# 2021–22 Detroit Red Wings season

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.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Florida Panthers | 82 | 58 | 18 | 6 | 42 | 340 | 246 | +94 | 122 |
| 2 | x – Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 54 | 21 | 7 | 45 | 315 | 253 | +62 | 115 |
| 3 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 51 | 23 | 8 | 39 | 287 | 233 | +54 | 110 |
| 4 | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 5 | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Boston Bruins | 82 | 51 | 26 | 5 | 40 | 255 | 220 | +35 | 107 |
| 2 | ME | x – Washington Capitals | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 35 | 275 | 245 | +30 | 100 |
| 3 | ME | e – New York Islanders | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 34 | 231 | 237 | −6 | 84 |
| 4 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 37 | 38 | 7 | 26 | 262 | 300 | −38 | 81 |
| 5 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 32 | 39 | 11 | 25 | 232 | 290 | −58 | 75 |
| 6 | AT | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 21 | 230 | 312 | −82 | 74 |
| 7 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 33 | 42 | 7 | 26 | 227 | 266 | −39 | 73 |
| 8 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 27 | 46 | 9 | 19 | 248 | 307 | −59 | 63 |
| 9 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 25 | 46 | 11 | 20 | 211 | 298 | −87 | 61 |
| 10 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 22 | 49 | 11 | 16 | 221 | 319 | −98 | 55 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2021–22 game log 32–40–10 (Home: 18–16–7; Road: 14–24–3) :
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 |
| Chase Pearson | 1st career NHL game | March 24, 2022 |

## 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 Vrana | 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 | Details |
| July 16, 2021 (2021-07-16) | To New York IslandersRichard Panik 2nd-round pick in 2021 | To Detroit Red WingsNick Leddy |
| July 22, 2021 (2021-07-22) | To Carolina HurricanesJonathan Bernier 3rd-round pick in 2021 | To Detroit Red WingsAlex Nedeljkovic |
| July 30, 2021 (2021-07-30) | To Tampa Bay Lightning6th-round pick in 2022 | To Detroit Red WingsMitchell Stephens |
| March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20) | To Los Angeles KingsTroy Stecher | To Detroit Red Wings7th-round pick in 2022 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To St. Louis BluesNick Leddy Luke Witkowski | To Detroit Red WingsOskar Sundqvist Jake Walman 2nd-round pick in 2023 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Dallas StarsVladislav Namestnikov | To Detroit Red Wings4th-round pick in 2024 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| 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 | from Grand Rapids Griffins | 1-year |
| May 16, 2022 (2022-05-16) | Pontus Andreasson | from Lulea HF | 1-year |
| May 22, 2022 (2022-05-22) | Steven Kampfer | from Ak Bars Kazan | 1-year |
| May 25, 2022 (2022-05-25) | Brian Lashoff | to Grand Rapids Griffins | 1-year |
| June 29, 2022 (2022-06-29) | Ryan Murphy | to Salavat Yulaev Ufa | 1-year |

### Contract terminations

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

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team |
| 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 |
| 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 Lindstrom | 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 Vrana | 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 |
| May 21, 2022 (2022-05-21) | Taro Hirose | 2-year |
| June 9, 2022 (2022-06-09) | Elmer Soderblom | 3-year |
| June 24, 2022 (2022-06-24) | Victor Brattstrom | 1-year |

## 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 | 15$^1$ | Sebastian Cossa | G | Canada | Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) |
| 2 | 36$^2$ | Shai Buium | D | United States | Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) |
| 3 | 70 | Carter Mazur | LW | United States | Tri-City Storm (USHL) |
| 4 | 114$^3$ | Redmond Savage | C | United States | U.S. NTDP (USHL) |
| 5 | 134 | Liam Dower Nilsson | C | Sweden | Frölunda HC (J20 SuperElit) |
| 5 | 155$^4$ | Oscar Plandowski | D | Canada | Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 166 | Pasquale Zito | LW | Canada | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) |
Notes:
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.