Elliotte Friedman names Detroit Red Wings among teams he doesn't expect to make NHL playoffs this year

Barring two games between two teams, the NHL regular season is not underway, and Elliotte Friedman already has a prediction about the Detroit Red Wings. The NHL analyst made his early claim about who will and won't make the postseason.

On his 32 Thoughts podcast, he said around the 37-minute mark that there were some teams he wasn't particularly confident in this year. The Red Wings were among them despite the fact that they were pretty close last year and added a few key additions in free agency. he said:

"No, you know what? I didn’t like the way they ended the preseason. And I know that’s not always how it should go, but they basically had their whole team against Toronto. I wasn’t crazy about that game. I’m not crazy about their goaltending."

He also named the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild and St Louis Blues.

The Red Wings finished seven points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division last year and were the first non-playoff team in the division.

The 91 points that Canadiens accumulated tied the Washington Capitals, who did make the playoffs, in the Metropolitan division, so they were only just on the outside looking in. Friedman believes that will be the case yet again in 2024-25.

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Detroit Red Wings looking to take next step

Slowly but surely, general manager Steve Yzerman has brought the Detroit Red Wings out of the basement. Star players such as Cam Talbot, Dylan Larker, Patrick Kane, and others have been brought together to build this team into something.

Cam Talbot is a key part of the Detroit Red Wings (Imagn)

This year will be crucial to that growth. The Red Wings barely missed the playoffs last season(and Elliotte Friedman predicts they will again), which means if they don't make it this season, they will not have taken the next step in a rebuild.

The team expects to take that leap and move forward as a unit. Kane said, via NHL:

“You want those expectations. You want, whether it’s the fans or the media or just players in general, to expect the team and the organization to take the next step.”

Picking 15th in the NHL Draft generally means a team wasn't bad enough to land a truly impactful player but was also not good enough to make the postseason. It's an area teams don't want to stay in, so 2024-25 is a crucial season for Detroit.