Red Wings 2026 April Game Thread

[lordstanley]

And since Raymond seems reluctant to shoot during regular play, why was he leading off the shootout?

[Jason_R]

In 2019-20, the Wings had 39 points, 0.275 points percentage. In 20-21, the Covid season, they had 48 points (0.429). In 21-22, 74 points (0.451). In 22-23, 80 points (0.488). In 23-24, 91 points (0.555). In 24-25, back down to  86 points (0.524). This season, with four games left, they are at 89 points (0.571).

As disappointing as the end of this season has been, they are likely to finish this season with their best record since their last playoff season. 

As disappointing as it was not to get a big trade at the deadline, Faulk’s return last night is a reminder that he is a significant upgrade on the second pair over ASP. If we had Faulk all this season it seems pretty easy to say this team would have made the playoffs. He will let the team play ASP on the third pairing and pp2 while he develops  

I think Steve was looking to make a big deal at the deadline for a top forward and I expect him to fill that gap this summer. I also expect we will see the team move on from at least one under-performing vet. 

[1984Echoes]

19 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

... If we had Faulk all this season it seems pretty easy to say this team would have made the playoffs. He will let the team play ASP on the third pairing and pp2 while he develops  ... I think Steve was ...

This is just my opinion...

But if we had had Sebastian Cossa as 2nd goalie behind Gibson all year, instead of Talbot...

We'd be in the playoffs right now.

I also believe Gibson would have played less the past month or so... in which McLellan has simply worn him down by overplaying him (Talbot started ONCE in March...), and BOTH: Gibson would be sharper in the games he has played... and Cossa would have won a couple games that Gibson got blown out in...

I think he would have been worth 5 more outright wins for the Wings.

IMO.

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

This is just my opinion...

But if we had had Sebastian Cossa as 2nd goalie behind Gibson all year, instead of Talbot...

We'd be in the playoffs right now.

I also believe Gibson would have played less the past month or so... in which McLellan has simply worn him down by overplaying him (Talbot started ONCE in March...), and BOTH: Gibson would be sharper in the games he has played... and Cossa would have won a couple games that Gibson got blown out in...

I think he would have been worth 5 more outright wins for the Wings.

IMO.

I think this is a good take. Talbot was pretty useless this season and we knew from the beginning that a lot of the team's early success was Gibson and the temptation would be there to burn him out. I just don't get this reluctance to see what a guy can do, what the worst that can happen - he shows he's not ready? It's not like you'd be sitting prime career D. Hasek to look at him,  he would be stepping in for just barely there Talbot. 

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

I think this is a good take. Talbot was pretty useless this season and we knew from the beginning that a lot of the team's early success was Gibson and the temptation would be there to burn him out. I just don't get this reluctance to see what a guy can do, what the worst that can happen - he shows he's not ready? It's not like you'd be sitting prime career D. Hasek to look at him,  he would be stepping in for just barely there Talbot. 

The Habs have three goalies - Montembault, Dobes and Fowler - and will get rid of one. Dobes is a 24 year old 5th rounder and Fowler is a 21 year old 3rd rounder. Fowler and Dobes both have trade value because both have been allowed to build up a portfolio of NHL starts. 16 games for Fowler this season, 40 games for Dobes this season after Fowler last season. Cossa could have played 20 games this season instead of Talbot, sink or swim.  If Yzerman and McLelland suspected he would fail, let's stop pretending and ditch him on someone before the rest of the NHL finds out, if they haven't already.

[1984Echoes]

7 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

The Habs have three goalies - Montembault, Dobes and Fowler - and will get rid of one. Dobes is a 24 year old 5th rounder and Fowler is a 21 year old 3rd rounder. Fowler and Dobes both have trade value because both have been allowed to build up a portfolio of NHL starts. 16 games for Fowler this season, 40 games for Dobes this season after Fowler last season. Cossa could have played 20 games this season instead of ...

Cossa could have easily played 30-40 games this year, with Talbot used only during injuries/ emergencies or an occasional start on a back-to-back (or 3 games in 4 nights...) or a bad game by Cossa or Gibson (IE: coming in the 2nd period after the starter gives up 5 goals...).

IMO.

[buddha]

2 hours ago, Jason_R said:

 

I think Steve was looking to make a big deal at the deadline for a top forward and I expect him to fill that gap this summer. I also expect we will see the team move on from at least one under-performing vet. 

we all said the same thing last summer and we signed mason appleton and JVR.

