Jeremy Laura: Red Wings and season fall from a mile high in 5-2 loss to Avalanche

SPLAT !!!!
Yep……that was the sound of a team falling back to earth tonight after last night’s overblown 5-1 fourteen shot win against another bunch of losers,
THE UTAH WHATCHAMACALLITS.

The boys played the men tonight and got snowed in behind the shed.
I lost count of just how many Red Wings Nathan MacKinnon made look totally foolish tonight.
The guy is absolutely brilliant to watch in his dominance on the ice.

Enough of this Detroit Foolery trying to back into the playoffs yet again.
Tonight was a perfect exhibition of just how quickly this floundering flock of foozles would be destroyed in seven playoff days.
Just eleven more games left in this Train Wreck.

That was a rough watch. Truly see the capability gaps between us and LOADED SCPO teams. Not a bridge too far, but there's a bunch of work to be done.

Want to see Cossa get another game or 2 in while he's up. I honestly think the guy's ready to roll.

What is the main issue(s) with the Wings? Not playing as a group on the ice? Not enough top end talent? Depth? A certain position group?

I'm obviously looking at this from the outside. The Hawks are a few years behind the Wings in terms of the rebuild, but I'm trying to understand where it has gone wrong.

I believe the Hawks are on to something building up the backend first (goalie and d-men) and now hoping their mountain of forward prospects yields a solid top six (they have 7682 bottom six players).

P.S. I was really hoping that Mrazek would hold together for you guys. He was nothing but class for the Hawks and last year was easily the most valuable player.

What is the main issue(s) with the Wings? Not playing as a group on the ice? Not enough top end talent? Depth? A certain position group?

I'm obviously looking at this from the outside. The Hawks are a few years behind the Wings in terms of the rebuild, but I'm trying to understand where it has gone wrong.

I believe the Hawks are on to something building up the backend first (goalie and d-men) and now hoping their mountain of forward prospects yields a solid top six (they have 7682 bottom six players).

P.S. I was really hoping that Mrazek would hold together for you guys. He was nothing but class for the Hawks and last year was easily the most valuable player.
- Chunk

My personal opinion is that this was a complete tear down with none of the first round picks prior to Yzerman working out. Mantha - gone. Zadina - gone. Svech - gone. Bought out Abdelkader and at this point there are 4 players on the main roster if you count Shine (was in GR the whole time but still pre Yzerman). Larkin, Berggren, Rasmussen. 2 of those are bottom 6. Pair with that free agent signings that have been really bad on the blue line and underperformance by Copp and Compher. So Seider came in and blew everyone away. Wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card. Raymond has come alive. Debrincat has now eclipsed 30 and is playing a stronger game. Kasper is a breath of fresh air. Edvinsson seems to be something special. But Chiarot, Petry, Gustafsson, Copp, a bottom 6 that barely contributes and a goalie carousel that never stops. Lyon was the man last year, this year he’s struggling. The coaching change is changing the culture, but it was done way too late. Looking to see Cossa grow and stabilize and hoping Augustine is in GR next year as Lombardi, Tuomisto and Wallinder should all compete for jobs. Mazur too, but he is constantly on IR. Hoping it doesn’t go south. It’s been a lot of highs and lows the past 2 seasons, but finally seeing some of the depth picks come up. Axel Sandin-Pellikka looks to be heading over post season/playoffs. Great things coming, but way too many bad “fillers” while prospects developed didn’t work out.

Chunk has a grasp on DRW's main weakness, the D. If Y would have demoted Holl and kept Wally and Olli (who both can play RD), things might have worked out for the betterment of this team. Trying to add an ageing Trouba would have been another disaster.

Chunk has a grasp on DRW's main weakness, the D. If Y would have demoted Holl and kept Wally and Olli (who both can play RD), things might have worked out for the betterment of this team. Trying to add an ageing Trouba would have been another disaster.
- HenryHockey

ALL OF THIS. ⬆️⬆️

@CHUNK: DRW had to be almost completly torn down to the foundations and rebuilt. There've been some savvy moves and some complete disasters (H2 is spot-on above). Walman & Maatta were really strong defenders (not super stars, but damn solid...), who are now gone. Lots of those types of things.

Mrazek is a stop-gap, no doubt. G has been probably the co-#1 issue for this team. We need a rock in net, we don't have it now and we've paid huge prices for that.

