Report: Wings’ coach Blashill makes surprising prediction for his team

When the Detroit Red Wings failed to qualify for the NHL postseason for the first time in 25 seasons, fans and analysts took it as a queue for the team to transition into a rebuild and re-stock with youth and draft picks. Well… apparently the team’s coaching staff and management team never got the memo, as they seem intent on pushing for a playoff spot in 2017-18.

How confident is Blashill in his ability to get the Wings back into the postseason? “100 percent, absolutely,” said the 43 year-old Detroit native when discussing the team’s offseason with Detroit News reporter Gregg Krupa. “I do think (general manager) Ken (Holland) did a good job of making our team better with what we did in the offseason here,” said Blashill. “They’re not big splashes. I don’t think big splashes necessarily always make the difference. I think there is a great chance to make our team a little bit better.”

A little bit better? The Wings finished 16 points out of a playoff spot in 2016-17, so they’ll need to be much better if they expect to earn a berth in the 2017-18 postseason. What do you think? Are the Wings headed back into the playoffs with the offseason addition of veteran defenseman Trevor Daley and a renewed commitment to winger Tomas Tatar? From the outside looking in, it certainly looks like there's much more work to be done before the Wings get back into a contender's spot.