The Resurgence of the Detroit Red Wings
The city of Detroit has been waiting patiently for its sports teams to come back to relevance after recent years of failed success across all four major sports leagues. As we head into the final month of 2023, Detroit sports fans now have something to cheer about with the re-emergence of their Detroit Lions and the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday continues the franchise’s long-awaited return to relevancy and early season success in the 2023-24 NHL regular season. The turnaround of the Red Wings this season gives Detroit fans hope for the start of a new era of winning hockey for their original six franchise. Let’s take a look at how the Red Wings have returned as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference of the NHL.
Currently, the Red Wings sit in third place in the Atlantic Division, with an 11-6-3 record and riding a three-game win streak heading into the last week of November. The Red Wings have been one of the league's most prolific offenses scoring 74 goals through their first 20 games, ranking fifth in the league, and having success on their power play, with 19 goals in 85 opportunities. Coming into the 2023-24 season, the Red Wings had been in a long rebuilding process that had spanned over six seasons, with the Red Wings' last playoff appearance being in 2016, when they lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
The resurgence of the Red Wings franchise comes in large part from success in nailing draft picks in recent years and signing key veteran offseason free agents. Most notably, the drafting of center Dylan Larkin in the first round of 2014, was seen as a step in the right direction and a sign of brighter years to come with a core building block put in place that the team can structure their roster around Larkin. While the results for the Red Wings didn’t immediately come to fruition in a couple of years following the drafting of Larkin, the team has been able to rely upon Larkin to become a steady force in the Red Wings starting lineup. The nine-year career for Larkin has been filled with production in the scoring department accumulating 187 career goals in 604 games played. The Red Wings star center has been one of the league’s best in assists totaling 271 in his career so far.
The signing of veteran offseason free agents such as defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, forward Daniel Sprong, and goalie James Reimer has enabled Detroit to construct a cohesive roster that includes young superstars and that relies upon a veteran presence from players that have had previous postseason success. In the Red Wings' return to winning hockey, the creation of a strong team identity is a factor that has been seen as an important piece in the team’s success this season. Following the Red Wings win over the Wild, Gostisbehere noted the importance of building an identity that players can focus on emulating the remainder of the season. Gostisbehere stated, “I think guys realized that and we looked at ourselves in the mirrors and realized if we do it the right way, we are going to get results and it’s really been working.” The Red Wings will look to continue to rely upon their team chemistry as they aim to return to the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.
