2020–21 Detroit Red Wings season

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.

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
Team information
General manager	Steve Yzerman
Coach	Jeff Blashill
Captain	Dylan Larkin
Alternate captains	Luke Glendening Frans Nielsen
Arena	Little Caesars Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) Toledo Walleye (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Adam Erne (11)
Assists	Filip Hronek (24)
Points	Filip Hronek (26)
Penalty minutes	Dylan Larkin (34)
Plus/minus	Danny DeKeyser Robby Fabbri Luke Glendening (+3)
Wins	Jonathan Bernier (9)
Goals against average	Thomas Greiss (2.70)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

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, after the Nashville Predators defeated the Florida Panthers.^[2]

Standings

Divisional standings

Central Division

Pos	Team v t 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	Dallas Stars	56	23	19	14	17	158	154	+4	60
6	Chicago Blackhawks	56	24	25	7	15	161	186	−25	55
7	Detroit Red Wings	56	19	27	10	17	127	171	−44	48
8	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)
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 [5] 2 January 16 Carolina 2–4 Detroit Bernier 0 1–1–0 2 [6] 3 January 18 Columbus 3–2 Detroit Greiss 0 1–2–0 2 [7] 4 January 19 Columbus 2–3 Detroit OT Bernier 0 2–2–0 4 [8] 5 January 22 Detroit 1–4 Chicago Greiss 0 2–3–0 4 [9] 6 January 24 Detroit 2–6 Chicago Bernier 0 2–4–0 4 [10] 7 January 26 Detroit 1–2 Dallas OT Greiss 4,109 2–4–1 5 [11] 8 January 28 Detroit 3–7 Dallas Greiss 4,214 2–5–1 5 [12] 9 January 30 Florida 3–2 Detroit OT Greiss 0 2–5–2 6 [13] 10 January 31 Florida 3–2 Detroit Greiss 0 2–6–2 6 [14]
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 [15] 12 February 5 Detroit 1–3 Tampa Bay Greiss 0 2–8–2 6 [16] 13 February 7 Detroit 4–1 Florida Greiss 3,706 3–8–2 8 [17] 14 February 9 Detroit 1–2 Florida Greiss 3,477 3–9–2 8 [18] 15 February 11 Detroit 2–3 Nashville Greiss 0 3–10–2 8 [19] 16 February 13 Detroit 4–2 Nashville Bernier 0 4–10–2 10 [20] 17 February 15 Chicago 3–2 Detroit OT Greiss 0 4–10–3 11 [21] 18 February 17 Chicago 2–0 Detroit Bernier 0 4–11–3 11 [22] 19 February 19 Florida 7–2 Detroit Greiss 0 4–12–3 11 [23] 20 February 20 Florida 1–2 Detroit Bernier 0 5–12–3 13 [24] 21 February 23 Nashville 2–0 Detroit Bernier 0 5–13–3 13 [25] 22 February 25 Nashville 2–5 Detroit Bernier 0 6–13–3 15 [26] 23 February 27 Detroit 5–3 Chicago Bernier 0 7–13–3 17 [27] 24 February 28 Detroit 2–7 Chicago Greiss 0 7–14–3 17 [28]
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 [29] 26 March 4 Detroit 2–5 Carolina Bernier 2,924 7–16–3 17 [30] 27 March 9 Tampa Bay 4–3 Detroit OT Greiss 0 7–16–4 18 [31] 28 March 11 Tampa Bay 4–6 Detroit Bernier 0 8–16–4 20 [32] 29 March 14 Carolina 2–1 Detroit Bernier 0 8–17–4 20 [33] 30 March 16 Carolina 2–4 Detroit Bernier 0 9–17–4 22 [34] 31 March 18 Dallas 2–3 Detroit Greiss 0 10–17–4 24 [35] 32 March 20 Dallas 3–0 Detroit Greiss 0 10–18–4 24 [36] 33 March 23 Detroit 0–2 Nashville Greiss —[a] 10–19–4 24 [37] 34 March 25 Detroit 1–7 Nashville Pickard —[a] 10–20–4 24 [38] 35 March 27 Columbus 1–3 Detroit Pickard 0 11–20–4 26 [39] 36 March 28 Columbus 1–4 Detroit Pickard 0 12–20–4 28 [40] 37 March 30 Detroit 1–4 Florida Pickard 4,321 12–21–4 28 [41]
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 [42] 39 April 3 Detroit 1–2 Tampa Bay Greiss 3,800 12–22–5 29 [43] 40 April 4 Detroit 5–1 Tampa Bay Greiss 3,800 13–22–5 31 [44] 41 April 6 Nashville 3–2 Detroit SO Greiss 0 13–22–6 32 [45] 42 April 8 Nashville 7–1 Detroit Bernier 0 13–23–6 32 [46] 43 April 10 Detroit 5–4 Carolina SO Greiss 4,987 14–23–6 34 [47] 44 April 12 Detroit 3–1 Carolina Bernier 4,987 15–23–6 36 [48] 45 April 15 Chicago 1–4 Detroit Greiss 0 16–23–6 38 [49] 46 April 17 Chicago 4–0 Detroit Bernier 0 16–24–6 38 [50] 47 April 19 Detroit 2–3 Dallas SO Greiss 4,812 16–24–7 39 [51] 48 April 20 Detroit 2–5 Dallas Bernier 5,148 16–25–7 39 [52] 49 April 22 Dallas 3–7 Detroit Greiss 0 17–25–7 41 [53] 50 April 24 Dallas 2–1 Detroit OT Bernier 0 17–25–8 42 [54] 51 April 27 Detroit 0–1 Columbus SO Greiss 4,316 17–25–9 43 [55] 52 April 29 Detroit 1–3 Carolina Bernier 4,987 17–26–9 43 [56]
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 [57] 54 May 2 Tampa Bay 2–1 Detroit Bernier 0 18–27–9 45 [58] 55 May 7 Detroit 5–2 Columbus Greiss 4,402 19–27–9 47 [59] 56 May 8 Detroit 4–5 Columbus OT Pickard 4,493 19–27–10 48 [60] Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Awards and honours

