The Red Wings have become the NHL’s standard-bearer, and not just on the ice.
After a close look at all 30 teams, Detroit came out as the league’s No. 1 franchise, with the gap between the Wings and second-place Ottawa larger than the distance between any other two clubs in the league. The ranking was built on nine on- and off-ice factors, with the focus mainly on the past five seasons, and Detroit separated itself in a hurry.
This comes on the heels of other top-end praise for the organization. Last season, Ken Holland was named the league’s top GM, and a couple of issues ago the Red Wings’ defense corps was pegged as the NHL’s best this season. The common thread is hard to miss.
So what puts Detroit in a class of its own in a league built on parity? The answer is pretty simple: the Wings do everything well.
They have been regular playoff teams, they have owned the regular season, they have strong ownership and front-office leadership, and they have drafted better than you’d expect for a club that has rarely picked near the top. Their franchise value is high, and until this season, their attendance was among the strongest in the NHL.
They have not won the Stanley Cup since 2002, but that still leaves them with more recent success than 25 other teams in the league. In every important organizational category, they look like the model franchise.
Detroit has also managed to stay a powerhouse with what amounts to an unlimited budget, avoiding the kind of collapse that has caught some other big-market teams after the salary cap arrived. And even when the draft board hasn’t been friendly, the Wings have kept finding value, especially late. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and, maybe one day, Niklas Kronwall stand out as examples of how well this organization has mined the back end of the draft.
In Other News...
Red Wings Trade Idea Sparks Big Debate About Detroits Next Scoring Move
A hypothetical trade idea has been making the rounds around the Red Wings, and it speaks directly to the one thing Detroit still seems to be chasing most: another proven scorer who can slide into the top six and change the look of the lineup. The concept is simple enough on paper, with the Blues willing to absorb part of the money and Detroit looking for a forward who could help right away without forcing the club to wait on internal development alone.
What makes the discussion interesting is that it is not just about what Detroit would gain, but what St. Louis would be trying to solve on its end. The Blues would be opening space for a younger player to step in while also easing some cap pressure, which is why the framework has drawn attention as more than a one-sided rental idea. For the Red Wings, though, the real question is whether a move like this is the kind of scoring swing they are willing to make, or just another reminder of how thin the market can be. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Just Changed Everything About Their Goalie Picture
The Red Wings have spent the offseason reshaping their goaltending depth chart in a way that would have looked hard to imagine a year ago. Michal Postava, signed out of the Czech league last offseason, has pushed himself into the conversation in Grand Rapids and now looks like a legitimate candidate to back up John Gibson, giving Detroit a younger internal option to weigh as the organization rethinks how it wants to build in goal.
Detroit also added another layer of insurance by bringing in veteran Daniil Tarasov on a one-year deal, giving the club some flexibility while the competition sorts itself out. Between Postavas rise and Tarasovs presence, the Red Wings suddenly have more moving parts than they did before, and the next question is how that mix settles once camp opens and the battle for the No. 2 job really gets going. [Read more 🡒]