[buddha]

21 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

The Habs have three goalies - Montembault, Dobes and Fowler - and will get rid of one. Dobes is a 24 year old 5th rounder and Fowler is a 21 year old 3rd rounder. Fowler and Dobes both have trade value because both have been allowed to build up a portfolio of NHL starts. 16 games for Fowler this season, 40 games for Dobes this season after Fowler last season. Cossa could have played 20 games this season instead of Talbot, sink or swim.  If Yzerman and McLelland suspected he would fail, let's stop pretending and ditch him on someone before the rest of the NHL finds out, if they haven't already.

we all said the same thing about asp and danielson and they both kind of sucked at the nhl level.

i'm down on stevie right now but i'm not sure bringing up the rookies would have made a positive difference this year.

[lordstanley]

We also cringed when word was Yzerman was interested in Stamkos - I know I did - but here he is with a 39 goal season. 

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

we all said the same thing about asp and danielson and they both kind of sucked at the nhl level.

i'm down on stevie right now but i'm not sure bringing up the rookies would have made a positive difference this year.

I'll grant Cossa has been inconsistent, but he was simply outstanding for a long stretch in GR, there is some kind of talent there. Maybe playing 2nd string would have been exactly how to break him in successfully. But we'll never know.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

we all said the same thing last summer and we signed mason appleton and JVR.

There was enough smoke around him being involved in conversations about trades for a couple of high end forwards that I believe he was trying to pull off something big. I don’t expect he will be a big player in FA until he gets Copp/Compher/ Rasmussen off the books. But I expect he will revisit potential trades over the summer and I don’t rule out the possibility that he could surprise us. 

[1984Echoes]

40 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'll grant Cossa has been inconsistent, but he was simply outstanding for a long stretch in GR, there is some kind of talent there. Maybe playing 2nd string would have been exactly how to break him in successfully. But we'll never know.

I think that has shown up the past month but isn't half of Grand Rapids playing in Detroit the past month?

I don't want to use that as an excuse...

But...

As to your 2nd string comment... Additionally, who would I want as a mentor for Cossa as he broke into the NHL...? Maybe...

John Gibson?

[buddha]

34 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

There was enough smoke around him being involved in conversations about trades for a couple of high end forwards that I believe he was trying to pull off something big. I don’t expect he will be a big player in FA until he gets Copp/Compher/ Rasmussen off the books. But I expect he will revisit potential trades over the summer and I don’t rule out the possibility that he could surprise us. 

sure.  but he didnt pull it off.  that's the point.

[buddha]

45 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'll grant Cossa has been inconsistent, but he was simply outstanding for a long stretch in GR, there is some kind of talent there. Maybe playing 2nd string would have been exactly how to break him in successfully. But we'll never know.

every goalie in grand rapids has been amazing.  so do his numbers say cossa is amazing, or that grand rapids defense is amazing?

i would love to see cossa in detroit.  unless they trade him, he WILL be in detroit next year.  

it could be yzerman being too conservative, or it could be that - like danielson, and like asp - he's not ready or not that good.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

sure.  but he didnt pull it off.  that's the point.

I get it but his timeline is not the fan timeline. That is the real point. 

I believe his timeline (and Ilitch’s) is when C/C/R come off the books.

[buddha]

37 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

I get it but his timeline is not the fan timeline. That is the real point. 

I believe his timeline (and Ilitch’s) is when C/C/R come off the books.

compher isnt coming off the books for another 2 years. 

so we continue to dabble around the margins until larkin is 31?

[buddha]

i understand the argument jason is making and that potential timeline, but if that IS the timeline, i dont think theyre actually on it.

seider is an all star.  raymond is close.  edvinsson has potential.

but kasper?  danielson?  asp?  cossa?  are they on that kind of track?  if not, its not going to matter when compher comes off the books if youre just replacing him with compher 2.0.

and if that WAS the timeline, then why did they trade for perron a few years ago and aign gosthisbere?  those guys were old then.  then they let them go and tried to replace them and failed.

i think yzerman is on a seider/raymond timeline, not a larkin timeline.  but seider/raymond's clock has started and he didnt do anything this year to help move it along.

the more worrying part is kasper and danielson (and they already complained about lack of 2nd round hits when you had 6 chances).  those guys have to hit.  they HAVE to.  and they have looked like average players so far.  if they are, this rebuild goes nowhere.

[Jason_R]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

compher isnt coming off the books for another 2 years. 

so we continue to dabble around the margins until larkin is 31?

Rasumussen is on for another two years too! 🫠

This is partly (mostly?) wishful thinking, but I expect Stevie to make a significant trade in the offseason. 

[1984Echoes]

5 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

Rasumussen is on for another two years too! 🫠

This is partly (mostly?) wishful thinking, but I expect Stevie to make a significant trade in the offseason. 

I want to see several trades by Yzerman this offseason:

Dump Rasmussen for anything, a 7th rounder. Can we get anything better than that for Ras? I'll take whatever we can get.

I believe JVR and Talbot and Perron are free to leave after this season.

IMO... Yzerman should trade Albert Johansson. I don't see a future for him on this Red Wings roster.

