Detroit Red Wings: 3 bold predictions for the 2020-21 season
By Tyler Kotila
2. The Detroit Red Wings will not finish dead last in the division or league.
A little shoutout to Detroit Jock City contributor Jake Rivard for this “prediction” that I also believe in. Rivard recently wrote about how the Detroit Red Wings will be better than the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2020-21 season.
This past offseason, the Red Wings got better, plain, and simple. They went out and signed players who make this team better. The players who were brought in are not incredible, but they will help elevate them from the depths of the league.
Starting with goaltending. Jonathan Bernier and Thomas Greiss will have a solid 1A/1B rotation going on that will work out much better than what Jimmy Howard and Bernier did in 2019-20. Howard was no more than a shooter tutor, and Bernier was forced to be the team MVP to even keep them in games when possible.
This is not to say that the goaltending will increase ten-fold, but Bernier and Greiss are more than serviceable and should have a much better defense in front of them than in 2019-20. Moving into their defense, there was also a crop of new talent that should help beef things up back there.
The team is getting Danny DeKeyser back after his 2019-20 season was cut short due to injury. Filip Hronek is settling in during his second year and should be quite good in 2020-21. New additions Jonathan Merrill, Marc Staal, and Troy Stecher should all contribute as well.
The sound-ness of the defensemen in the defensive zone should be much better than it has been in past years. Last but not least, up front, the forwards are better. Marginally better in the bottom-six.
Are they a contender? No. But they have the assets that will help them be a better hockey club, whereas teams like the Blackhawks will struggle worse than the Red Wings and likely finish behind them. The Blackhawks have a goaltending gap, are missing Jonathan Toews, and pretty much in a rebuild with some young talent trying to carry along with Patrick Kane.
The Detroit Red Wings should be able to climb the rankings and avoid finishing dead last in 2020-21.