The Detroit Red Wings are more than a quarter of the way through their 100th NHL season-a milestone year that’s supposed to mark a turning point for the franchise. With Todd McLellan in his first full season behind the bench, the Red Wings came into this campaign looking to establish a new standard of accountability, toughness, and consistency. And for a brief stretch in October, it looked like they might be doing just that.
After a rough 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in their home opener-a game that left little doubt about the work ahead-McLellan didn’t mince words. He challenged his team directly, and the response was immediate. Detroit rattled off five straight wins and jumped out to an 8-4 start, showing flashes of the high-paced, aggressive identity McLellan has been preaching since day one.
But as any NHL coach will tell you, early-season success doesn’t mean much if you can’t sustain it. And lately, the Red Wings have hit a wall. Over their last 10 games, they’ve gone 4-4-2, including a four-game losing streak that’s exposed some familiar cracks in the foundation-especially on the defensive end.
Saturday’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was a particularly tough pill to swallow. After the game, defenseman Moritz Seider didn’t sugarcoat it: the Red Wings need to do a better job playing to their identity.
The issue? That identity still isn’t fully formed.
“We’re still trying to look for it,” McLellan admitted when asked about the team’s identity. “Earlier in the year, I talked about identity and pace. I do think we can be a quick, fast team that gets on top of people, both offensively and defensively.”
That dual emphasis-speed on both sides of the puck-is central to McLellan’s vision. He wants the Red Wings to be a team that doesn’t just skate fast, but thinks fast, reacts fast, and closes gaps before opponents can exploit them.
Some nights, they’ve done exactly that. Other nights, not so much.
“But the rest of our game will come from that,” McLellan continued. “Can we defend better?
Certainly we can. But we can do it faster and quicker.”
The numbers back up McLellan’s concerns. After those four straight losses, Detroit’s goal differential has dropped to -13, ranking them 28th out of 32 NHL teams. That stat doesn’t just reflect a team struggling to finish chances-it’s a snapshot of a group giving up too many quality looks at the other end.
“We create a lot of chances, but we don’t quite score on enough of them,” McLellan said. “But we give up enough that we’re getting scored on, and that’s why we’re not winning. We gotta fix it.”
It’s a familiar refrain for Red Wings fans who’ve watched this team struggle to find the right balance for years. The offense generates chances, the defense leaks too many, and the goaltending is left to try to bail things out. That formula rarely leads to sustainable success.
Back in April, GM Steve Yzerman made it clear: he wants the Red Wings to be a harder team to play against. That doesn’t just mean throwing more hits or grinding out low-scoring games. It means being smarter with the puck, more connected in the defensive zone, and more committed to the kind of details that win games in March and April-not just October.
There’s still time to turn things around. The season is long, and this team has shown it can respond to adversity. But if Detroit wants to be more than a feel-good story in its centennial season, the Red Wings will need to find that elusive identity-and fast.