Red Wings Fall Out of Playoff Contention During Important Stretch

The Detroit Red Wings lost a pivotal game against the Washington Capitals in overtime in the race to make the Stanley Cup playoffs by a final score of 4-3. There are ten games left in the NHL’s regular season. While this loss does not necessarily guarantee that the team will miss the playoffs for the eighth straight season, the next four games being against teams that are in a playoff position and on the road does not spell well. There are still positives to take away from the Red Wings’ 2023-24 season, though.

Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider won his first fight in the NHL against Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators. Forsberg landed the first two punches of the fight but then Seider saw red and threw punches with his left and right hand. Red Wings’ play-by-play commentator Ken Daniels called this game the most important game in the tenure of Steve Yzerman as general manager of the Red Wings. Despite losing to the hottest team in the NHL, the Red Wings played well.

Seider has bounced back from a perceived “sophomore slump.” During the 2022-23 season Seider played all 82 games. This was the first season under head coach Derek Lalonde and Seider needed time to adjust to the style of play that Lalonde wanted from him. The Zelle, Germany native followed up his Calder Trophy winning season with five goals and 37 assists in 2022-23. After being drafted sixth overall by Yzerman in 2019, Seider shocked the NHL world with his physical play in his first season.

Defenseman Simon Edvinsson has shown well in his limited time on the Red Wings’ roster during the 2023-24 season. In six games played for the Red Wings, Edvinsson played an average of 17 minutes per game. Four of these six games have been while the Red Wings were in a chase for a playoff spot. Edvinsson played 18:19 during the game against the Predators, one that Lalonde said there were positives to take away from.

“We’ll take that [team] game every single time,” Lalonde said. “Just gave up a handful of chances. Obviously, you limit that team to one goal against, we didn’t turn the puck over. It was one of our better game management games. We didn’t give up any odd-mans. We gave up where they came out of the box, a little bit dangerous two-on-one, that was it. That’s playoff-type hockey. It’s tight hockey. I just liked our approach.”

Edvinsson has played with veteran Jeff Petry on Detroit’s second defensive pairing. Petry, an Ann Arbor, Michigan native, is 36 years old and came home to play in the same city as his father, Dan Petry, who was a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers from 1979 to 1987 and again in 1990 and 1991. Jeff Petry has played in 63 games for the Red Wings this season and is a -7 on the season. Edvinsson can only make up for so much as a young player trying to find his way in the NHL.

The Red Wings would go on to lose the game against the Predators by a score of 1-0. That is not to say that the team played bad. Nashville had earned points in 17 games straight with a record of 15-0-2. The lack of high-end scoring talent on the Red Wings’ roster. Newly acquired right-winger Alex DeBrincat has gone into a cold spell recently, scoring only one goal in 12 games. In 72 games played for the Red Wings DeBrincat has scored 24 goals and added 34 assists.

Whether or not the Red Wings wind up making the Stanley Cup playoffs is not unimportant. General manager Yzerman has rebuilt the roster to make them into a playoff contending team. The roster has taken steps forward and the next step to take is to make it into the playoffs. As the end of the 2023-24 NHL season comes to an end, and the team looks forward to 2024-25, Yzerman and Red Wings management should continue to look at the younger players in the system to decide whether or not they have a place on this team.