The Red Wings coach does not condone 'tanking' at all

Head coach Derek Lalonde genuinely doesn't buy into the thought of intentionally losing to try to win the derby Connor Bedard, the player tipped to hear his name first in the 2023 draft. Still, the Wings are just a few points away from seeing their sixth elimination from the playoffs confirmed.

However, in the eyes of Lalonde, it is first important to progress within a winning culture and to instill a healthy work ethic in his flock. The message also seems well understood, because before hosting the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday, Detroit had won four in its five most recent outings, which includes a 5-0 victory at the expense of the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

“Winning is important; some of the habits adopted during our success streak are too, he said, as reported by mlive.com. I know fans will surely be frustrated with this. We've literally dropped six notches in the draft order in the last week.”

Very important

“We're going to play to win , because I believe it is essential, he insisted. We went through a really tough 5-6 game drought [from February 25 to March 5] and it seemed like as long as three months. You sometimes talk about how catchy the seasons can be. We've been through that kind of period recently: winning, playing the right way, preparing the right way. Then suddenly there are only five games left on the schedule. It slows down, which is completely normal.”

True, the cellar of the general classification does not guarantee winning the repechage lottery. In 2019-2020, the campaign cut short by the pandemic, the Wings finished last, which did not prevent them from falling three levels in the selection order. So, instead of getting their hands on Alexis Lafrenière, they took Lucas Raymond.

The Michigan club is in 22nd place on the Bettman circuit.