The Red Wings desperately need to swing big this summer 

It has been a long time since the Detroit Red Wings have been relevant, and it’s time for that to change.

For close to a decade, the Red Wings have been an afterthought in the NHL, failing to make the playoffs in each of the past nine seasons. They came close in 2023-24, losing out on the final day of the regular season. However, despite having optimism for improvement heading into this past year, the team fell flat again when it mattered most.

Now, general manager Steve Yzerman has to start making notable moves to not only ensure the Red Wings will be a competitive team, but also be a true contender for the playoffs. While it seems to be clear his job isn’t on the line, patience is wearing thin around fans in Hockeytown for his workload with the franchise, or lack thereof.

Detroit needs a lot of pieces addressed heading into the offseason, ensuring up the talent between the pipes, bolstering the blue line and giving some quality depth players up front that can consistently support the likes of Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss why the Red Wings need to be aggressive during the offseason.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Do you think Yzerman’s itching to maybe swing big and not just run it back with [Patrick] Kane and the same guys as last year? 

Frank Seravalli: They desperately need to. Kane and [Vladimir] Tarasenko – they’re nice pieces, but those are final pieces of the puzzle that you stamp in there to help get a team from the conference final to winning a Stanley Cup. They are not “drive you through the regular season and wedge you into the playoffs” players. Beyond that, Detroit significantly needs upgrades on their defense. They have to go out and fix that this summer or else you can cancel their playoff plans before the season even starts. 

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…