A month into the season, the Red Wings are still giving everyone plenty to chew on - and not always for the right reasons. They sit at the bottom of the Atlantic with 15 of a possible 28 points, and a late collapse against the St. Louis Blues wiped out any chance of finishing October at .500.
That loss was a rough one. Detroit led into the final period, then gave up three goals in the last 10 minutes and fell 5-4. It was the kind of finish that turns a decent month into a frustrating one in a hurry.
There have been bright spots, though, and Emmitt Finnie is right at the center of one of them. Ten games after opening at center, he’s now on the top line and working on the top power play unit.
He’s also scored three goals in his last five games. Finnie still doesn’t have the hands or pure puck skills you’d usually want from a top-six center, but he’s been improving quickly in those areas.
More importantly, his ability to move plays into the offensive zone has made that limitation easier to live with when he’s flanked by veterans like Viktor Arvidsson, who has 8 goals and 14 points, and Alex DeBrincat, who has 6 goals and 15 points.
One of the bigger questions remains in goal, where John Gibson’s October has been a mixed bag. Detroit has leaned on him heavily, starting him 10 times in 14 games, but he hasn’t looked like the same goalie from that two-month stretch from December and January of last year.
Gibson is 4-5-1, and he’s allowed three or more goals in seven games this season. The Wings do have other options, with Daniil Tarasov and Michal Postava both delivering quality starts when called on.
After how much Gibson was used in the back half of last season, Detroit needs to rethink the rotation if it wants the best version of him and the best version of the team. Gibson, after all, is the kind of goalie who feeds off competition.
Give him some motivation.
The other mess facing the team is off the ice. Dylan Larkin has quit playing for the team, and the Red Wings suspended the former captain on Oct.
- They still haven’t signed RFA defenseman Simon Edvinsson either, and interim GM Shawn Horcoff’s latest word to Detroit media on that front was simply “the status quo.”
November may finally force some movement. Detroit has a heavy road schedule, with only one home game in the first two weeks of the month, which should give management some room to work through those issues behind the scenes. At some point, the whole thing has to stop being a spectacle.
Larkin’s decision to stop playing suggests he’s as worn down by it as anyone else, and Edvinsson is facing a deadline to sign or push the Red Wings toward a trade by Dec. 1 if he wants to play in the NHL this year. For now, the hope is that Horcoff can give Red Wings fans something to be thankful for by getting Edvinsson signed and finding the right return for Larkin before December arrives.
In Other News...
Red Wings Icon Takes Rare Public Stand In Russia Hockey Debate
Nicklas Lidstrom rarely wades into political arguments around the sport, but the Red Wings vice president of hockey operations and an advisor to the Swedish Hockey Federation has taken a clear position after the Court of Arbitration for Sport annulled the IIHFs ban on Russia. With the IIHF expected to appeal, the debate has quickly shifted from a legal ruling to what national federations should do next if Russia is cleared to return to international competition.
For Lidstrom, the response should start with a boycott of international events if Russia is allowed back in. His former teammate Viacheslav Fetisov, now a member of the Russian State Duma, wants Russia back on the world stage too, though only if it competes under its own national symbols rather than as neutral athletes. For a hockey dispute that reaches well beyond the rink, those are two very different lines in the sand. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Have A John Gibson Problem They Cant Ignore
A late collapse in St. Louis turned what looked like a solid road win into another frustrating night for Detroit, and it put John Gibson back under the microscope. The Red Wings carried a two-goal lead into the third period before the Blues stormed back with three unanswered goals, a burst that quickly flipped the game and left Detroit searching for answers after another missed opportunity.
Gibson was in net for the unraveling and gave up five goals on 15 shots, a line that will naturally draw attention whenever a game gets away from a team that expects more stability in goal. Still, the Red Wings are hoping this is just a rough outing rather than a sign of something bigger, because the version of Gibson they need is the one who looked far more like himself last season. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Fans Should Brace For A New Twist In The Larkin Standoff
Dylan Larkins standoff with the Red Wings has already taken a sharp turn, and now there may be another one coming. Detroit suspended the center without pay after he said he would not play for the team again, and the organization has made clear it views him as finished in Detroit. For now, Larkins trade list includes 10 teams, but not every club on it is a realistic landing spot because of salary-cap limits and the cost in assets it would take to make a deal work.
Elliotte Friedman added another layer to the situation by reporting that the list itself could change within the next 24 to 48 hours. That kind of fluidity only adds to the uncertainty around where this goes next, especially with some teams already looking like long shots as trade partners. For Red Wings fans, the story is no longer just about whether Larkin moves, but about how quickly the market around him could shift before anything becomes concrete. [Read more 🡒]