Detroit finished 22nd with 2.87 goals per game and 21st with 3.16 goals against last season. It ranked fourth on the power play (27.0 percent), the best it’s finished since the League started tracking the statistic in 1977-78.
The Red Wings were 13-17-4 and eight points out of a playoff spot when they hired coach Todd McLellan to replace Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26. They went 17-5-2 from Dec. 27-Feb. 25, with their .750 points percentage pushing them into the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. The club then lost six straight in regulation and spiraled out of playoff contention for good.
“I think Todd is an excellent coach; there’s a positive vibe in the locker room amongst the players,” Yzerman said. “We saw a boost last year. Was it a boost, or are we a better team? The new-coach bump you sometimes see is over with and now it’s up to the players and coaches to show they can sustain that level, and I expect them to.”
The two big losses during the offseason were forward Vladimir Tarasenko (traded to the Minnesota Wild June 30) and goalie Petr Mrazek (traded to the Anaheim Ducks June 28).
In addition to acquiring Gibson, the Red Wings re-signed defenseman Albert Johansson and forward Elmer Soderblom each to a two-year contract and agreed to one-year deals with forwards Patrick Kane and Jonatan Berggren.
Kane, 36, has 106 points (41 goals, 65 assists) and has averaged 18:09 of ice time in 122 games the past two seasons in Detroit.