2020–21 Detroit Red Wings season

2020–21 Detroit Red Wings
Division	7th Central
2020–21 record	19–27–10
Home record	12–11–5
Road record	7–16–5
Goals for	127
Goals against	171
General Manager	Steve Yzerman
Coach	Jeff Blashill
Captain	Dylan Larkin
Alternate captains	Luke Glendening; Frans Nielsen
Arena	Little Caesars Arena
Minor League Affiliate(s)
	Team leaders
Goals	Adam Erne (11)
Assists	Filip Hronek (24)
Points	Filip Hronek (26)
Penalties in minutes	Dylan Larkin (34)
Wins	Jonathan Bernier (9)
Goals against average	Thomas Greiss (2.70)

The 2020–21 Detroit Red Wings season was the 95th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926.^[1] It was the Red Wings' fourth season at Little Caesars Arena.

On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment the Red Wings returned to the Central Division for the first time since 2012–13 and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season.

On April 26, the Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention for the fifth consecutive season.^[2]

Standings[]

Divisional standings[]

Central Division
Pos	Team [v • d • e]	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Carolina Hurricanes	56	36	12	8	27	179	136	+43	80
2	x – Florida Panthers	56	37	14	5	26	189	153	+36	79
3	x – Tampa Bay Lightning	56	36	17	3	29	181	147	+34	75
4	x – Nashville Predators	56	31	23	2	21	156	154	+2	64

5	e – Dallas Stars	56	23	19	14	17	158	154	+4	60
6	e – Chicago Blackhawks	56	24	25	7	15	161	186	−25	55
7	e – Detroit Red Wings	56	19	27	10	17	127	171	−44	48
8	e – Columbus Blue Jackets	56	18	26	12	12	137	187	−50	48

Source: National Hockey League^[3]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
e – Eliminated from playoff contention; x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division.

Schedule and results[]

Regular season[]

2020–21 game log 19–27–10 (Home: 12–11–5; Road: 7–16–5)^[4]

January: 2–6–2 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 0–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	January 14	Carolina	3–0	Detroit		Greiss	0	0–1–0	0	Recap
2	January 16	Carolina	2–4	Detroit		Bernier	0	1–1–0	2	Recap
3	January 18	Columbus	3–2	Detroit		Greiss	0	1–2–0	2	Recap
4	January 19	Columbus	2–3	Detroit	OT	Bernier	0	2–2–0	4	Recap
5	January 22	Detroit	1–4	Chicago		Greiss	0	2–3–0	4	Recap
6	January 24	Detroit	2–6	Chicago		Bernier	0	2–4–0	4	Recap
7	January 26	Detroit	1–2	Dallas	OT	Greiss	4,109	2–4–1	5	Recap
8	January 28	Detroit	3–7	Dallas		Greiss	4,214	2–5–1	5	Recap
9	January 30	Florida	3–2	Detroit	OT	Greiss	0	2–5–2	6	Recap
10	January 31	Florida	3–2	Detroit		Greiss	0	2–6–2	6	Recap

February: 5–8–1 (Home: 2–3–1 ; Road: 3–5–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
11	February 3	Detroit	1–5	Tampa Bay		Greiss	0	2–7–2	6	Recap
12	February 5	Detroit	1–3	Tampa Bay		Greiss	0	2–8–2	6	Recap
13	February 7	Detroit	4–1	Florida		Greiss	3,706	3–8–2	8	Recap
14	February 9	Detroit	1–2	Florida		Greiss	3,477	3–9–2	8	Recap
15	February 11	Detroit	2–3	Nashville		Greiss	0	3–10–2	8	Recap
16	February 13	Detroit	4–2	Nashville		Bernier	0	4–10–2	10	Recap
17	February 15	Chicago	3–2	Detroit	OT	Greiss	0	4–10–3	11	Recap
18	February 17	Chicago	2–0	Detroit		Bernier	0	4–11–3	11	Recap
19	February 19	Florida	7–2	Detroit		Greiss	0	4–12–3	11	Recap
20	February 20	Florida	1–2	Detroit		Bernier	0	5–12–3	13	Recap
21	February 23	Nashville	2–0	Detroit		Bernier	0	5–13–3	13	Recap
22	February 25	Nashville	2–5	Detroit		Bernier	0	6–13–3	15	Recap
23	February 27	Detroit	5–3	Chicago		Bernier	0	7–13–3	17	Recap
24	February 28	Detroit	2–7	Chicago		Greiss	0	7–14–3	17	Recap

