2021–22 Detroit Red Wings season

2021–22 Detroit Red Wings
Division	6th Atlantic
Conference	12th Eastern
2021–22 record	32–40–10
Home record	18–16–7
Road record	14–24–3
Goals for	230
Goals against	312
Team information
General Manager	Steve Yzerman
Coach	Jeff Blashill
Captain	Dylan Larkin
Alternate captains	Danny DeKeyser Marc Staal
Arena	Little Caesars Arena
Average attendance	16,984
Team leaders
Goals	Dylan Larkin (31)
Assists	Moritz Seider (43)
Points	Dylan Larkin (69)
Penalties in minutes	Givani Smith (108)
Plus/minus	Kyle Criscuolo Oskar Sundqvist (+1)
Wins	Alex Nedeljkovic (20)
Goals against average	Magnus Hellberg (3.00)
<2020–21 2022–23>

The 2021–22 Detroit Red Wings season was the 96th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. It is the Red Wings' fifth season at Little Caesars Arena.

The Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention for the sixth consecutive season on April 9, 2022.

Off-season

On June 30, 2021, the Red Wings hired Alex Tanguay as an assistant coach.

On July 18, 2021, the NHL released the full list of players protected in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

On July 21, 2021, the Seattle Kraken selected defenseman Dennis Cholowski during their expansion draft.

Schedule and results

Preseason

2021 preseason game log: 4–4–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 1–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 29	Detroit	4–3	Chicago	SO	Pickard	—	1–0–0
2	September 30	Buffalo	2–6	Detroit		Nedeljkovic	14,352	2–0–0
3	October 2	Columbus	1–5	Detroit		Greiss	14,827	3–0–0
4	October 3	Detroit	1–5	Pittsburgh		Nedeljkovic	15,554	3–1–0
5	October 4	Chicago	6–4	Detroit		Greiss	14,769	3–2–0
6	October 6	Detroit	2–4	Columbus		Nedeljkovic	10,374	3–3–0
7	October 7	Pittsburgh	2–4	Detroit		Greiss	14,812	4–3–0
8	October 9	Detroit	1–3	Buffalo		Nedeljkovic	6,607	4–4–0

