We have a number 1 and number 2 D, that is like every rebuild's wet dream. We have 2 passable NHL top lines. I don't know what more anyone could expect after 5 years from the completely bottom and no top 3 picks.
The playoffs. This is the NHL - half the teams make it in.
Yeah, the Red Wings likely would have been blasted by the Rangers had they made it in (they would have avoided the Rangers if they didn't fall balls first into a woodchipper in March with 7 straight losses), but it's valuable playoff experience that younger players need.
They’re in year six of Yzerman and are in second to last place in the eastern conference in a league where literally half the teams play beyond game 82 and have regressed compared to where they were in 2022-23, which was Lalonde's 1st year. That’s unacceptable.
There is no rebuild on earth where fans can be bricked up about where their team is heading with those results after almost six years - especially with the fact that almost none of Detroit’s prospects that are supposedly going to ride in and save the day eventually are posting impressive numbers right now in the minors. Nate Danielson has three goals in 29 games in the AHL, while Carter Mazur had only 17 goals in 60 games last year.
Those numbers are anything but encouraging about how they'll perform in a more talented League like the NHL. Could they theoretically arrive and suddenly become elite? Sure, but I'm not holding my breath.
Regarding prospect forwards who have made the jump to the NHL, Marco Kasper sure isn't anything special (yet) with his two goals in 29 games.
"2 passable NHL top lines"? What's passable about Tarasenko's four goals in 33 games? What's passable about Compher's identical four goals in 33 games? Sometimes Andrew Copp slots into the top-6...he has seven goals in 34 games.
