Wing Start 19-20 Flying High

As the 2019 trade deadline approached it had become apparent that 2018-19 was not the Wings season. GM Evans proceeded to go on a trading frenzy, shipping out Fowler, Edler, Panarin, Tarasenko, M Smith, Jarnkrok, E Kane, and E Karlsson, and acquiring Pionk, Cernak, Coleman, S Reinhart, Muzzin, Hertl, Athanasiou, Lehner, Jenner, and Doughty. The many trades gave the Wings a new look and set the team up better for 2019-20 but still resulted in a 28^th place finish.

At the end of season GM Austin Evans promised the good fans of Detroit that he would make whatever changes necessary to get this franchise back into the playoffs for the first time since way back in 2012, when Gangnam Style was a thing.

Over the summer GM Evans made a coaching change to Jim Montgomery and continued to revamp the roster through the trade market, trading away Murray, V Olofsson, Muzzin, Spurgeon, and Pateryn. In return the Wings managed to add Burns, Pulock, Soderberg, L Andersson, and top prospects Kakko and Cozens. In free agency the Wings missed out on their main target but managed to add veterans Holzer and Fehr, potential stud goalie Pavel Francouz, and 18 young AHLers with upside.

After so much change the Red Wings entered ‘19-20 with a completely different roster than ‘18-19; McDavid, Couturier, Kucherov, Kreider, and Kesler were the only players on both rosters.

So far, the changes seem to be working. The Wings are leading the Daigle division with a 14-7-2 record, but with Tampa, Ottawa, and Toronto all within 1 point, and Montreal and Florida within 3 points of the Wings. McDavid, Couturier, and Lehner have led the way with strong production backed up by fantastic play from secondary players like Soderberg, Jenner, and Kreider.

Never one to sit on his hands, GM Evans has continued to add to the roster in-season by adding young stud defenseman Josh Morrissey, and strong depth scorer Alex Chiasson. Dan Girardi was brought in for one of the Wings’ 18 young free agent signings, Joni Tuulola, and shipped away for a 5^th. Landon Bow, another free agent add, was also traded for a 5^th. Prospect Vladislav Kolyachonok was added for similar prospect Adam Ginning and a 2021 3^rd. A clear overpayment, but the Wings see something in the Belarusian kid.

Mixed in with additions, GM Evans decided to go against the flow and trade breakout youngster Dominik Kahun, prospect Ethan Keppen, youngsters Adam Johnson and Jacob Middleton, and a 4^th for a 2020 1^st, giving the Wings an impressive six 1sts in this year’s draft.

The Wings have heavily invested in this year’s draft in anticipation of a strong draft class and have no been disappointed. The Wings have already made a preliminary draft list and have already identified 18 players with top line NHL potential, including 10 with star potential. Between a team contending for the playoffs and a loaded collection of high draft picks it’s going to be an exciting Spring for Wings fans!

-Detroit Free Press

*Breaking News*
Upon completion of the last article, an explosive rumour has emerged in Hockeytown. The Wings are rumoured to be close to trading 2019 Art Ross trophy winner Nikita Kucherov. Since Kucherov’s late 2017 acquisition for Marner, Makar, and a 2018 1^st (Barrett Hayton), he has racked up points for the Wings but not quite played up to the level expected and hasn’t found chemistry with the Wing’s franchise player Connor McDavid. The price for Kucherov is rumoured to be either multiple 1sts and top prospects, a star player plus a 1^st, or multiple young stud roster players. Stay tuned for details