March: 5–7–1 (Home: 5–2–1 ; Road: 0–5–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
25	March 2	Detroit	1–4	Columbus		Bernier	1,953	7–15–3	17	Recap
26	March 4	Detroit	2–5	Carolina		Bernier	2,924	7–16–3	17	Recap
27	March 9	Tampa Bay	4–3	Detroit	OT	Greiss	0	7–16–4	18	Recap
28	March 11	Tampa Bay	4–6	Detroit		Bernier	0	8–16–4	20	Recap
29	March 14	Carolina	2–1	Detroit		Bernier	0	8–17–4	20	Recap
30	March 16	Carolina	2–4	Detroit		Bernier	0	9–17–4	22	Recap
31	March 18	Dallas	2–3	Detroit		Greiss	0	10–17–4	24	Recap
32	March 20	Dallas	3–0	Detroit		Greiss	0	10–18–4	24	Recap
33	March 23	Detroit	0–2	Nashville		Greiss	—^{[lower-alpha 1]}	10–19–4	24	Recap
34	March 25	Detroit	1–7	Nashville		Pickard	—^{[lower-alpha 1]}	10–20–4	24	Recap
35	March 27	Columbus	1–3	Detroit		Pickard	0	11–20–4	26	Recap
36	March 28	Columbus	1–4	Detroit		Pickard	0	12–20–4	28	Recap
37	March 30	Detroit	1–4	Florida		Pickard	4,321	12–21–4	28	Recap

April: 5–5–5 (Home: 2–2–2 ; Road: 3–3–3)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
38	April 1	Detroit	2–3	Florida	OT	Greiss	4,359	12–21–5	29	Recap
39	April 3	Detroit	1–2	Tampa Bay		Greiss	3,800	12–22–5	29	Recap
40	April 4	Detroit	5–1	Tampa Bay		Greiss	3,800	13–22–5	31	Recap
41	April 6	Nashville	3–2	Detroit	SO	Greiss	0	13–22–6	32	Recap
42	April 8	Nashville	7–1	Detroit		Bernier	0	13–23–6	32	Recap
43	April 10	Detroit	5–4	Carolina	SO	Greiss	4,987	14–23–6	34	Recap
44	April 12	Detroit	3–1	Carolina		Bernier	4,987	15–23–6	36	Recap
45	April 15	Chicago	1–4	Detroit		Greiss	0	16–23–6	38	Recap
46	April 17	Chicago	4–0	Detroit		Bernier	0	16–24–6	38	Recap
47	April 19	Detroit	2–3	Dallas	SO	Greiss	4,812	16–24–7	39	Recap
48	April 20	Detroit	2–5	Dallas		Bernier	5,148	16–25–7	39	Recap
49	April 22	Dallas	3–7	Detroit		Greiss	0	17–25–7	41	Recap
50	April 24	Dallas	2–1	Detroit	OT	Bernier	0	17–25–8	42	Recap
51	April 27	Detroit	0–1	Columbus	SO	Greiss	4,316	17–25–9	43	Recap
52	April 29	Detroit	1–3	Carolina		Bernier	4,987	17–26–9	43	Recap