Regular season

2021–22 game log 32–40–10 (Home: 18–16–7; Road: 14–24–3)
October: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–1–2 ; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 14 Tampa Bay 7–6 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 19,515 0–0–1 1 2 October 16 Vancouver 1–3 Detroit Greiss 19,515 1–0–1 3 3 October 19 Columbus 1–4 Detroit Greiss 19,515 2–0–1 5 4 October 21 Calgary 3–0 Detroit Nedeljkovic 19,515 2–1–1 5 5 October 23 Detroit 1–6 Montreal Greiss 19,706 2–2–1 5 6 October 24 Detroit 6–3 Chicago Nedeljkovic 19,042 3–2–1 7 7 October 27 Detroit 3–2 Washington OT Greiss 18,573 4–2–1 9 8 October 29 Florida 3–2 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 15,593 4–2–2 10 9 October 30 Detroit 4–5 Toronto Greiss 18,921 4–3–2 10
November: 7–6–1 (Home: 5–1–0 ; Road: 2–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 2 Detroit 0–3 Montreal Nedeljkovic 19,547 4–4–2 10 11 November 4 Detroit 1–5 Boston Greiss 17,850 4–5–2 10 12 November 6 Detroit 4–3 Buffalo OT Nedeljkovic 8,171 5–5–2 12 13 November 7 Vegas 2–5 Detroit Greiss 19,515 6–5–2 14 14 November 9 Edmonton 2–4 Detroit Nedeljkovic 19,515 7–5–2 16 15 November 11 Washington 2–0 Detroit Greiss 19,515 7–6–2 16 16 November 13 Montreal 2–3 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 19,515 8–6–2 18 17 November 15 Detroit 3–5 Columbus Greiss 15,293 8–7–2 18 18 November 16 Detroit 2–5 Dallas Nedeljkovic 17,764 8–8–2 18 19 November 18 Detroit 2–5 Vegas Greiss 18,002 8–9–2 18 20 November 20 Detroit 1–2 Arizona OT Nedeljkovic 12,906 8–9–3 19 21 November 24 St. Louis 2–4 Detroit Nedeljkovic 19,515 9–9–3 21 22 November 27 Buffalo 2–3 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 19,515 10–9–3 23 23 November 30 Detroit 2–1 Boston Nedeljkovic 17,850 11–9–3 25
December: 4–5–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 0–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 December 1 Seattle 3–4 Detroit SO Greiss 18,963 12–9–3 27 25 December 4 NY Islanders 3–4 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 19,152 13–9–3 29 26 December 7 Nashville 5–2 Detroit Nedeljkovic 15,539 13–10–3 29 27 December 9 Detroit 2–6 St. Louis Nedeljkovic 18,096 13–11–3 29 28 December 10 Detroit 3–7 Colorado Nedeljkovic 18,021 13–12–3 29 29 December 14 NY Islanders 1–2 Detroit Nedeljkovic 16,884 14–12–3 31 30 December 16 Detroit 3–5 Carolina Nedeljkovic 16,017 14–13–3 31 31 December 18 New Jersey 2–5 Detroit Greiss 19,015 15–13–3 33 — December 20 Colorado Detroit Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — December 23 Detroit Minnesota Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — December 27 Detroit NY Rangers Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — December 29 Detroit NY Islanders Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 32 December 31 Washington 3–1 Detroit Greiss 17,721 15–14–3 33
January: 5–6–3 (Home: 3–4–1 ; Road: 2–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 33 January 2 Boston 5–1 Detroit Nedeljkovic 17,973 15–15–3 33 34 January 4 San Jose 2–6 Detroit Nedeljkovic 14,524 16–15–3 35 — January 6 Detroit Anaheim Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 35 January 8 Detroit 0–4 Los Angeles Nedeljkovic 17,321 16–16–3 35 36 January 9 Detroit 3–4 Anaheim SO Greiss 12,043 16–16–4 36 37 January 11 Detroit 2–3 San Jose OT Nedeljkovic 10,489 16–16–5 37 38 January 13 Winnipeg 3–0 Detroit Nedeljkovic 16,829 16–17–5 37 39 January 15 Buffalo 0–4 Detroit Nedeljkovic 19,515 17–17–5 39 40 January 17 Detroit 3–2 Buffalo OT Nedeljkovic 8,839 18–17–5 41 — January 18 Detroit Philadelphia Postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 41 January 21 Dallas 5–4 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 18,522 18–17–6 42 42 January 22 Detroit 1–4 Nashville Nedeljkovic 17,455 18–18–6 42 43 January 26 Chicago 8–5 Detroit Pickard 16,578 18–19–6 42 44 January 28 Detroit 3–2 Pittsburgh SO Pickard 18,369 19–19–6 44 45 January 29 Toronto 7–4 Detroit Nedeljkovic 19,515 19–20–6 44 46 January 31 Anaheim 1–2 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 14,545 20–20–6 46
February: 3–4–0 (Home: 1–3–0 ; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 47 February 2 Los Angeles 5–3 Detroit Nedeljkovic 11,553 20–21–6 46 48 February 9 Detroit 6–3 Philadelphia Nedeljkovic 13,243 21–21–6 48 49 February 12 Philadelphia 2–4 Detroit Greiss 15,965 22–21–6 50 50 February 14 Detroit 4–7 Minnesota Nedeljkovic 18,098 22–22–6 50 51 February 17 Detroit 3–2 NY Rangers SO Greiss 16,461 23–22–6 52 52 February 23 Colorado 5–2 Detroit Greiss 18,562 23–23–6 52 53 February 26 Toronto 10–7 Detroit Nedeljkovic 18,791 23–24–6 52
March: 3–8–3 (Home: 2–1–3 ; Road: 1–7–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 54 March 1 Carolina 3–4 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 14,874 24–24–6 54 55 March 4 Detroit 1–3 Tampa Bay Nedeljkovic 19,092 24–25–6 54 56 March 5 Detroit 2–6 Florida Greiss 15,890 24–26–6 54 57 March 8 Arizona 9–2 Detroit Nedeljkovic 14,621 24–27–6 54 58 March 10 Minnesota 6–5 Detroit SO Nedeljkovic 17,461 24–27–7 55 59 March 12 Detroit 0–3 Calgary Greiss 17,658 24–28–7 55 60 March 15 Detroit 5–7 Edmonton Nedeljkovic 15,311 24–29–7 55 61 March 17 Detroit 1–0 Vancouver Nedeljkovic 18,893 25–29–7 57 62 March 19 Detroit 2–4 Seattle Nedeljkovic 17,151 25–30–7 57 63 March 22 Philadelphia 3–6 Detroit Nedeljkovic 15,521 26–30–7 59 64 March 24 Detroit 2–5 NY Islanders Greiss 16,429 26–31–7 59 65 March 26 Tampa Bay 2–1 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 19,515 26–31–8 60 66 March 27 Detroit 2–11 Pittsburgh Nedeljkovic 17,842 26–32–8 60 67 March 30 NY Rangers 4–5 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 16,375 26–32–9 61
April: 6–8–1 (Home: 1–4–1 ; Road: 5–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 68 April 1 Ottawa 5–2 Detroit Nedeljkovic 17,563 26–33–9 61 69 April 3 Detroit 2–5 Ottawa Greiss 16,402 26–34–9 61 70 April 5 Boston 3–5 Detroit Nedeljkovic 15,734 27–34–9 63 71 April 6 Detroit 3–1 Winnipeg Greiss 13,484 28–34–9 65 72 April 9 Columbus 5–4 Detroit OT Nedeljkovic 19,515 28–34–10 66 73 April 12 Ottawa 4–1 Detroit Greiss 16,093 28–35–10 66 74 April 14 Detroit 3–0 Carolina Nedeljkovic 17,811 29–35–10 68 75 April 16 Detroit 0–4 NY Rangers Greiss 18,006 29–36–10 68 76 April 17 Florida 6–1 Detroit Nedeljkovic 14,566 29–37–10 68 77 April 19 Detroit 4–3 Tampa Bay Greiss 19,092 30–37–10 70 78 April 21 Detroit 2–5 Florida Nedeljkovic 16,238 30–38–10 70 79 April 23 Pittsburgh 7–2 Detroit Greiss 19,515 30–39–10 70 80 April 24 Detroit 3–0 New Jersey Nedeljkovic 11,492 31–39–10 72 81 April 26 Detroit 0–3 Toronto Nedeljkovic 18,107 31–40–10 72 82 April 29 Detroit 5–3 New Jersey Hellberg 14,597 32–40–10 74
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Awards and honours

