Detroit — Those who watched the Red Wings religiously this season know it to be true. And it’s been the case for the last couple seasons, for sure.
The Wings have trouble scoring goals.
They ranked 30th (out of 31 teams) in the NHL this season, averaging a weak 2.23 goals per game, which was still an overall improvement from a season ago. The Wings were 31st, rock bottom, in 2019-20 averaging 2.00 goals per game.
If the Wings plan on winning more games and moving upward in the standings, they’ll need to generate more offense (the power play ranked 30th this season).
How will they do it?
General manager Steve Yzerman is likely to tweak through free agency or trade, adding to the lineup. But largely speaking, the Wings are banking on internal improvement.
“Obviously our one area we need to address, need to get better at, is we need to score more goals and improve offensively,” Yzerman said in his season-ending press conference. “That is easier said than done. The biggest part of that is having players that have the ability to produce.
“Personnel-wise, can Adam Erne generate a little bit more offense? Can Filip Zadina score a little bit more? Can Robby Fabbri and Dylan Larkin generate a little bit more offense? Collectively, we need to score more.”
Despite the offensive struggles from many key Wings this season, there is reason to be optimistic the goal-scoring can improve.
Injuries played a major role in Detroit’s miniscule offensive numbers. Injuries limited players like Fabbri (30 games, 10 goals, 18 points), Larkin (44 games, nine goals, 23 points), and Tyler Bertuzzi, who had back surgery and only played nine games (five goals, seven points). All three players likely could have put up greater numbers had they been healthy and in the lineup.
Then, there’s the knowledge of knowing the team will have a full season of Jakub Vrana, who arrived in the Anthony Mantha trade and scored eight goals in 11 games with the Wings.
Vrana displayed the type of game-breaking offensive ability that could be a huge game changer for the Wings. With a full season and a greater role than Vrana had in Washington, the Wings are likely to benefit from Vrana’s bigger opportunity.
If Zadina (six goals, 19 points, 49 games) can rebound from his offensive slump, which the organization expects given Zadina’s goal-scoring past, the Wings feel there is enough potential to make a significant jump.
Add to the mix power forwards such as Michael Rasmussen and Givani Smith, and Joe Veleno, a potential sturdy two-way forward, there is further reason to think the offense can improve.
“The growth of those players can be big depending on the steps they take,” said coach Jeff Blashill, talking about the introduction of so many young forwards into the lineup in recent years and how it could benefit the Wings going forward.
Erne, who led the team with 11 goals, is also an interesting case.
A rugged forward who has shown goal-scoring ability during his college career and at times in the NHL, Erne could blossom further given the opportunity.
“You just have to slowly turn those close games into wins,” Blashill said. “Certainly the growth of the players that have been here will be important, and any additions that add scoring without sacrificing the other side (defensively) will be important as well.”
The Wings also figure to get more production from Larkin, who missed the final weeks of the season due to a neck injury and never got traction offensively.
In part, Larkin terribly missed Bertuzzi, a gritty linemate who blends well with Larkin’s speed and creativity.
Larkin continued to improve defensively this season and evolve into one of the better two-way forwards in the NHL. With that, Larkin feels his offensive production will increase if his defensive game can grow, too.
“When I play great defense, I have the puck more and that’s what I want. I want the puck on my stick,” Larkin said. “That’s where I want to be better. I want to be quicker playing defense so I can be fresh playing offense.
“You watch guys like (Boston’s Patrice) Bergeron and (St. Louis’) Ryan O’Reilly, they always do the right things and they’re hard on the puck.”
Improving a power play that ranked among the worst in the NHL would also lift a dormant offense.
Along with internal improvement, potentially adding veteran pieces who can help strengthen the Wings overall offensively is an option Yzerman will look at.
“We have to do something different with our power play, for sure,” Yzerman said. “It struggled the last few years. We need to add to our personnel to get the right fit, so our power play has a chance to be more successful and we need to do things a little bit differently than we have done.”
But at the core, the needed and expected improvement of the Wings’ younger players will be key for the team to be more of an offensive threat.
“We have to figure out a way to generate more goals,” Yzerman said. “How we do that? I am hopeful our younger players can generate a little bit more offense. With the players that have been here for a while, I expect them to score more than they did this year.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan