The Detroit Red Wings season has arrived. The Red Wings look to have built a special team that many people seem to be underappreciating and could be a problem in the NHL in 2023-24.
Detroit Red Wings 2023-24 Additions and Subtractions
Additions:
- F – Alex DeBrincat – Traded from Ottawa Senators
- F – Klim Kostin – Traded from Edmonton Oilers
- D – Justin Holl – signed a 3-year contract
- G – James Reimer – signed a 1-year contract
- F – Daniel Sprong – signed a 1-year contract
- G – Alex Lyon – signed a 2-year contract
- D – Shayne Gostisbehere – signed a 1-year contract
- F – J.T. Compher – signed a 5-year contract
- F – Christian Fischer – signed a 1-year contract
Subtractions:
- F – Dominik Kubalik – Traded to Ottawa Senators
- G – Alex Nedeljkovic – signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins
- G – Magnus Hellberg – signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins
- D – Jordan Oesterle – signed with the Calgary Flames
- D – Robert Hagg – signed with the Anaheim Ducks
- F – Filip Zadina – signed with the San Jose Sharks
Detroit Red Wings Projected Starting Lineup
Forwards
Line 1: Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Larkin – David Perron
Line 2: Robby Fabbri –J.T. Compher – Lucas Raymond
Line 3: Michael Rasmussen – Andrew Copp– Daniel Sprong
Line 4: Klim Kostin– Joe Veleno – Christian Fischer
The Red Wings on offense may have two or three players who can score 40 goals this year, but what they have is a lineup that could have each player scoring 15+ goals when all is said and done. The lines after practice getting ready for Thursday night have Lucas Raymond on the second line and David Perron on the first line, which may be interchangeable as the season goes on, but the fact you can mix and match shows just how good the Red Wings offense may be this season. The most exciting line entering the season is the third line last season. Michael Rasmussen took a big step forward, and it’ll be something to watch this season if he can keep progressing. He’ll be playing alongside Andrew Copp, who is looking to have a better season than he did last year, and he will also have Daniel Sprong, who put up 46 points last season, look for that line to provide some scoring this season, which is great to see when your bottom six can provide scoring.
Defense
Line 1: Jake Walman – Moritz Seider
Line 2: Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry
Line 3: Shayne Gostisbehere –Olli Maatta
The one area that the Red Wings needed to address in the offseason was the blue line, and they did just that: going out and acquiring Jeff Petry and signing Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Holl to solidify their back end. Holl is expected not to start the season as Olli Maatta has taken the last spot on the last defensive pairing. There isn’t much to say about the first defensive pairing as they can provide offense, and Jake Walman and Moritz Seider found out they worked well together last season. The third defensive pairing is exciting as Gostisbehere can provide offense as he put up 41 points last season. The defense looks on paper like a massive upgrade from last season; now they’ll have to see if it all works out as expected.
Power-Play
Line 1: David Perron – Dylan Larkin – Alex DeBrincat –
Shayne Gostisbehere– Moritz Seider
Line 2: Robby Fabbri –JT Compher – Lucas Raymond–
Jeff Petry – Daniel Sprong
The Red Wings Power Play finished last season 17th with a 21.1%. With DeBrincat sliding into the first unit, he brings in a 30-point total from last season that would have finished second on the Red Wings. The second unit has been completely revamped as four of the five players on that line are new to Detroit for this season, and those four combined last season for 52 points. That 21.1% should be much higher in 2023-24 with the pieces added to the man advantage.
Detroit Red Wings Goalies
Ville Husso – James Reimer – Alex Lyon
The Red Wings will enter the season with three goalies: Ville Husso, James Reimer, and Alex Lyon. Husso will be the number one, but Reimer and Lyon are expected to split time as the backup or the number three. Another revamp to the Red Wings from last season as they let Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg leave and brought in Reimer, who has been in the NHL for 13 seasons and has also played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The one thing that needs to be a key focus in net is ensuring Ville Husso is healthy; last season, he suffered an injury, and his numbers didn’t look so good after that point. Husso is a good goalie and can be the guy that helps lead the Red Wings to the playoffs.
Detroit Red Wings Schedule
The Red Wings will face five of the other seven teams in the Atlantic Division four times and the other two three times; those four teams are the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators. The two teams in the division they will face three times are the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Red Wings will also face all eight teams in the Metropolitan Division three times each. They will also meet each Western Conference team twice, once at home and once on the road, to complete the 2023-24 schedule. Some key dates on the schedule: the Red Wings will face their rival Colorado Avalanche on February 22nd and March 6th. They will face the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights on January 27th and March 9th. The Red Wings will face number one overall pick Connor Bedard on November 30th and February 25th, and they will get Connor McDavid on January 11th and February 13th.
Bottom Line: The 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings season has arrived
The Detroit Red Wings kick off the season on Thursday on the road against the New Jersey Devils. Then they will have their home opener on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning; the Red Wings catch a break in that matchup against the Lightning as they’ll be without their goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Red Wings are much better than last season, and there should be some optimism this season. They could make the playoffs this season and have the rebuild finally over; if they are in the playoff race until the end of this season, it should be considered a success.
