Detroit 10 game preseason review

Looking at the team as a whole we can quickly see that so far the preseason has given the Detroit fans exactly what they are looking for, 7 wins and 3 losses, 37 (an average of 3,7 per game) goals for and 28 (an average of 2,8 per game) goals against, 328 shots for (an average of 32,8 per game), and 287 (an average of 28,7 per game) shoots against. So far so good, offensively the players are producing just as one would expect from the team, led by Draisaitl at 9 goals and 15 points in 10 games followed by Ryan Johansen, Kevin Fiala, and Kyle Connor, all on a point per game or above average.

Defensively there is not to complain about either, Adam Larsson/Josh Morrissey being the first pair of the team as they should have been stellar, with a respectful +9 (Larsson), and +8 (Morrissey), a combined 42 hits between them (Larsson 35, Morrissey 7), and 35 blocked shots. And if that was not enough they have produced 15 points combined (3+12), the second pair, Chiarot/Savard has also been showing up each game, delivering 45 hits combined, 18 blocked shots, a respectable 6 points between the two, and both with a +6 stat. The third pair, Walker/Myers things have been a bit slower, both holding a -4 +/- rating, 16 hits combined, and 25 blocked shots which Myers alone has 18, still producing 5 points upfront, but they need to tighten the defensive side of their game to become successful.

Upfront looking at a team just letting an average of 2,8 goals against per game one would think that the management would be happy with the goaltending, but if we are to judge that should not be the case in Detroit as the said #1 Jack Campbell has struggled, 89%, 3,07 GAA, he has not lived up to the expectations from our side at least, but it has been the backup, Casey De Smith that has been stellar in the three games he has started so far, with a stellar 92,7%, 2,16 GAA which is well over the expectations on him as he came to Detroit, is someone would have shown us their stats without the names we could just as easily have thought that it should have been the other way around, De Smith is the reason the GAA is low for Detroit so far, lets hope that Campbell steps it up and becomes more in line with the high expectations the Detroit leadership has on him.

So far so good, nearly everything looks like one would expect from the team looking at the names on the roster, looking at the specialteams for example were a powerplay number 1 unit consisting of Draisaitl-Connor-Fiala-Morrissey-Walker and a 2nd unit with Johansen-Marchessault-Kapanen-Larsson-Myers sure would sound terrifying for most opponents, but looking at the numbers they are not, 51 opportunities served over the past 10 games and only 6 goals! That's an embarrassing 11,76% effectiveness of the powerplay, here is a field that needs to improve for sure if Detroit wants to compete for the cup this season, which is outspoken by GM Lundgren before the start of the draft this year, okay leaving that disaster behind us we look towards the penalty kill, another field of the team we had high hopes for before the first puck was dropped this preseason, but this also being a disaster, 40 times and 10 goals against, meaning that 1 in every 4th attempt the opposing team scores, placing Detroit 23rd of 32 teams in PFHL, still it’s better to the powerplay where Detroit ranks 31, only better then New Jersey Devils and their 5,88%, we expect the team management to make some changes here so that they get their things together till the season starts and that the team steps up to at least top 10 in both before the real season starts, this is a must if the management is going to be able to keep their promise of entering the playoffs making a run for the cup.

Other rumors surrounding the Red Wings are just terrifying to hear, as there is a rumor from a solid source that GM Lundgren has had talks about trading the team star Draisaitl, which from our point of view would be a disaster for a team aiming for the cup if there is any truth behind this rumor, we will ask for GM Lundgrens resignation or better yet his head on a silver platter.