The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-0. Goaltender Petr Mrazek had his first shutout in over a year. The Red Wings acquired Mrazek, as well as veteran center Craig Smith, from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for center Joe Veleno. The general manager of the Red Wings, Steve Yzerman, said in a press conference after the trade deadline that he did not want to give up future assets in exchange for rentals. I have written in the past that the Red Wings doing everything in their power to extend their Stanley Cup playoff streak hurt them in the long run.
The Red Wings have not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2016. The team lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games under former head coach Jeff Blashill. The franchise began its rebuild the following season. In the intervening time, the Red Wings have had an up-and-down record of drafting. However, this seems to be changing but that has not led to playoff success for the Red Wings as of yet. Two Red Wings, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, were recently named to The Athletic’s 2025 All-Under-25 team.
Head coach of the Red Wings, Todd McLellan, did not want to use the team’s lack of experience as an excuse. This was not the case with former head coach Derek Lalonde. “I’m not going to use age as an excuse,” he said. “If you’re in the NHL and if you’re in a playoff race, tough luck. I don’t care how old you are. And that goes with the older players, too.”
Raymond has scored 23 goals and added 46 assists in 68 games played. These 23 goals are the third most on the Red Wings’ 2024-25 team. The Gothenburg, Sweden native who was drafted fourth overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft almost singlehandedly dragged the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. Despite the team’s recent losing streak Raymond has scored one goal and added three assists in the last five games for the Red Wings.
Defenseman Simon Edvinsson is a rookie who has played very well for the Red Wings in his first full season with the team. The Red Wings drafted Edvinsson with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The Kungsbacka, Sweden native, has been on the top pair of the Red Wings’ defense with Moritz Seider for much of the 2024-25 season. He has played 63 games so far this season. Edvinsson and Seider will be the top defensive pair for the Red Wings moving forward.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year in 2022, playing in all 82 games during his rookie season. The Zelle, Germany native, has proven to be durable, playing in every game of his young career. Edvinsson is not eligible to win the Calder Trophy given that he played more than six games during the 2023-24 season. In 64 games played for the Red Wings this season, Edvinsson has averaged nearly 21 minutes on ice per game this season.
Marco Kasper scored one of the most gorgeous goals of any Red Wing in some time to put the game against the Golden Knights away. Kasper is a 20-year-old center from Innsbruck, Austria, who the Red Wings drafted with the eighth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. In 27 games played for the Red Wings this season, Kasper has scored 11 goals and added nine assists. In his last 30 games played, Kasper has 11 goals, which leads all rookies. All these goals have come at even strength, which leads all rookies.
In Steve Yzerman’s six years as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, he has rebuilt the team’s roster. This has not led to Stanley Cup playoff success. However, the young Red Wings on the current roster have proven that they belong at the NHL level. If the team is going to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs this season these young Red Wings are going to need to go on a tear in the final 14 games of the 2024-25 NHL season.
ITR 39: Conference Finals – Inside The Rink
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