Since it’s been all doom and gloom for the Detroit Red Wings lately, I wanted to take a different approach. A positive approach.
Make no mistake, if the goal is incremental progress, then this year’s team is falling short. I don’t think it’s too late to turn things around, though. To that point, let’s discuss how to right the ship with five out of the next six games at home, and the 2024-25 season on the line.
What’s Going Well
Before diving into what needs to be fixed, it’s worth pointing out what’s going right for the Red Wings. At the top of the list is the power play.
The Red Wings have converted on 32 percent of their power plays – good enough for third-best in the NHL. For the most part, PP1 has driven the bus. Lately, though, Marco Kasper and PP2 have been able to pop home a few goals.
In addition, Detroit’s team defense has improved year over year. This isn’t specific to the defensemen, but the team as a whole. Goals against are down, as are high-danger chances against per 60 (HDCA/60). In fact, Detroit 9.95 HDCA/60 at five on five ranks in the top half of the league and is a 10.36 percent improvement over the 2023-24 season.
A main knock against this year’s team has been the high shot volume against. But since high-danger attempts are kept to a minimum, then the volume isn’t a major concern.
In addition, Detroit’s 5.54 all-situations takeaways per 60 is ninth-best in the NHL.
As a whole, team defense has improved. Sure, there are still loud gaffes. And I mean loud. But, overall, this year’s team is better defensively than what we saw in 2023-24.
Finally, Detroit’s goaltending has been much more reliable in 2024-25. Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon have given the Red Wings a chance to win on most nights – that wasn’t always the case last year.
Red Wings Priority #1: Five-on-Five Offense
Above all else, the Red Wings need to score more at five on five. Focusing on improving their league-worst 8.28 high-danger chances-for per 60 (HDCF/60) will help to some degree.
Flat out, Detroit needs to generate more offense from the inner slot. Part of that is being more comfortable fighting for pucks in the hard areas near the net. Robby Fabbri and David Perron did a great job with this last year. Now, players like Kasper, J.T. Compher, and Michael Rasmussen should be counted on to pick up the slack.
In addition, the Red Wings need to do a better job moving the puck from low to high and finding cross-ice seams. Easier said than done, but they do have some outstanding playmakers in Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond in the top six.
But before they can crash the net and find open ice in the slot, the Red Wings need to do a better job transitioning the puck out of their own zone and into the offensive zone. This means more structured breakouts through controlled exits and maintaining possession entering the offensive zone. It’s fine to leverage a dump-and-chase strategy here and there – dump ins just need to be intentional. Otherwise, you’re throwing the puck away.
And finally, the Red Wings need to cut down on their giveaways. Detroit’s 16.85 giveaways per 60 ranks (in all situations) ranks third-worst in the league. Simply put, less giveaways equals more puck possession, which equals more opportunities to generate high-quality chances.
Red Wings Priority #2: Penalty Kill
Detroit’s penalty kill has struggled mightily this season, posting a league-worst success rate of just 66.7%.
Overall, the Red Wings’ PK woes can be summed up by three themes:
- Failed zone exits/clears
- Failing to box out the net front
- Leaving the weak-side flank wide open
The first two can be remedied through improved on-ice communication and committing to intentionality and better effort. There needs to be accountability – you either follow through and make plays on a consistent basis or you sit.
The third theme—leaving the weak-side flank open—is a product of Detroit’s alignment strategy. They have been overloading to the strong side to prevent flank-to-flank and flank-to-bumper passes. However, opponents have noticed that the strong-side flank can draw the forwards in, drop the puck back to the quarterback, and then slide it over to the wide-open weak-side flank for an uncontested high-quality chance.
To fix this, the Red Wings need a new approach to the penalty kill, and that may take some time to iron out. Perhaps reverting back to last year’s strategy where the non-net front defenseman marked the flank more aggressively could help.
Final Word
If the 2024-25 Red Wings want to achieve Steve Yzerman’s goal of incremental growth each year, then their even-strength offensive output and penalty kill need to improve – and fast. It’s not as dire as it appears to be, though.
Derek Lalonde and his coaching staff need to develop new offensive zone strategy and penalty kill alignment, and the players need to execute the adjusted game plan. It’s on both the players and coaches to make sure it’s not a lost season. A turnaround is certainly possible.
Data courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.
