing Detroit has going for it, it’s their core of youngsters.
Even though second-year forward Dylan Larkin is going through a sophomore slump, he’s already played in one All-Star tournament and he’s only 20 years old. He still has the ability to be a difference-maker for this team going forward. Andreas Athanasiou is only in his second NHL season, the 22-year-old forward has the jaw-dropping speed and skill to be a core member of the Wings going forward. Anthony Mantha has the size, puck-handling, and hands to be an offensive force up front for many years to come.
In addition, the Red Wings will own a pick in the top 10 of the draft for the first time since 1991, when they chose forward Martin Lapointe 10th overall. This will be an excellent chance for Detroit to add a potential piece early on in the draft. However, their most highly-touted prospects are still a couple of years away. Forward Evgeny Svechnikov is being lauded for his skill, but he probably needs another year in the AHL. Defenseman Dennis Cholowski, a first round pick in 2016, projects to be a top-four defenseman, but the 19-year-old appears to be about three years away. Forward Tyler Bertuzzi plays a rugged game and could make the Wings’ roster next season, but needs to be more consistent offensively.
Heading into their first season in the brand new Little Caesar’s Arena next season, the Wings have their work cut out for them.
Detroit desperately needs help on the blue line; their combination of aging veterans, bloated contracts, and inexperience doesn’t bode well unless they can swing a trade. A decision will have to be made in regards to their goaltending. Jimmy Howard’s contract runs for two more years at a $5.29 million AAV. Petr Mrazek is wildly inconsistent, while prospect Jared Coreau has shown flashes of brilliance and inconsistency during his call-up after Howard missed time due to injury.
The progression of Larkin, Athanasiou, and Mantha will be crucial to the Wings’ rebuilding process. However, the rest of the forward group contains questions marks; players that are getting older (Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen), are overpaid (Abdelkader, Helm), or have topped out (Nyquist, Tatar).
There are some nice pieces for the Red Wings to build around going forward, but there’s a chance this team will need to bottom out for a couple of years and acquire some future stars in the draft to help build them back up while shedding some of the contracts that are boat anchors. Detroit’s 25-year playoff streak was incredibly impressive. But there’s a lot of work to do before the Red Wings can begin another such playoff streak.