There's no Bedard on this team. Now, I'll die on the hill that Mo Sides & Rayzor could be considered as super stars in the future, but we've no generational talent on this team. That hurts. That being said, when you look at tye structure of this team, there are some styds developing. They're not going to supplant McJesus or his ilk, but we have some damn good studs.... And we have some absolute rockets in the various minor leagues.

This team will be very formidable in the future. The 'Hawks are in a better place, if you ask me. They don't need to tear the entirety of the organization down - they're in pretty good shape. Love the rivalry between The 'Hawks & Wings. Storied franchises always end up in a slobber-knocker of a game. I think both teams will be power-houses for many years.....in the future.

My personal opinion is that this was a complete tear down with none of the first round picks prior to Yzerman working out. Mantha - gone. Zadina - gone. Svech - gone. Bought out Abdelkader and at this point there are 4 players on the main roster if you count Shine (was in GR the whole time but still pre Yzerman). Larkin, Berggren, Rasmussen. 2 of those are bottom 6. Pair with that free agent signings that have been really bad on the blue line and underperformance by Copp and Compher. So Seider came in and blew everyone away. Wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card. Raymond has come alive. Debrincat has now eclipsed 30 and is playing a stronger game. Kasper is a breath of fresh air. Edvinsson seems to be something special. But Chiarot, Petry, Gustafsson, Copp, a bottom 6 that barely contributes and a goalie carousel that never stops. Lyon was the man last year, this year he’s struggling. The coaching change is changing the culture, but it was done way too late. Looking to see Cossa grow and stabilize and hoping Augustine is in GR next year as Lombardi, Tuomisto and Wallinder should all compete for jobs. Mazur too, but he is constantly on IR. Hoping it doesn’t go south. It’s been a lot of highs and lows the past 2 seasons, but finally seeing some of the depth picks come up. Axel Sandin-Pellikka looks to be heading over post season/playoffs. Great things coming, but way too many bad “fillers” while prospects developed didn’t work out.
- Jeremy Laura

Awesome breakdown. Thanks. The ongoing argument with the Hawks fans is "how much help do you bring in now, and what does that look like?". I've been a vocal proponent of bringing in at least one major forward (via trade or FA) to simply be able to ice a true top six line. The kids are really promising, but they need time to catch up.

I don't like the idea of letting kids create a winning culture on their own. I'd prefer to have at least some players that understand how to play in the league and what is required to be continually competitive. And no, Foligno doesn't count.

On the DRW side, I've really like what I've seen from ASP. I lived overseas in 2023 and was lucky enough to get to see him in a couple games. Fingers crossed, both our teams get back into the mix in the next few years. Hawks need a coach first.

What is the main issue(s) with the Wings? Not playing as a group on the ice? Not enough top end talent? Depth? A certain position group?

I'm obviously looking at this from the outside. The Hawks are a few years behind the Wings in terms of the rebuild, but I'm trying to understand where it has gone wrong.

I believe the Hawks are on to something building up the backend first (goalie and d-men) and now hoping their mountain of forward prospects yields a solid top six (they have 7682 bottom six players).

P.S. I was really hoping that Mrazek would hold together for you guys. He was nothing but class for the Hawks and last year was easily the most valuable player.
- Chunk

Lack of elite talent: Stanley Cup contenders often have 2-3 players who could be considered top-5 in the world at their position. Our best players are Dylan Larkin (solid 1C but not elite), Lucas Raymond (who could get there but isn’t there yet), Seider (same; he might be one of the top 15-20 defenders in the league but no guarantee he’ll ever be a serious Norris contender), and DeBrincat (solid 1W but, again, not elite).

Poor drafting under Ken Holland: Filip Zadina when Quinn Hughes was available. Michael Rasmussen when Martin Necas and Nick Suzuki were available. I’m a little more forgiving of the Zadina pick (at the time of the draft he was the consensus 3/4 by most experts while Hughes was 6-8) but that Ras pick absolutely stunk from the moment it was made.

Poor draft luck under both Holland and Yzerman: Since Yzerman took over the Red Wings have done a decent enough job trying to make the best out of the picks they’ve had. Seider has arguably turned out to be the BPA where he was taken. Raymond has pretty clearly been the BPA so far based on where he was taken. Kasper and Edvinsson seemed like reaches at the time but are on track to be very good NHLers. Axel Sandin-Pellikka is on track to be a late-first-round steal. Dmitri Buchelnikov might be one of those too, if he ever makes it here. The problem? The Red Wings just didn’t get high enough picks at the right times. They’ve gotten lots of good players, but they really needed to come out of the abyss with at least one “franchise cornerstone” player. But there really haven't been too many of those entering the league since Detroit's playoff drought began (Makar, Heiskanen, Dahlin, Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes, Bedard, maybe Stutzle if he rebounds) and Quinn Hughes in 2018 was the only one still on the board by the time Detroit got to pick.

Poor pro scouting: So, so many bad, multi-year contracts given to vets who did not deserve them. The still-baffling Walman trade. Also, team defense has been a real roster-wide problem. The veteran defenders (Holl, Petry, Gustafsson, Chiarot) seem to get most of the blame but this is a roster-wide issue. Generally speaking the forward group has included a bunch of guys who are mediocre to poor defensively (or are needed for offense), and basically no true defensive specialists. At best we get guys like Motte and Fischer who are not especially good defensively but are placed in those roles because they’re not awful at it and they can’t really do anything else.

Lack of elite talent: Stanley Cup contenders often have 2-3 players who could be considered top-5 in the world at their position. Our best players are Dylan Larkin (solid 1C but not elite), Lucas Raymond (who could get there but isn’t there yet), Seider (same; he might be one of the top 15-20 defenders in the league but no guarantee he’ll ever be a serious Norris contender), and DeBrincat (solid 1W but, again, not elite).

Poor drafting under Ken Holland: Filip Zadina when Quinn Hughes was available. Michael Rasmussen when Martin Necas and Nick Suzuki were available. I’m a little more forgiving of the Zadina pick (at the time of the draft he was the consensus 3/4 by most experts while Hughes was 6-8) but that Ras pick absolutely stunk from the moment it was made.

Poor draft luck under both Holland and Yzerman: Since Yzerman took over the Red Wings have done a decent enough job trying to make the best out of the picks they’ve had. Seider has arguably turned out to be the BPA where he was taken. Raymond has pretty clearly been the BPA so far based on where he was taken. Kasper and Edvinsson seemed like reaches at the time but are on track to be very good NHLers. Axel Sandin-Pellikka is on track to be a late-first-round steal. Dmitri Buchelnikov might be one of those too, if he ever makes it here. The problem? The Red Wings just didn’t get high enough picks at the right times. They’ve gotten lots of good players, but they really needed to come out of the abyss with at least one “franchise cornerstone” player. But there really haven't been too many of those entering the league since Detroit's playoff drought began (Makar, Heiskanen, Dahlin, Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes, Bedard, maybe Stutzle if he rebounds) and Quinn Hughes in 2018 was the only one still on the board by the time Detroit got to pick.

Poor pro scouting: So, so many bad, multi-year contracts given to vets who did not deserve them. The still-baffling Walman trade. Also, team defense has been a real roster-wide problem. The veteran defenders (Holl, Petry, Gustafsson, Chiarot) seem to get most of the blame but this is a roster-wide issue. Generally speaking the forward group has included a bunch of guys who are mediocre to poor defensively (or are needed for offense), and basically no true defensive specialists. At best we get guys like Motte and Fischer who are not especially good defensively but are placed in those roles because they’re not awful at it and they can’t really do anything else.
- Sven22

Wow, thank you all for the comments. Love seeing a knowledgeable fanbase. Not to be mean, but I kind of laugh when I see that many former Hawks (from when they were on a downhill slide) on a team and them thinking it's going to turn out well. DeBrincat, Kane, Motte, Holl, Gus (and to a lesser extent Smith and Mrazek). That's a lot.

For what it's worth, I've like Veleno so far. I'm guessing he's going to be inconsistent eventually, but he's been great on the PK, and has mostly been in the right spots defensively. I think if the Hawks give him some wingers with speed, he'll be even more effective. The slow guys on our team just result in so many turnovers and lost possessions it's maddening.

Cheers!

https://x.com/champletics...tatus/1904646628683755921

An emergency call up can be burdensome.....but I bet he smiled alllllllll the way to Denver!

Here yawl go:


https://x.com/LGRWProspec...tatus/1905049712476168255

This will put a big smile on Jeremy's face!!

Here yawl go:


https://x.com/LGRWProspec...tatus/1905049712476168255

This will put a big smile on Jeremy's face!!
- HenryHockey

Not just a smile. If I smoked, I’d step outside for one. Beauty, thanks H2