May: 2–1–1 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 1–0–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
53	May 1	Tampa Bay	0–1	Detroit	SO	Greiss	0	18–26–9	45	Recap
54	May 2	Tampa Bay	2–1	Detroit		Bernier	0	18–27–9	45	Recap
55	May 7	Detroit	5–2	Columbus		Greiss	4,402	19–27–9	47	Recap
56	May 8	Detroit	4–5	Columbus	OT	Pickard	4,493	19–27–10	48	Recap

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Awards and honours[]

Awards[]

Regular season
Player	Award	Awarded
Greiss, ThomasThomas Greiss	NHL First Star of the Week	May 3, 2021^[5]

Milestones[]

Regular season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Bertuzzi, TylerTyler Bertuzzi	200th career NHL game	January 14, 2021
Nielsen, FransFrans Nielsen	900th career NHL game	January 22, 2021
Staal, MarcMarc Staal	900th career NHL game	January 28, 2021
Helm, DarrenDarren Helm	700th career NHL game	January 30, 2021
Larkin, DylanDylan Larkin	400th career NHL game	February 3, 2021
Stecher, TroyTroy Stecher	300th career NHL game	February 9, 2021
Gagner, SamSam Gagner	300th career NHL assist	March 11, 2021
Greiss, ThomasThomas Greiss	300th career NHL game	March 18, 2021
Mantha, AnthonyAnthony Mantha	300th career NHL game	April 8, 2021
DeKeyser, DannyDanny DeKeyser	100th career NHL assist	April 15, 2021

Transactions[]

The Red Wings have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

Trades[]

Date	Details		Ref
December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)	To New York Islanders Dmytro Timashov	To Detroit Red Wings Future considerations	^[6]
April 9, 2021 (2021-04-09)	To Colorado Avalanche Patrik Nemeth	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2022	^[7]
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Brian Lashoff	To Detroit Red Wings David Savard	^[8]
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)	To Tampa Bay Lightning David Savard	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2021	^[8]
April 11, 2021 (2021-04-11)	To Montreal Canadiens Jon Merrill	To Detroit Red Wings Hayden Verbeek 5th-round pick in 2021	^[9]
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	To Washington Capitals Anthony Mantha	To Detroit Red Wings Richard Pánik Jakub Vrána 1st-round pick in 2021 2nd-round pick in 2022	^[10]

Free agents[]

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Bobby Ryan	from Ottawa Senators	1-year	^[11]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Jon Merrill	from Vegas Golden Knights	1-year	^[12]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Riley Barber	from Pittsburgh Penguins	2-year	^[13]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Kevin Boyle	from Anaheim Ducks	1-year
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Kyle Criscuolo	from Anaheim Ducks	1-year
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Thomas Greiss	from New York Islanders	2-year	^[14]
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Troy Stecher	from Vancouver Canucks	2-year	^[15]
October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	Vladislav Namestnikov	from Colorado Avalanche	2-year	^[16]

Contract terminations[]

Date	Player	Via	Ref
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)	Justin Abdelkader	Unconditional waivers	^[17]

Retirement[]

Date	Player	Ref
October 26, 2020 (2020-10-26)	Trevor Daley	^[18]

Signings[]

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
October 28, 2020 (2020-10-28)	Tyler Bertuzzi	1-year	^[19]
November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03)	Anthony Mantha	4-year	^[20]

Draft picks[]

See also: List of Detroit Red Wings draft picks

Below are the Detroit Red Wings' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on October 6 and 7, 2020, via video conference call due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	4	Lucas Raymond	LW	Sweden	Frölunda HC (SHL)
2	32	William Wallinder	D	Sweden	Modo J20 (J20 SuperElit)
2	51	Theodor Niederbach	C	Sweden	Frölunda J20 (J20 SuperElit)
2	55	Cross Hanas	LW	United States	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
3	63	Donovan Sebrango	D	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
3	70	Eemil Viro	D	Finland	TPS (Liiga)
4	97	Sam Strange	RW	United States	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
4	107¹	Jan Bednar	G	Czech Republic	HC Baník Sokolov (Czech 2.liga)
5	132	Alex Cotton	D	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
6	156	Kyle Aucoin	D	Canada	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
7	187	Kienan Draper	RW	United States	Chilliwack Chiefs (BCHL)
7	203	Chase Bradley	LW	United States	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)