Who else can we/ should we... dump?

Copp? I would prefer dumping Compher but I'm going to guess he would actually COST to remove him from the roster. Unless we stretch him (is that still a valid option?) just to get him off the roster without costing us anything...

Who else? I want to CLEAN HOUSE on this roster.

Dump the old non-productive "jerseys" and give the roster spots to the kids. Let the team sink or swim with the kids...

IMO.

[buddha]

you would have to attach assets to trade compher or rasmussen.  copp might get you a pick, but copp can still play.  i wouldnt want to trade copp for a low round draft pick.

johannson might get you a 4th round pick or so.  maybe a 3rd.  what did maata get?  that's what i would expect johannson to fetch.

and what does that do for you?  not much.

[buddha]

the problem with a trade now is that you dealt away a lottery pick for justin faulk.  so you dont have the first to trade anymore and i dont know how comfortable i am with dealing another first rounder unless youre getting a star back.

we can rewind to hongbit's argument (and max bultman's argument) about quinn hughes.  should he have given up edvinsson for hughes?  i didnt think so at the time and i still have reservations about it.

that said, they need 5x5 offense and hughes/seider would bring that.

the problem is that i dont think it would be enough because the rest of the team would still suck.  as weve seen.  and more than that, the STARS of the team have sucked.  THAT'S the real reason theyve tanked in march/april the last two seasons.  larkin and raymond havent been good enough.  

and the other reason being yzerman hasnt signed enough good secondary players to help them.  debrincat, yes.  but debrincat fell into his lap.  he could have re-signed gosthisbhere but didnt.  he could have kept walman.  traded for guentzel.  done SOMETHING other than sign quite marginal players.

they signed a 60 year old jvr to PLAY ON THE FIRST LINE!  only finnie's early season hot streak bailed them out there.  and finnie has been bad for most of the second half of the season.

 

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, buddha said:

the problem with a trade now is that you dealt away a lottery pick for justin faulk.  so you dont have the first to trade anymore and i dont know how comfortable i am with dealing another first rounder unless youre getting a star back.

we can rewind to hongbit's argument (and max bultman's argument) about quinn hughes.  should he have given up edvinsson for hughes?  i didnt think so at the time and i still have reservations about it.

that said, they need 5x5 offense and hughes/seider would bring that.

the problem is that i dont think it would be enough because the rest of the team would still suck.  as weve seen.  and more than that, the STARS of the team have sucked.  THAT'S the real reason theyve tanked in march/april the last two seasons.  larkin and raymond havent been good enough.  

and the other reason being yzerman hasnt signed enough good secondary players to help them.  debrincat, yes.  but debrincat fell into his lap.  he could have re-signed gosthisbhere but didnt.  he could have kept walman.  traded for guentzel.  done SOMETHING other than sign quite marginal players.

they signed a 60 year old jvr to PLAY ON THE FIRST LINE!  only finnie's early season hot streak bailed them out there.  and finnie has been bad for most of the second half of the season.

 

yup. The year before COVID I looked at this team with Betuzzi and Larkin and thought - 'They are only a couple of Dmen away from being competitive", and every year since then, there has been this illusion that they are not that far away. So initially the D was terrible and it's improved a lot, then they got an at least decent goalie, but here we are several years later and we find ourselves down to a mere 3 bona fide offensive players. The illusion is gone, they are not close. The front lines have decayed as fast or faster than Seider, Edvinsson and Faulk have built up the D.

[1984Echoes]

49 minutes ago, buddha said:

you would have to attach assets to trade compher or rasmussen...

I don't believe an asset would have to be traded to deal Ras. I believe that is incorrect. He might not garner much in trade, but I do NOT believe he has negative trade value. Minute? Sure. 5th or 6th rounder maybe, maybe even "at best".

And I know Compher will cost... so don't trade him, dump him. Stretch his contract.

49 minutes ago, buddha said:

... and what does that do for you?  not much.

You're missing my point.

I'm not trying to build a Stanley Cup this offseason.

I'm stripping this team DOWN. And turning it over to all the kids.

So to answer your question: roster spots.

I want ROSTER SPOTS this offseason.

I want ALL of Cossa, MBN, Finnie, Danielson and Kasper on the Red Wings roster the entire season. Sink or swim. I want at least one, or both, of Buium and/or Wallinder as LHD on the Red Wings roster for all of next year. I don't even care if Wallinder is 7th D.  

 

49 minutes ago, buddha said:

... johannson might get you a 4th round pick or so.  maybe a 3rd.  what did maata get?  that's what i would expect johannson to fetch...

We have Edvinsson, Chiarot, Buium and Wallinder. So I will happily take a 3rd or 4th for Johansson. He is superfluous to me.

