Dude, The Red Wings Are Good Again!

In case you haven't been paying attention (Understandably if you haven't with all the football going on), your Winged Wheelers, the Detroit Red Wings are off to a good start and showing some big-time progress this season.

As of this writing (November 11th), the Wings are 7-5-2 for a total of 16 points.  That's good for third in the Atlantic Division behind Florida and Toronto.  They would make the playoffs if the season ended today.

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They've been getting good play all around.  But it starts with the captain, Dylan Larkin (pictured above), and forward Tyler Bertuzzi.  They have been tearing it up so far.  Bertuzzi has nine goals and six assists despite missing three games due to his inability to play in Canada because he's not vaccinated against COVID-19.  Larkin has missed four games due to suspension and having to deal with a family emergency, but he's got four goals and five assists so far.

And the young guys are playing like studs, too.  Rookie forward Lucas Raymond has 6 goals and 8 assists, while rookie defenseman Moritz Seider has 11 points.  Both are Calder Trophy candidates (the Calder is given to the NHL's Rookie of the Year).

Speaking of Seider, he is part of a vastly improved defensive unit.  Nick Leddy has been a great acquisition so far.  And guys like Gustav Lindstrom, Marc Staal, and Filip Hronek have played well, too.

The goalie situation is stable with veteran Thomas Greiss and youngster Alex Nedelkovic.  Both have looked good so far.

Organizationally, general manager Steve Yzerman has turned them around.  Most of the bad money that was accumulated at the end of the Ken Holland era is gone.  Because of that, their salary cap situation is in good shape (more than $10 million under the cap according to capfriendly.com).

The team has been criticized for keeping head coach Jeff Blashill during these recent losing seasons.  But it seems that the Wings like him and how he's developing the young players.

There's a long way to go.  But it's nice be able to turn on the TV and see a good product when you see the Winged Wheelers skate up and down the ice.