As the Detroit Red Wings embark on the 2024-25 season, one question looms large: Will this be the year they finally return to the Stanley Cup playoffs? Eight long years have passed since the Wings last tasted postseason action, marking the second-longest active playoff drought in the NHL, behind only the Buffalo Sabres. After last season’s heartbreaking finish, where the Wings missed out on a playoff spot by the slimmest of margins, expectations are high. Anything short of making the playoffs in 2025 would feel like a major setback for this talented squad.
“I feel like it’s kind of our time now,” said veteran forward Andrew Copp via the Detroit Free Press. “We made a really nice push at the end of the year and maybe deserved to be in, maybe didn’t — but I think that push gave us a lot of confidence going into this year, that it’s our time. The lesson learned through that is the very, very small margin. You can look back at the whole year. One more point, you force one more game to overtime, you get one more game to a shootout and give yourselves a better chance. That’s that small margin for error.”
Captain Dylan Larkin echoed Copp’s sentiment, reflecting on how narrowly the Wings missed out on the playoffs last season. Larkin, who thought about that last game in Montreal all summer, highlighted the team’s razor-thin margin for error: “We’ve talked about it a lot through training camp — we don’t want to be in that position again. We put ourselves there last year, and the step we’re looking to take is to accumulate as many points as we can and keep our foot on the gas all season. Let’s play the way we played at the end of the season — play together and be hard to play against.”
Raising Expectations For Detroit Red Wings
The team’s late surge last season, which saw them just miss the playoffs due to a tiebreaker, has fueled a renewed confidence heading into the new year. With an emphasis on defense and building good habits, Larkin believes the team is poised to take the next step: “You look at our roster, there’s guys that we lost, we replaced them with guys who can play similar roles to the guys we lost — maybe a little bit better. Team defense is an emphasis. It always is. We’re looking to be a better defensive team, to be harder to play against. We were hard to play against when we were really good last year, and we’re looking to do that more.”
Defenseman Ben Chiarot knows that every team starts the season with playoff hopes, but he stressed the importance of the process: “I’m thinking every team probably across the league on Day 1 thinks it’s their time. I think it’s a process, and we’re at step one right now. We have to start with building our good habits, being a good defensive team, and then our time will take place on its own. It will just happen organically.”
Playoffs Are the Only Next Step for Detroit Red Wings
The belief that “it’s our time” has resonated throughout the Detroit Red Wings’ locker room. As the team looks to end their eight-year playoff drought, expectations are sky-high. “The only next step is to make the playoffs and make a little bit of noise in the playoffs,” Copp said. “I think it’s more a mindset of expectations on ourselves, expectations from the fanbase and each other. That’s why we feel like it’s our time.”
With a renewed sense of confidence, an improved roster, and a determination to play tough, hard-nosed hockey, the Detroit Red Wings are ready to show the league that their time has come.
