Six games and ten days into their season, the Detroit Red Wings sit at 2-4-0 and seventh in the Central Division. After splitting both the Carolina and Columbus series, Detroit dropped both games to Chicago, a team that had failed to win a game all year.
Despite the additions of players like Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov to their top nine, the Red Wings have still found themselves struggling to score goals and sit at 30th overall in both goals per game (2.00) and shots per game (26.2). Their power play has also looked poor, having a success rate of 17.7 percent, which is 20th overall. Similar to last season, Detroit has had to lean on their top players to produce offensively. Just four forwards have more than three points so far: Dylan Larkin, Bobby Ryan, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Anthony Mantha. Only one defenseman, Filip Hronek, has scored more than one point.
The Red Wings have also been plagued by COVID protocols this season. So far, Robby Fabbri, Filip Zadina, Jon Merrill, Christian Djoos, Darren Helm, and Adam Erne have all missed games due to COVID rules. Fabbri and Zadina had been a part of the Red Wings’ second line, and two of the team’s better forwards in their first two games. Merrill had been running one of Detroit’s power-play units prior to being listed as unavailable.
If the Red Wings want to improve on their record from last season, they’ll need to improve offensively, both at even strength and on the power play. Getting back Fabbri and Zadina will certainly help shore up the depth issues they have, but it remains to be seen if they can improve their special teams. Coach Jeff Blashill has mixed up the lines and the power-play units for all three series Detroit has played, but so far, it hasn’t led to much goal scoring. If their offensive woes continue, the Red Wings could be in line for another long season.
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