# 2019–20 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2019–20 Detroit Red Wings season was the 94th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. It was the Red Wings' third season at Little Caesars Arena.
The Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention on February 21, 2020 following a 4–1 loss to the New York Islanders, marking the Red Wings' fourth season in a row out of the playoffs and the first team to be eliminated before trade deadline since 2003–04 Pittsburgh Penguins. On March 10, the Red Wings clinched the worst overall record in the NHL for the first time since the 1985–86 season. The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled, and the Red Wings already missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year. This was the first time since the 1985–86 season that the Red Wings finished with fewer than 20 wins. The Red Wings also became the first team since the 2004–05 NHL lockout, and the subsequent start of the salary cap era, to finish with a sub-.280 points percentage. Their .275 points percentage was the worst for an NHL team since the 1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers.

## Off-season

On April 19, 2019, Steve Yzerman was named executive vice president and general manager of the Red Wings. Ken Holland was retained by the organization and promoted to the team's senior vice president. On May 7, 2019, Holland was named the general manager and president of hockey operations of the Edmonton Oilers.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | 100 |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | 92 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | 81 |
| 4 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | 78 |
| 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | 71 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | 68 |
| 7 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | 62 |
| 8 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | 39 |

### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 38 | 227 | 174 | +53 | .714 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 70 | 43 | 21 | 6 | 35 | 245 | 195 | +50 | .657 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 3 | Washington Capitals | 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 31 | 240 | 215 | +25 | .652 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 4 | Philadelphia Flyers | 69 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 31 | 232 | 196 | +36 | .645 | Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament |
| 5 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 224 | 196 | +28 | .623 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | 68 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 27 | 222 | 193 | +29 | .596 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 7 | New York Islanders | 68 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 24 | 192 | 193 | −1 | .588 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 36 | 25 | 9 | 28 | 238 | 227 | +11 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 9 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 70 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 180 | 187 | −7 | .579 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 10 | Florida Panthers | 69 | 35 | 26 | 8 | 30 | 231 | 228 | +3 | .565 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 11 | New York Rangers | 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 31 | 234 | 222 | +12 | .564 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 12 | Montreal Canadiens | 71 | 31 | 31 | 9 | 19 | 212 | 221 | −9 | .500 | Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round |
| 13 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | 30 | 31 | 8 | 22 | 195 | 217 | −22 | .493 | |
| 14 | New Jersey Devils | 69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 189 | 230 | −41 | .493 | |
| 15 | Ottawa Senators | 71 | 25 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 191 | 243 | −52 | .437 | |
| 16 | Detroit Red Wings | 71 | 17 | 49 | 5 | 13 | 145 | 267 | −122 | .275 | |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2019–20 game log: 17–49–5 (Home: 12–23–2; Road: 5–26–3) :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Dylan Larkin | 71 | 19 | 34 | 53 | −21 | 39 |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | 71 | 21 | 27 | 48 | −23 | 40 |
| Anthony Mantha | 43 | 16 | 22 | 38 | −7 | 34 |
| Robby Fabbri$^†$ | 52 | 14 | 17 | 31 | −29 | 18 |
| Filip Hronek | 65 | 9 | 22 | 31 | −38 | 46 |
| Andreas Athanasiou‡ | 46 | 10 | 14 | 24 | −45 | 26 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 70 | 6 | 15 | 21 | −42 | 24 |
| Madison Bowey | 53 | 3 | 14 | 17 | −16 | 34 |
| Darren Helm | 68 | 9 | 7 | 16 | −6 | 37 |
| Filip Zadina | 28 | 8 | 7 | 15 | −13 | 2 |
| Mike Green‡ | 48 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −32 | 32 |
| Luke Glendening | 60 | 6 | 3 | 9 | −29 | 14 |
| Frans Nielsen | 60 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −13 | 8 |
| Patrik Nemeth | 64 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −10 | 28 |
| Dennis Cholowski | 36 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −26 | 6 |
| Taro Hirose | 26 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −12 | 6 |
| Trevor Daley | 43 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −22 | 20 |
| Adam Erne | 56 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −24 | 28 |
| Christoffer Ehn | 54 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −21 | 2 |
| Brendan Perlini$^†$ | 39 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −18 | 10 |
| Jacob de la Rose$^‡$ | 16 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Danny DeKeyser | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Givani Smith | 21 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 9 |
| Justin Abdelkader | 49 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −14 | 25 |
| Alex Biega | 49 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −9 | 24 |
| Joe Hicketts | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −5 | 2 |
| Sam Gagner | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Brian Lashoff | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Gustav Lindstrom | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 14 |
| Jonathan Ericsson | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −12 | 4 |
| Dylan McIlrath | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 23 |
| Evgeny Svechnikov | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Dmytro Timashov | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cody Goloubef | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Jonathan Bernier | 46 | 41 | 2,566 | 15 | 22 | 3 | 126 | 2.95 | 1,353 | .907 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Jimmy Howard | 27 | 27 | 1,372 | 2 | 23 | 2 | 96 | 4.20 | 817 | .882 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Comrie$^†$ | 3 | 2 | 127 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4.28 | 66 | .864 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Calvin Pickard | 3 | 1 | 165 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5.46 | 74 | .797 | 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.

