The Daily: Red Wings Now Last in East; Mazur Update

New Red Wings coach Todd McLellan truly has nowhere to go except up in the Eastern Conference a he runs his first official practice at Little Caesars Arena today.

After Detroit’s 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday, the Red Wings (13-18-4, 30 points) are tied with the Buffalo Sabres (13-19-4, 30 points) for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Detroit’s -26 goal-differential is also the Eastern Conference’s worst.

The San Jose Sharks (-35) are the only NHL team with a worse goal-differential than Detroit.

After one game behind the bench, McLellan was clear where he needed to begin his retooling of this team.

The DHN game story offers McLellan’s impressions of the team after his one game behind the bench:

“I actually thought offensively we created some opportunities,” McLellan said. “We didn’t create six goals worth, and that’s what we needed tonight to win a game. So we’ll focus on the defensive side. Starting Saturday, we’ll go from there. “

Mickey Redmond chatted with executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman about the future of the Red Wings moving forward.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/uNXPo3eTNW

— FanDuel Sports Network Detroit (@FanDuelSN_DET) December 28, 2024

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

Bob Duff writes that the Red Wings have multiple leaks to plug, and their approach is too mechanical. That’s what new coach Todd McLellan thinks.

McLellan wants the Red Wings offense to play “harder, faster and smarter.”

Detroit GM Steve Yzerman says intriguing prospect Carter Mazur will be out another month.

Red Wings Extra

Detroit’s next game is a 5 p.m. home contest Sunday against the Washington Capitals. The Caps (23-9-2) are one of the NHL’s surprise teams this season. They sit second in the Metropolitan Division. Washington is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games. The Capitals have a 12-5 road record: Detroit stat: After scoring against Toronto, Lucas Raymond has 12 goals and 18 points in his past 18 games. Moritz Seider (25-128-153 in 281 games) passed Willie Huber for the third-most points by a Red Wings defenseman before age 24, trailing only Reed Larson (194) and Nicklas Lidstrom (157).

Hockey Now Network

Colorado: Colleen Flynn writes about how important Valery Nichuskin is to the Colorado Avalanche.

Montreal: Is the goalie Cayden Primeau experiment over with the Montreal Canadiens?

Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski has a scouting report on Rutger McGroarty in his PHN+ paywall story. Pittsburgh Penguins

San Jose: Sheng Peng writes that the Sharks have a lot to learn about winning. San Jose Sharks.