I think this team has a solid shot to make the postseason as is. I’d expect Berggren to be up and playing in the top 9 and 1 of (or both) Zadina & Veleno to be involved in a trade.

I think Perron could be the leader this team has lacked the last couple seasons and could be our x-factor. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an A on his sweater.

A good keeper

leaf fan here. I like the moves Yzerman made maybe the D could be a little better and not sure Husso as full time starter but a very good start. i think the team will be very close to a playoff spot

maybe one or two stars. Seiders a star, maybe Raymond, possibly Larkin. But the rest of the roster are not. Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, Hedman, Vasilesky are stars and superstars, supported by guys at a similar level to Bertuzzi, Copp, Vrana, Perron, Larkin, but these are your top guys. The boys gotta step up. Yzerman will make it happen

he asked making the playoffs not winning the cup lol

In years past I’ve felt if everything came together It’d be a stretch to make it. This year it seems like if everything comes together they’re in. That being said all of that is on paper and the goals and stats and ratings these new guys put up were because they were on good teams. This is not a good team, yet. It’s a toss up!

1) stay healthy for the most part; it's a decent team on paper but fairly thin; especially where it matters most: the blueline.
2) step forwards from all the young stars (it's not a given that young players always get better every year).
3) making the playoffs requires being better than 8 other teams in your conference; not "better than you were last year" (although that's a good start)
Right now Detroit would be trying to compete with Washington, Ottawa, NYI, Columbus, and New Jersey for the 8th spot.
Did the Red Wings get 90 goals better (less against and more for) in the offseason?
My take is they maybe got halfway there if fairly healthy for most of the year; which does not put them in playoffs.

To get there this year you would need to improve the top end of the team by another 45 goals. The only remaining UFA's that can close that gap would be Kadri and Klingberg

All thise teams except Ottawa didnt do much to improve i think they have a good chance against them.

Columbus and New Jersey certainly did too. Washington did but are dealing with major early season injuries but they were a playoff team already so Detroit has a lot of ground to make up. The Islanders for example were about 35 goals (16 points in the standings) from making it last year when they had a horrible year for them. As a team they are still superior to Detroit as is right now and they have a continuation of the same defensive principles in their coaching staff and WAY better goaltending.

Just look at down the middle: Larkin vs Barzal; Nelson vs Copp; Pageau vs Suter; Cizikas vs Rasmussen. Being objective that is fairly close at 1C/2C (assuming Copp continues to play like he did with NYR) but favors NYI at 3C/4C.

Top 6 Wingers: Beauvillier/Palmieri/Lee/Bailey vs Bertuzzi/Raymond/Vrana/Perron is a fairly close matchup with an edge to Detroit in my opinion because of the talent upside of Raymond but it is only because of the two-way presence of Perron to cover up for Vrana's lapses in his own end. NYI doesn't have "flashy" wingers so easy to overlook them but they are responsible two-way players and get underrated often. Assuming a healthy year for Detroit means doing so for the Islanders as well so Lee can match Perron at least.

The bottom six: Bellows/Wahlstrom/Martin/Clutterbuck vs Kubalik/Zadina/Erne/Sundqvist would favor the Islanders until Zadina can produce consistently and there is some identity built for the Wings' 4th line.

Their defensive pairs start with: Pelech-Pulock vs Chiarot-Seider one is a veteran duo with a track record of success vs a newly formed duo with a guy that is very divided in his regard and an up and coming NHL star. At this point NYI win this matchup but there is a chance that magic is found with Chiarot next to Seider as an elite shutdown force; but it's not a given yet.
The 2nd pair is Romanov-Dobson most likely vs Maatta-Hronek which is a tough one to call since they are both newly formed. Does Hronek bounce back? Does Dobson build on his breakout year? Dobson edges out Hronek in most anyone's objective assessment.
3rd pair: Aho-Mayfield vs Oesterle-Lindstrom/Pysyk this one favors the NYI as Mayfield is at least superior to Oesterle and everyone else is unproven.

Goaltending is not even close:
Sorokin-Varlamov vs Husso-Nedeljkovic

Both teams have new Head Coaches; but the NYI promoted from within the same system whereas the Red Wings are starting fresh with Lalonde. Edge: NYI

Against those Teams OTT WAS NJD NYI COL they were about .500. I think Detroit took some major steps. They also lost too many games against MON and CHI, and other bottom dwellers like we were.

I still think we’re right there but short by 10 points or so.