Awards

Regular season Player Award Awarded Thomas Greiss NHL First Star of the Week May 3, 2021[61]

Milestones

Regular season Player Milestone Reached Tyler Bertuzzi 200th career NHL game January 14, 2021 Frans Nielsen 900th career NHL game January 22, 2021 Marc Staal 900th career NHL game January 28, 2021 Darren Helm 700th career NHL game January 30, 2021 Dylan Larkin 400th career NHL game February 3, 2021 Troy Stecher 300th career NHL game February 9, 2021 Sam Gagner 300th career NHL assist March 11, 2021 Thomas Greiss 300th career NHL game March 18, 2021 Anthony Mantha 300th career NHL game April 8, 2021 Danny 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	[62]
April 9, 2021 (2021-04-09)	To Colorado Avalanche Patrik Nemeth	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2022	[63]
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Brian Lashoff	To Detroit Red Wings David Savard	[64]
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)	To Tampa Bay Lightning David Savard	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2021	[64]
April 11, 2021 (2021-04-11)	To Montreal Canadiens Jon Merrill	To Detroit Red Wings Hayden Verbeek 5th-round pick in 2021	[65]
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	To Washington Capitals Anthony Mantha	To Detroit Red Wings Richard Panik Jakub Vrana 1st-round pick in 2021 2nd-round pick in 2022	[66]

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Bobby Ryan	from Ottawa Senators	1-year	[67]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Jon Merrill	from Vegas Golden Knights	1-year	[68]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Riley Barber	from Pittsburgh Penguins	2-year	[69]
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	[70]
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	Troy Stecher	from Vancouver Canucks	2-year	[71]
October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	Vladislav Namestnikov	from Colorado Avalanche	2-year	[72]

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07) Justin Abdelkader Unconditional waivers [73]

Retirement Date Player Ref October 26, 2020 (2020-10-26) Trevor Daley [74]

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
October 28, 2020 (2020-10-28)	Tyler Bertuzzi	1-year	[75]
November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03)	Anthony Mantha	4-year	[76]

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 Stange	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:

1. The Edmonton Oilers' fourth-round pick went 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).^[77]