 

49 minutes ago, buddha said:

...  copp might get you a pick, but copp can still play.  i wouldnt want to trade copp ...

 

Which I conceded earlier. Copp would be easier to trade than Compher. But I'd rather just dump Compher for nothing but a stretched contract... and hold on to Copp.

If there are any "veterans" on the Red Wings roster that are worth holding onto (not their top players but secondary players) ... I would consider those to be Copp, Appleton (just a plug-in-player when needed that plays decent defense but not much offense for a bottom-6 forward...), Faulk (under contract for 2026-27), and JBD (still young, no offense-RHD but he's responsible defensively...).

Top Veteran Starters for the foreseeable future are Larkin, Raymond, Cat, Mo, Edvinsson. Gibson. Maybe Kane I guess if SY still wants to keep signing him back.

Other than those two tiers of veterans... I'm clearing space simply for the roster spots.

Just my 2 cents.

[Hongbit]

I think they need a change of philosophy.  

They need to get back to a dump-chase-cycle system.  They are too reliant on trying to use speed and skill to get in the zone.   It can also reward effort and it’s easier to acquire effort players to fill you bottom 6 than it does skilled guys that can bring it in the zone themselves. 

Along the same lines, they also need to develop some type of checking line that is tough for another teams top lines.  The kind of guys that make them think twice when going in the corner for the puck.  They also need better presence in front of the net.   They need more size and toughness and a little less skill.

 

[1984Echoes]

9 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

... I'm not trying to build a Stanley Cup this offseason.

I'm stripping this team DOWN. And ...

I didn't do a good enough job explaining myself (my bad) so let me try again...

I'm calling this: "What I WANTS" (think... BECK!!!):

1) I WANT SY to go ALL OUT and sign Alex Tuch this offseason. Pay him what he wants. Overpay him. I WANTS a top-line of Larkin-Raymond-Tuch. And if Raymond wilts in the back half of the season again... I am perfectly fine with a Kasper-Larkin-Tuch top line. IMO.

2) The second line would be Copp-Cat-Finnie, unless SY and Kane want him back here for another season. I am OK with either way. He's still got it... but what I WANTS, is for our 3rd line (Kasper-Danielson-MBN) to PUSH HIGHER and become our 2nd line. Even giving our top line a run for the money. But that's up to them, and McLellan to GET them there. They have to get THEMSELVES there... and I'm OK if they only show themselves to be a good 2nd line and that's it. They haven't even shown that yet, however.

But I'm running them together and pushing them hard the entire year. IMO.

3) SY can find a couple checking BANGERS with little to no (or possibly even "some") offense; simply to take on 1st lines and hound them. To add some "grit" on this team. Appleton can center them until someone better pops up on their radar screen. Maybe next trade deadline SY can find someone to better the team either by pushing Copp down here or a guy who adds offense as well as grit to the 4th line. A lot of "To be determined" on this line... but that's OK.

4) 1st pair is Mo-Edvinsson, that's easy... And I think Simon has a lot of room to grow. What I WANTS, is for Buium to earn, and take over, 2nd pairing with Faulk next year. I think Buium benefits hugely from having Faulk as his 1st NHL partner. And vice verse. Chiarot looked like a bad fit with Faulk. Buium needs to step up, IMO.

5) That pushes Chiarot to 3rd pair. Perfect. He was a good match for ASP. But ASP needs to grow on defense. Too much a sieve. Too bad we can't squish JBD (bigger, more responsible defensively, little-to-no-offense) and ASP (LITERALLY, the opposite of JBD) into one player. McLellan may even be forced to dress 7 defensemen and protect ASP by using him on PP's and offensive zone whilst swapping him out for JBD for defensive zone play. So I WANTS ASP to improve significantly on defense; although we just might not get that and be stuck with a JBD-ASP matchup game.

6) I WANTS Wallinder and Cossa on the Red Wings roster the entire year. They either figure out the NHL, or not. If Wallinder is responsible enough defensively, maybe he can take some 3rd pair games away from Chiarot on back-to-backs. If McLellan could convince him to play harder/ (tougher)... maybe he could get more playing time than that. But if all he turns into is a 7th defenseman, we'll just have to live with that. And I am perfectly fine with that. Let him sit in the press box. If he wants to earn soem NHL ice time, PLAY TOUGHER!!! As for Cossa, I do NOT need him to be amazing, I just want him to be NHL-blooded, for a full season. To be a good 1B to Gibson's 1A. I WANTS Cossa to take over the 1A from Gibson... but I can be patient on that end... at least for a little while.

 

So my big SY moves this offseason are: Clearing roster space. Signing Tuch (OVERPAY if you MUST Stevie!!!). And putting it all on the kids... to sink or swim.

But that's just me.

It's "What I WANT"...!

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by 1984Echoes