Notes:

The Edmonton Oilers' fourth-round pick will go to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on February 23, 2020 that sent Mike Green to Edmonton in exchange for Kyle Brodziak and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).^[21]

References[]

↑ National Hockey League (2013). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. Diamond Sports Data, Inc., 57. ISBN 978-1-894801-26-3.
↑ Red Wings-Blue Jackets matchups have draft lottery implications (April 27, 2021).
↑ NHL Hockey Standings. National Hockey League.
↑ Red Wings release 2020-21 season schedule (December 23, 2020).
↑ Greiss of Red Wings, pharmacy director NHL First Stars of Week (May 3, 2021).
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (December 11, 2020). Red Wings trade rights to Timashov to Islanders for future considerations.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (April 9, 2021). Red Wings acquire 2022 4th-round pick from Avalanche for Patrik Nemeth.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 Kujawa, Kyle (April 10, 2021). Detroit completes three-team trade with Columbus and Tampa Bay.
↑ Campbell, Tim (April 11, 2021). Merrill traded to Canadiens by Red Wings.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (April 12, 2021). Red Wings acquire Vrana, Panik, 1st and 2nd Rounders from Caps for Mantha.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (October 9, 2020). Red Wings agree to one-year deal with Bobby Ryan. Detroit Red Wings.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (October 9, 2020). Detroit, Jon Merrill reach one-year agreement. Detroit Red Wings.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (October 9, 2020). Red Wings add Riley Barber, Kyle Criscuolo and Kevin Boyle. Detroit Red Wings.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (October 10, 2020). Red Wings agree to terms with free agent goaltender Thomas Greiss. Detroit Red Wings.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (October 10, 2020). Detroit adds defenseman Troy Stecher. Detroit Red Wings.
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (October 11, 2020). Namestnikov agrees to terms with Detroit. Detroit Red Wings.
↑ Kulfan, Ted (October 6, 2020). Red Wings waive Justin Abdelkader in order to buy him out.
↑ Daley retires as player, joins Penguins as hockey operations adviser (October 26, 2020).
↑ Bertuzzi gets one-year, $3.5M contract with Red Wings from arbitrator (October 28, 2020).
↑ Kujawa, Kyle (November 3, 2020). Red Wings sign Anthony Mantha to four-year deal.
↑ RELEASE: Oilers acquire Mike Green from Red Wings (February 23, 2020).

Detroit Red Wings
Team	Franchise • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Draft Picks • Little Caesars Arena
Stanley Cups	1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008
Affiliates	Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL), Toledo Walleye (ECHL)

Detroit Red Wings Seasons
Detroit Cougars	1926-27 • 1927-28 • 1928-29 • 1929-30
Detroit Falcons	1930-31 • 1931-32
Detroit Red Wings	1932-33 • 1933-34 • 1934-35 • 1935-36 • 1936-37 • 1937-38 • 1938-39 • 1939-40 • 1940-41 • 1941-42 • 1942-43 • 1943-44 • 1944-45 • 1945-46 • 1946-47 • 1947-48 • 1948-49 • 1949-50 • 1950-51 • 1951-52 • 1952-53 • 1953-54 • 1954-55 • 1955-56 • 1956-57 • 1957-58 • 1958-59 • 1959-60 • 1960-61 • 1961-62 • 1962-63 • 1963-64 • 1964-65 • 1965-66 • 1966-67 • 1967-68 • 1968-69 • 1969-70 • 1970-71 • 1971-72 • 1972-73 • 1973-74 • 1974-75 • 1975-76 • 1976-77 • 1977-78 • 1978-79 • 1979-80 • 1980-81 • 1981-82 • 1982-83 • 1983-84 • 1984-85 • 1985-86 • 1986-87 • 1987-88 • 1988-89 • 1989-90 • 1990-91 • 1991-92 • 1992-93 • 1993-94 • 1994-95 • 1995-96 • 1996-97 • 1997-98 • 1998-99 • 1999-00 • 2000-01 • 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-09 • 2009-10 • 2010-11 • 2011-12 • 2012-13 • 2013-14 • 2014-15 • 2015-16 • 2016-17 • 2017-18 • 2018-19 • 2019-20

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[1] National Hockey League (2013). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. Diamond Sports Data, Inc., 57. ISBN 978-1-894801-26-3.

