After making the playoffs 25 straight times from 1990 to 2016, the Detroit Red Wings are on track to miss the spring tournament for a ninth straight time this year.
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The reset plan started by local hero Steve Yzerman in April 2019 is heading straight for a wall.
After suffering a 5-4 overtime loss Monday night against the poor San Jose Sharks, the Red Wings occupy seventh place in the Atlantic Division with 16 points in 18 games. Derek Lalonde’s men have only won seven times since the start of the year, including only one against a team playing for over .500.
Several fans in Detroit are calling for the dismissal of the head coach who has been at the helm of the team since the 2022-2023 season. The message no longer seems to be getting through to players.
The Michigan team has just one trio that regularly produces offense in Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond. However, the rest of the team hardly contributes.
Veteran Patrick Kane has just three goals and Vladimir Tarasenko has just seven points in 18 games. Centers Andrew Copp and JT Compher, who earn more than $11 million combined, have only 7 and 6 points on their record since the start of the year.
In defense, it’s not much better. Aside from the duo composed of young Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, the “Wings” blue line is dry. Former CH players Jeff Petry and Ben Chiarot, who form the second pair on defense, have only two assists each and have records of -7 and -9.
The only positive point of the season so far is the performance of veteran goalie Cam Talbot who boasts an excellent efficiency rate of .920 in 11 appearances.
Since being named the team’s general manager after building a two-time Stanley Cup championship team in Tampa Bay, Steve Yzerman has attempted to perform a reset of sorts in Detroit.
However, he has sometimes tried to put pressure on the accelerator by acquiring seasoned veterans with long and big contracts. However, these bets have not paid off so far.
What’s next for the Red Wings? They will have to start winning, and quickly, or they will definitely have to start the work of rebuilding or resetting from scratch.
