The message from Todd McLellan wasn’t subtle. It wasn’t softened. And it certainly wasn’t new.
But with the Detroit Red Wings sliding at the worst possible time, it may finally be hitting a boiling point.
Following another disappointing stretch, including a flat 4-0 hole in a home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, McLellan delivered one of his most direct assessments yet of his team’s effort, execution, and mindset.
“You’re just taking up space”
McLellan didn’t walk back earlier comments in which he referred to some players as “just jerseys.”
Instead, he clarified exactly what he meant.
“That just means, like, sometimes you’re just taking up space,” McLellan said.
“You’re good enough to play in the league, you’re good enough to play on the team, but we’re not getting enough out of you.”
For a team fighting for its playoff life, that kind of blunt honesty speaks volumes.
The issue isn’t talent — it’s consistency
McLellan’s frustration isn’t rooted in ability. It’s in execution.
After another sluggish start against Philadelphia, he questioned whether players are fully engaged, mentally and physically, on a nightly basis.
“The brain and the legs and the will all have to go together,” McLellan said.
“If you’re only using one and not the other, it doesn’t work.”
He added that while coaching adjustments continue, the timing is far from ideal.
“How do we fix it? Well, we addressed some of it in the video today, which is what we do even when we’re playing really well, and then we put it into play and practice. That’s all fine and dandy. But we’re going into April, and video and practice should just be polishing things up and away you go. You shouldn’t be trying to extract competitiveness or heaviness out of the players at this time, but we are. We’re capable of providing it, and we’ll get a chance to do that starting tomorrow night.”
A playoff race slipping away
Not long ago, Detroit was among the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Now, the picture looks very different.
- Just 7 wins in the last 20 games
- Two points out of a playoff spot
- Four teams separated by just two points in the wild-card race
The Red Wings enter Tuesday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins trailing them by four points, with matchups against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Flyers still looming.
Despite the slide, McLellan insists everything remains within reach, if his team stops waiting.
“It’s still in our hands,” McLellan said.
“There’s still 18 points that are left. But sometimes we play like we’re waiting for teams to do us favors, and that’s the issue that we have. We’re caught in between. Realistically, it’s in our hands. We play and we win our share of games, I think it’ll be fine. We play teams that are right there with us.”
A familiar problem resurfaces
What’s most concerning isn’t just the losing, it’s how it’s happening.
Detroit continues to struggle with in-game resilience, particularly after early setbacks.
“Our resilience is still there. You saw it the other night, we come back. But if we don’t start well and something bad happens, we give away too many minutes,” McLellan said.
“It takes us too long to recover. We take too much water on, I’ve used that term before. Like, it wasn’t good, let’s move on. And it seems to stay with us longer.
“So, just getting over it is real important, or staying with it. We’ll put some good shifts together and then we’ll shoot ourselves in the foot with some bad penalties, timing things, execution. It all has to come together.”
The pattern is becoming all too familiar, and dangerously timed.
The bottom line
The Red Wings still control their destiny.
But time is running out.
And if Detroit doesn’t find urgency, not just in flashes, but for full 60-minute efforts, this season could end the same way the last few have:
On the outside looking in.
