WASHINGTON — The Detroit Red Wings returned to Washington with sorry memories and sound optimism.
They hurried to get out of the nation’s capital March 12, 2020, departing hours after the NHL had paused the season because of COVID-19 and hours before their scheduled game against the Capitals.
“The night before we weren’t sure what was going to happen,” Robby Fabbri said Wednesday after Wednesday’s morning skate at Capital One Arena. “When we got the news, I feel like no one thought it would lead to what it led to.”
It was the early days of the pandemic: The world was shutting down, toilet paper was scarce and the Wings were in miserable shape. They were the only team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, and their most recent game had locked them into finishing in last place.
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“Things are significantly better,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We had gone through as hard a year as I’ve been through professionally. We were at a spot we all hope to look back at that was rock bottom, and organizationally we all started to trend in the right direction.
“Last year we were better, and I think we have an opportunity to be better this year. So I would say from an atmosphere standpoint, that was really, really difficult on all of us that were there, and it’s definitely way better. You just have way more enjoyment in what you do when you have success to a much greater degree than what we did then.”
Steve Yzerman was less than a year into his tenure as general manager that March. The league eventually scuttled completing the season, instead creating a format in which 24 teams advanced to a playoff bubble, leaving the Wings one of seven teams facing a long offseason. The Wings had sealed their own fate in that regard: They were a despondent lot, overmatched by nearly every opponent. The only question they faced was whether they could even reach 20 victories, faced with an 11-game slate that, in addition to the Capitals, was composed entirely of teams in the playoff picture.
The Wings still don’t have the superstar talent that the Alex Ovechkin-led Capitals do, but there’s faith in one another within the locker room.
“We’re a fiery group, a competitive group,” Fabbri said. “That’s the biggest thing. It’s still early in the season, there’s a long way to go, but the consistency of our competitiveness is what’s keeping us going and helping us out here.”
The final gut-punch of the 2019-20 season happened at the draft lottery when the Wings were pushed back to pick fourth, while the New York Rangers went from the playoff bubble to drafting first overall.
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There was nothing the Wings could do but seethe and salvage the situation. Yzerman — himself a fourth overall pick in 1983 — chose Lucas Raymond, who is making an early case for rookie of the year consideration. Raymond collected a hat-trick during a four-point performance in what was only his sixth game.
“The thing about the draft is, you can look back on lots of drafts and sometimes the best player goes one, sometimes they go 21,” Blashill said. “It’s just the reality of it. In our case, I know when that draft was happening, within our organization, there was a thought that at different points in time, Raymond could have been in contention for one. I think there was confidence he could be a good player. How quickly, we just didn’t know. And we still don’t know. This is a relentless league.
“He’s had a positive impact so far. We hope it continues.”
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Raymond and fellow rookie Moritz Seider are among the key reasons the Wings feel so optimistic.
“Him and Mo have been outstanding for us,” Fabbri said. “They’re fun to watch. They’re pretty special players and showing it early in their careers, which is nice.”
Raymond is one of multiple changes Yzerman made to the roster that limped toward the finish line in 2020. Gone are forwards Anthony Mantha, Luke Glendening, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Brendan Perlini, Valtteri Filppula, Frans Nielsen, Dmytro Timashov and Christoffer Ehn; defensemen Trevor Daley, Madison Bowey, Alex Biega, Jonathan Ericsson, Patrik Nemeth and Dennis Cholowski; and goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and Jimmy Howard.
Yzerman replaced Howard with Thomas Greiss, and Bernier with Alex Nedeljkovic. The defense has been bolstered by Seider, Nick Leddy, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle and the return of Danny DeKeyser from back surgery. Up front, Raymond, Pius Suter and Mitchell Stephens are among the new faces. Jakub Vrana was supposed to make up for the scoring lost in the Mantha in last season’s Mantha trade, but Vrana is out through January with a shoulder injury.
“There’s a process that has to happen when you’re in a rebuild where it takes time for draft picks to come to fruition,” Blashill said. “That’s one area where we are in a better spot today. And then obviously Steve has made some moves, whether it be signing free agents or through trades, that have definitely strengthened our team.”
Blashill wanted to eat dinner Tuesday at the same restaurant he had dinner March 11, 2020, when he saw the news that the NBA had shut down. What he saw was a reminder of the last 19 months.
“The place I went to eat was closed,” he said. “It was boarded up. We’ve all been through lots in the last year and a half. I look forward to not remembering. I look forward to where we recall it, but it’s been a while.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.