The Detroit Red Wings should have taken the next step this season. It was supposed to be the local red wings occupied by the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But unfortunately, the Red Wings watched the playoffs off the field for the ninth consecutive season, rather than playing in it.
Many people are beginning to wonder if Motown needs a new direction. General Manager Steve Yzerman’s seat is getting warmer, even if it’s not hot yet. When Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin wasn’t doing much to improve the club during the team’s locker cleaning day, his GM called on his GM to call on his GM, which restored that stress and heat.
“It’s hard to do nothing, and then I feel like a team one, we’re not getting any momentum from the deal deadline,” Larkin told the media. “The guys are a little frustrated with it, so it would be nice to add something, bring a little spark on the ice and maybe boost morale as well.”
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It’s no surprise that Dylan Larkin is frustrated. He has never seen the playoffs since 2015-16. His rookie season was the final year for the Red Wings to enter the playoffs. Long playoff drought, like the 14-year-old Buffalo Saber, now with 9-year-old Red Wings, isn’t a good thing. Especially in places like Detroit, fans may lose interest if the team fails.
Despite winning all the wins, Detroit missed the playoffs in 2024 because it didn’t have enough regulatory wins as they tied for the same as the Washington Capitals. The lack of Larkin in a series of games gives the Red Wings a chance in the playoffs.
This year, Red Wings are not talented enough. There are too many long winning streaks, especially the winning streak that entered the 2025 Stadium Series and stood out from it. But the team led by Steve Yzerman and Company is not good enough.
Patrick Kane is still a good player, but he is older. The goalkeeper continues to be the revolving door of the Red Wing. Not to mention, he signed too many players, such as JT Comppher and Andrew Copp.
Red Wings have pretty young cores of Larkin, Debrincat, Lucas Raymond, Marco Kasper, Moritz Seider and Simon Evidsson. Larkin won’t go anywhere until people get out of control. He signed an eight-year contract with a complete unmotivated clause running in the 2027-28 season.
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But, people are asking, why can’t Steve Yzerman do lightning strikes twice again? Well, for one guy who he drafted in Tampa Bay like Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov were better than he did in Detroit. They are perfect for Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman who are already there. Oh yes, he drafted Andrei Vasilevskiy.
If you look at a team like the Montreal Canadaens, they take steps to draft, develop and play young players. Similar to Lightning, they become competitors. Detroit failed to do this unless it was injured. This is not the late 1990s or early 2000s, when kids could stay in AHL and overdevelop. 12 Hall of Famers on the team blocked the major leagues.
While many think it’s going into this season, there’s a reasonable case where the Canadians’ team is better than the Red Wings. Finally, the person who raises the argument is right. Those young Canadians can take advantage of the strength of a great team to play for the playoffs. Maybe there is a move or two, and the red wings do the same.
However, at the start of the season, at the deadline, Ezelman may not feel his team is ready to be a sustainable playoff contender, according to his comments last year. Whether it is true, players are sensing and frustrated, seeing others undergoing rebuilding and returning to the playoffs in those nine years.
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At some point, the Detroit Red Wings need to get rid of the reconstruction plan and take the next step, which is the playoffs.
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