Awards

Regular season

Player	Award	Awarded
Moritz Seider	NHL Rookie of the Month	October 2021
Lucas Raymond	NHL Rookie of the Month	November 2021
Dylan Larkin	NHL First Star of the Week	December 20, 2021

Milestones

Regular season

Player	Milestone	Reached
Lucas Raymond	1st career NHL game 1st career NHL point 1st career NHL assist	October 14, 2021
Moritz Seider	1st career NHL game 1st career NHL point 1st career NHL assist	October 14, 2021
Lucas Raymond	1st career NHL goal	October 19, 2021
Marc Staal	200th career NHL point	October 19, 2021
Lucas Raymond	1st career NHL hat-trick	October 24, 2021
Moritz Seider	1st career NHL goal	November 6, 2021
Danny DeKeyser	500th career NHL game	November 7, 2021
Sam Gagner	900th career NHL game	November 9, 2021
Filip Zadina	100th career NHL game	November 9, 2021
Dylan Larkin	300th career NHL point	November 13, 2021

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Dylan Larkin	71	31	38	69	–18	47
Tyler Bertuzzi	68	30	32	62	–11	47
Lucas Raymond	82	23	34	57	–32	16
Moritz Seider	82	7	43	50	–9	34
Filip Hronek	78	5	33	38	–29	36
Pius Suter	82	15	21	36	–11	22
Sam Gagner	81	13	18	31	–4	32
Robby Fabbri	66	17	13	30	–23	35
Michael Rasmussen	80	15	12	27	–25	66
Vladislav Namestnikov‡	60	13	12	25	+1	34
Filip Zadina	74	10	14	24	–24	10
Jakub Vrána	26	13	6	19	–8	16
Adam Erne	79	6	13	19	–22	34
Nick Leddy‡	55	1	15	16	–33	16
Marc Staal	71	3	13	16	-1	28
Joe Veleno	66	8	7	15	–14	22
Gustav Lindstrom	63	1	12	13	–12	22
Danny DeKeyser	59	0	11	11	–8	26
Oskar Sundqvist†	18	4	4	8	1	17
Jordan Oesterle	45	2	6	8	–7	4
Givani Smith	46	4	3	7	–6	108
Carter Rowney	26	4	2	6	–4	0
Mitchell Stephens	27	0	6	6	–8	8
Taro Hirose	15	1	3	4	–5	4
Jake Walman†	19	0	4	4	–6	4
Kyle Criscuolo	6	0	2	2	+1	2
Gemel Smith	3	0	1	1	–2	5
Troy Stecher‡	16	1	1	2	–6	9
Olli Juolevi†	8	0	0	0	–1	4
Dan Renouf	4	0	0	0	–2	7
Riley Barber	2	0	0	0	+1	0
Turner Elson	2	0	0	0	–1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Magnus Hellberg	1	1	60	1	0	0	3	3.00	20	.870	0	0	0	0
Alex Nedeljkovic	59	52	3,231	20	24	9	178	3.31	1,618	.901	4	0	0	0
Thomas Greiss	31	28	1,508	10	15	1	92	3.66	750	.891	0	0	0	0
Calvin Pickard	3	1	126	1	1	0	9	4.29	72	.875	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Red Wings. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Red Wings have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 16, 2021 (2021-07-16)	To New York Islanders Richard Pánik 2nd-round pick in 2021	To Detroit Red Wings Nick Leddy
July 22, 2021 (2021-07-22)	To Carolina Hurricanes Jonathan Bernier 3rd-round pick in 2021	To Detroit Red Wings Alex Nedeljkovic
July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30)	To Tampa Bay Lightning 6th-round pick in 2022	To Detroit Red Wings Mitchell Stephens
March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20)	To Los Angeles Kings Troy Stecher	To Detroit Red Wings 7th-round pick in 2022
March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21)	To St. Louis Blues Nick Leddy Luke Witkowski	To Detroit Red Wings Oskar Sundqvist Jake Walman 2nd-round pick in 2023
March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21)	To Dallas Stars Vladislav Namestnikov	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2024

