

He finished with 23 goals and 22 assists in 80 games, among the best for rookies in the NHL.Īthanasiou is also a player to watch.

The now 20-year-old was off to a hot start last season before cooling off down the stretch. Topping the list of players to watch this season is forward Dylan Larkin. It will also give players like Brendan Smith, Xavier Ouellet, Alexey Marchenko and Ryan Sproul a chance to show what they can do.

With Kronwall’s injury, players like Jonathan Ericsson and Danny DeKeyser will have to step up. Though captain Henrik Zetterberg is expected to start the season, he did miss the World Cup of Hockey due to a knee injury. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall will start the season on injured reserve because of a knee injury. Injuries are also a problem as the season begins for the Red Wings. That was good for sixth in the Atlantic Division, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last year, the Red Wings were ranked 23rd in goals scored with 209. 920 save percentage with nine shutouts.ĭetroit will need to put more pucks in the net this season if they want to improve. 906 save percentage with two shutouts last year while Mrazek had a. When the playoffs began, the team went with the veteran in Howard, but switched to Mrazek for games 3-5. Near the end of the season, the team went back to Howard as Mrazek struggled down the stretch. Howard started last season as goaltender, but Mrazek took over midway through the season. Both Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard will play important roles with the team. Goaltending is expected to be a strong suit for the Red Wings again this season.

Richards had 10 goals and 18 assists in 68 games. He scored four goals with seven assists last season. Quincey spent five seasons with Detroit after being traded from Colorado in the 2011-2012 season.
Detroit red wings schedule 2016 free#
That was best for second on the team in points and assists and fifth on the team in goals.ĭetroit also lost defenseman Kyle Quincey during free agency and center Brad Richards retired after one season with the Red Wings. On June 18, the 37-year-old center announced his retirement from the NHL to return home to play in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.ĭatsyuk appeared in 66 games for the Red Wings last season, scoring 13 goals with 33 assists. The 22-year-old center appeared in 37 games last year after starting the season with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins.įor the first time since 2001, the Detroit Red Wings will start the season without Pavel Datsyuk. Vanek had been recovering from broken and displaced ribs, but did not require offseason surgery.Īndreas Athanasiou is also starting the season with Detroit. Last season, he scored 18 goals and added 23 assists in 74 games with the Wild. Thomas Vanek, 32, spent the previous three seasons as a left-winger with the Minnesota Wild. The Red Wings added another veteran forward during free agency. Ott, 34, only played in 21 games last season due to a hamstring injury. That would have made him the leading point scorer on the Red Wings last year.ĭetroit also added center Steve Ott, signing the veteran free agent to a one-year deal. Last season, he had 20 goals and 32 assists for a total of 52 points. Nielsen, 32, is a two-way center who has averaged about 20 goals during the previous three seasons with the Islanders. The free agent center signed a 6-year contract worth about $5.25 million per season. The biggest addition to Detroit during the offseason was the signing of center Frans Nielsen from the New York Islanders. There are many storylines fans can focus on as the 2016-17 hockey season commences. Tied with the Boston Bruins, a tiebreaker is the main reason the Red Wings were able to keep the playoff streak alive, now at 25 straight seasons. Last season, Detroit just made the playoffs, barely clinching the third spot in the Atlantic Division, finishing 41-31-11 for 93 points. It’s a rematch of the first round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs where the Lightning eliminated the Red Wings in five games. The 2016-17 Detroit Red Wings season kicks off in Florida on Thursday night as the Red Wings take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
