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NHL: An Early Look at the Red Wings as Training Camp Approaches

darren cooper
By:
Darren Cooper
11/09/2023/
NHL
Detroit Red Wings Sport News

Highlights

  • The Red Wings are seeking first playoff berth since 2015-2016 season.
  • Red Wings training camp starts Thursday, Sept. 21 in Traverse City at Center ICE Arena.
  • The Wings have increased their point total each of the last four years.

This will be season No. 97 for the Detroit Red Wings, one of the legendary Original Six franchises of the National Hockey League.

Unfortunately, they’re approaching a dubious streak.

Although the Wings have steadily improved each of the last four years, Coach Derek Lalonde’s team has not made the playoffs since the 2015/16 season -- that’s seven years in a row.
That matches the longest streak in franchise history. Detroit also missed the playoffs from 1971-77.

Michigan sportsbooks are hot with the odds on the Wings getting back to the playoffs. Detroit made some big moves in free agency and can no longer use “we’re young” as an excuse.

What Do the Oddsmakers Say?

BetMGM Michigan has the Wings in the middle of the pack as a Stanley Cup winner, with +5000 before the season starts. The King of Sportsbooks has the Wings positioned seventh (out of eight teams) to win the Atlantic Division at +1600. And the over/under figure at 85.5 points for the year.

86 points would not have made the Eastern Conference playoffs last year.

FanDuel Michigan has different odds on the Wings. They have them at 86.5 points for the season over/under, and list them as +7000 to win the Cup and +2000 to win division. Wings star defenseman Moritz Seider is also listed in the post-season award.

Who Can the Wings Rely On?

Seider is the team’s main star on the back row. He enters his third year with the team after finishing second on the squad with 37 assists.

It was the first year in goal for goalie Ville Husso in net and he won 26 games for the Wings, but his goals against per game was 3.11, which is high.

Husso is expected to take a leap this season in his second year as starter. The Red Wings also brought in star forward Alex DeBrincat from Ottawa and he gives the team a badly-needed top scorer. DeBrincat had 27 goals last year and 39 assists.

Wings captain Dylan Larkin is entering his ninth season with Detroit. The 26-year old led Detroit with 79 points last season.

Spreading Their Wings

The Wings have tons of prospects in the pipeline including 2022 first-round pick Marco Kasper.
Kasper spent most of the season in the Swedish Hockey League, but did get a taste of the NHL playing in one game late in the regular season. With a good training camp, he is expected to join the rotation.

Detroit had not one, but two first round picks this year. They took center Nate Danielson ninth overall and defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka with the 17th pick.

Traditionally, Detroit management likes to put their top picks in the American Hockey League for a year before bringing them up to Detroit. Danielson could be the exception. He’s 6-foot-2, 186-pounds, so has NHL size. He had 78 points in 68 games in the Western Hockey League last year.

darren cooper

Born and raised in Louisiana, Darren Cooper has a fond appreciation for bayous, Mardi Gras beads and the sports betting industry. Darren has worked for multiple print and online publications since 1998, primarily as a sports columnist in the Northeast. He’s covered a Super Bowl (it was a blowout), the World Series (same) and the NBA Draft (man, those guys are tall). For the last few years he’s dug deep into the sports gambling industry as it exploded across America, learning how the legal sausage is made and how while all the sportsbooks look the same, they all have different identities and styles. He’s learned to always bet within his means -- and take the under. When not in front of his computer creating, Darren spends time with his three boys. He runs, reads and is always looking for the next big thing to write about.