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Luke Glendening	to Dallas Stars	2-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Joe Hicketts	to Minnesota Wild	2-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Jordan Oesterle	from Arizona Coyotes	2-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Dominic Turgeon	to Minnesota Wild	1-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Alex Biega	to Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Pius Suter	from Chicago Blackhawks	2-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Dylan McIlrath	to Washington Capitals	2-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Ryan Murphy	from Henderson Silver Knights	1-year
July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29)	Darren Helm	to Colorado Avalanche	1-year
July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29)	Dan Renouf	from Colorado Avalanche	1-year
July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29)	Luke Witkowski	from Syracuse Crunch	2-year
July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30)	Brian Lashoff	from Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year
August 20, 2021 (2021-08-20)	Kevin Boyle	to HC Bolzano	1-year
August 24, 2021 (2021-08-24)	Valtteri Filppula	to Geneve-Servette HC	1-year
September 2, 2021 (2021-09-02)	Carter Rowney	from Anaheim Ducks	1-year
October 13, 2021 (2021-10-13)	Evgeny Svechnikov	to Winnipeg Jets	1-year
April 13, 2022 (2022-04-13)	Magnus Hellberg	from HC Sochi	1-year
April 25, 2022 (2022-04-25)	Turner Elson	Grand Rapids Griffins	1-year
May 16, 2022 (2022-05-16)	Pontus Andreasson	Lulea HF	1-year

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref
August 19, 2021 (2021-08-19)	Frans Nielsen	Buyout

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
January 19, 2022 (2022-01-19)	Gemel Smith	from Tampa Bay Lightning
February 19, 2022 (2022-02-19)	Gemel Smith	to Tampa Bay Lightning
March 7, 2022 (2022-03-07)	Olli Juolevi	from Florida Panthers

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
July 22, 2021 (2021-07-22)	Michael Rasmussen	3-year
July 22, 2021 (2021-07-22)	Alex Nedeljkovic	2-year
July 25, 2021 (2021-07-25)	Marc Staal	1-year
July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26)	Gustav Lindström	2-year
July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27)	Taro Hirose	1-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Sam Gagner	1-year
July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28)	Calvin Pickard	1-year
July 31, 2021 (2021-07-31)	Tyler Bertuzzi	2-year
August 5, 2021 (2021-08-05)	Chase Pearson	1-year
August 10, 2021 (2021-08-10)	Jakub Vrána	3-year
August 15, 2021 (2021-08-15)	Adam Erne	2-year
September 3, 2021 (2021-09-03)	Filip Hronek	3-year
September 14, 2021 (2021-09-14)	Givani Smith	2-year
December 13, 2021 (2021-12-13)	Robby Fabbri	3-year
March 16, 2022 (2022-03-16)	Cross Hanas	3-year
April 24, 2022 (2022-04-24)	Simon Edvinsson	3-year

Draft picks

See also: List of Detroit Red Wings draft picks

Below are the Detroit Red Wings' selections at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which will be held on July 23 and 24, 2021, virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	6	Simon Edvinsson	D	Sweden	Frölunda HC (SHL)
1	151	Sebastian Cossa	G	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
2	362	Shai Buium	D	United States	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
3	70	Carter Mazur	LW	United States	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
4	1143	Redmond Savage	C	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
5	134	Liam Dower Nilsson	C	Sweden	Frölunda HC (J20 SuperElit)
5	1554	Oscar Plandowski	D	Canada	Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)
6	166	Pasquale Zito	LW	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Notes:

1. The Dallas Stars' first-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on July 23, 2021, that sent a first-round pick in 2021, a second-round pick in 2021, and a fifth-round pick in 2021 in exchange for this pick.
2. The Vegas Golden Knights' second-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on July 24, 2021, that sent a second-round pick in 2021, and a fourth-round pick in 2021 in exchange for this pick.
3. The Vegas Golden Knights' fourth-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on July 24, 2021, that sent a fourth-round pick in 2021 in exchange for this pick.
4. The Vegas Golden Knights' fifth-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on July 24, 2021, that sent a fourth-round pick in 2021 in exchange for this pick.

References