## Awards and honours
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| Anthony Mantha | NHL Second Star of the Week | October 7, 2019 |

### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Justin Abdelkader | 700th career NHL game | October 23, 2019 |
| Givani Smith | 1st career NHL game | October 25, 2019 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 500th career NHL point | November 4, 2019 |
| Givani Smith | 1st career NHL point 1st career NHL assist | January 7, 2020 |
| Givani Smith | 1st career NHL goal | January 14, 2020 |
| Frans Nielsen | 300th career NHL assist | January 17, 2020 |
| Dylan Larkin | 100th career NHL goal | January 18, 2020 |
| Valtteri Filppula | 1,000th career NHL game | February 1, 2020 |
| Gustav Lindstrom | 1st career NHL game | February 6, 2020 |
| Robby Fabbri | 100th career NHL point | February 6, 2020 |
| Mike Green | 500th career NHL point | February 18, 2020 |
| Gustav Lindstrom | 1st career NHL point 1st career NHL assist | March 6, 2020 |
| Luke Glendening | 500th career NHL game | March 10, 2020 |

## Transactions

The Red Wings have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07) | To Vancouver CanucksDavid Pope | To Detroit Red WingsAlex Biega |
| October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28) | To Chicago BlackhawksAlec Regula | To Detroit Red WingsBrendan Perlini |
| November 6, 2019 (2019-11-06) | To St. Louis BluesJacob de la Rose | To Detroit Red WingsRobby Fabbri |
| November 30, 2019 (2019-11-30) | To Arizona CoyotesVili Saarijarvi | To Detroit Red WingsEric Comrie |
| December 12, 2019 (2019-12-12) | To Carolina HurricanesOliwer Kaski | To Detroit Red WingsKyle Wood |
| February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24) | To Edmonton OilersMike Green | To Detroit Red WingsKyle Brodziak Conditional draft pick in 2020 or 2021 |
| February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24) | To Edmonton OilersAndreas Athanasiou Ryan Kuffner | To Detroit Red WingsSam Gagner 2020 2nd-round pick 2021 2nd-round pick |
| September 26, 2020 (2020-09-26) | To New York RangersFuture considerations | To Detroit Red WingsMarc Staal 2021 2nd-round pick |
Notes:
* $^a$ Detroit to retain 50% ($2.6875 million) of salary as part of trade.

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Valtteri Filppula | from New York Islanders | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Patrik Nemeth | from Colorado Avalanche | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Calvin Pickard | from Arizona Coyotes | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Martin Frk | to Los Angeles Kings | 1-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Luke Witkowski | to Tampa Bay Lightning | 2-year |
| July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01) | Zachary Gallant | to San Jose Sharks | 1-year |

### Retirement

| Date | Player | Ref |
| September 3, 2019 (2019-09-03) | Niklas Kronwall | |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| February 21, 2020 (2020-02-21) | Cody Goloubef | from Ottawa Senators | |
| February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24) | Dmytro Timashov | from Toronto Maple Leafs | |

## Draft picks

Below are the Detroit Red Wings' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 6 | Moritz Seider | D | Germany | Adler Mannheim (DEL) |
| 2 | 35 | Antti Tuomisto | D | Finland | Ässät U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) |
| 2 | 54$^1$ | Robert Mastrosimone | LW | United States | Chicago Steel (USHL) |
| 2 | 60$^2$ | Albert Johansson | D | Sweden | Färjestad BK J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 3 | 66 | Albin Grewe | RW | Sweden | Djurgårdens IF J20 (J20 SuperElit) |
| 4 | 97 | Ethan Phillips | C | Canada | Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) |
| 5 | 128 | Cooper Moore | D | United States | Brunswick (USHS) |
| 6 | 159 | Elmer Soderblom | RW | Sweden | Frölunda J20 (SuperElit) |
| 6 | 177$^3$ | Gustav Berglund | D | Sweden | Frölunda J18 (J18 Elit) |
| 7 | 190 | Kirill Tyutyayev | LW | Russia | JHC Avto (MHL) |
| 7 | 191$^4$ | Carter Gylander | G | Canada | Sherwood Park Crusaders (AJHL) |
Notes:
* The New York Islanders' second-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on February 26, 2018, that sent Tomas Tatar to Vegas in exchange for a first-round pick in 2018, a third-round pick in 2021 and this pick.
* The San Jose Sharks' second-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on February 24, 2019, that sent Gustav Nyquist to San Jose in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in 2020 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
* The Toronto Maple Leafs' sixth-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent Columbus' fifth-round pick in 2019 (143rd overall) to Buffalo in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2019 (191st overall) and this pick.
* The Buffalo Sabres' seventh-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent Columbus' fifth-round pick in 2019 (143rd overall) to Buffalo in exchange for Toronto's sixth-round pick in 2019 (177th overall) and this pick.