[2] Red Wings-Blue Jackets matchups have draft lottery implications (April 27, 2021).

[nhl-div-3] NHL Hockey Standings. National Hockey League.

[4] Red Wings release 2020-21 season schedule (December 23, 2020).

[6] Greiss of Red Wings, pharmacy director NHL First Stars of Week (May 3, 2021).

[7] Kujawa, Kyle (December 11, 2020). Red Wings trade rights to Timashov to Islanders for future considerations.

[8] Kujawa, Kyle (April 9, 2021). Red Wings acquire 2022 4th-round pick from Avalanche for Patrik Nemeth.

[April_10-9] 8.0 ^8.1 Kujawa, Kyle (April 10, 2021). Detroit completes three-team trade with Columbus and Tampa Bay.

[10] Campbell, Tim (April 11, 2021). Merrill traded to Canadiens by Red Wings.

[11] Kujawa, Kyle (April 12, 2021). Red Wings acquire Vrana, Panik, 1st and 2nd Rounders from Caps for Mantha.

[12] Kujawa, Kyle (October 9, 2020). Red Wings agree to one-year deal with Bobby Ryan. Detroit Red Wings.

[13] Kujawa, Kyle (October 9, 2020). Detroit, Jon Merrill reach one-year agreement. Detroit Red Wings.

[October_9-14] Kujawa, Kyle (October 9, 2020). Red Wings add Riley Barber, Kyle Criscuolo and Kevin Boyle. Detroit Red Wings.

[15] Kujawa, Kyle (October 10, 2020). Red Wings agree to terms with free agent goaltender Thomas Greiss. Detroit Red Wings.

[16] Kujawa, Kyle (October 10, 2020). Detroit adds defenseman Troy Stecher. Detroit Red Wings.

[17] Kujawa, Kyle (October 11, 2020). Namestnikov agrees to terms with Detroit. Detroit Red Wings.

[18] Kulfan, Ted (October 6, 2020). Red Wings waive Justin Abdelkader in order to buy him out.

[19] Daley retires as player, joins Penguins as hockey operations adviser (October 26, 2020).

[20] Bertuzzi gets one-year, $3.5M contract with Red Wings from arbitrator (October 28, 2020).

[21] Kujawa, Kyle (November 3, 2020). Red Wings sign Anthony Mantha to four-year deal.

[GreenOil-22] RELEASE: Oilers acquire Mike Green from Red Wings (February 23, 2020).

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2020-21 NHL season
North	Calgary Flames - Edmonton Oilers - Montreal Canadiens - Ottawa Senators - Toronto Maple Leafs - Vancouver Canucks - Winnipeg Jets
West	Anaheim Ducks - Arizona Coyotes - Colorado Avalanche - Los Angeles Kings - Minnesota Wild - San Jose Sharks - St. Louis Blues - Vegas Golden Knights
Central	Carolina Hurricanes - Chicago Blackhawks - Columbus Blue Jackets - Dallas Stars - Detroit Red Wings - Florida Panthers - Nashville Predators - Tampa Bay Lightning
East	Boston Bruins - Buffalo Sabres - New Jersey Devils - New York Islanders - New York Rangers - Philadelphia Flyers - Pittsburgh Penguins - Washington Capitals
See also	Draft - NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe - Stanley Cup playoffs - Stanley Cup Finals - Transactions - Three Star Awards - Suspensions and fines