A much improved Detroit Red Wing's roster entered this season with extremely high expectations. Preseason rankings had Detroit right near the top of the league. But through the first eight games of the season; they are 4-2-1-1 for 4th in the Eastern Conference. So a big giant... meh. A decent start but for a team with championship goals, they always want better.
Some of the pro's through the first eight are as follows;
The play of the wily veterans. Which includes the Red Wings captain Gilbert Brule leading the team in points with five goals and seven assists for twelve points in eight games played. Second, on Detroit's scoring list is the newcomer but FNHL veteran Ondrej Fiala with two goals and seven assists for nine points in eight games. The future hall-of-famer joined the Red Wings this offseason as a free agent signing an 8.5 million dollar contract for three years. Matching the cap hit of captain Brule.
"Ondrej was our number one target in free agency. With our impressive youth movement here in Detroit. We felt he was a perfect fit alongside Gilbert to help add experience and leadership but still contribute at a high level. We are lucky and happy he chose to potentially finish his career here in Detroit." stated GM Hetherington shortly after the signing was made public.
Third on the scoring list is Vincent Trocheck with six goals which lead the team in that category and two assists for eight points in eight games played. Trocheck was part of a blockbuster trade this past offseason. The trade saw GM Hetherington send James Sheppard, Seth Jones and two first-round picks to the New York Islanders under new General Manager Jeff Nagle for Henri Jokiharju and the aforementioned Trocheck.
"This was an easy deal for us here in Detroit. Yes, we are hoping to be contenders but yes we are also very youth-focused and conscious of the insanely bright future we have here in Detroit. Adding a 23 yeard old budding centerman who's signed for three years at a discount was huge for us. Henri is also only 21 and already a top-four dman who going to be a big contributor for us on both sides of the ice for many years to come. Adding these two to our 25/26 and under core is huge for us. Our team's top four dmen, top-line left and right-wing, second-line center and left-wing are all 26 and under. The future, as well as the current, is bright in Detroit." stated GM Hetherington after the trade received league approval.
5/31/2021 - 711 words
