DETROIT IN THE DUMPS, YZERMAN’S JOB SECURITY, & AUGUSTINE SIGNS – Winged Wheel Podcast -Apr. 1, 2026

28 comments

1. Hey, don’t rag on my Alma mater. App state.

2. Hear me out. Larkin and goalie prospect to Oilers for Draisaitl. Oilers save 6mil on cap, we get rid of Larkin. Oilers need a goalie prospect. Something to work on and think about.

3. Thats 2 games in a row, that i had to watch and it was painful. Then to look up the standings before the next game and realise that they didnt lost ground. Will someone please tell me its time that i can give up on this team and not have to watch them?

4. I feel like the Wings need more vibes in the room, just my opinion. Look at a team like San Jose for example, their roster sucks on paper yet they’re competing for a playoff spot (yes I know the West is weak, but still) due to the great vibes in the team. How many times do you hear on broadcasts they talk about how stressed and quiet the Wings bench is? Maybe an injection of youth? The vibes were there at the start of the year when ASP, MBN, and Finnie made the team, even Danielson. And then management sends those guys down and it killed the group. Yes I know prospects won’t make an immediate impact but realistically how much worse are these guys from the bottom 6 we have now?

5. Winning DOES NOT cure all. This team won an away game against Buffalo, and forgot how to play hockey for the first 55 minutes of a game the very next night.

   Who do we think Todd's comment's are calling out when he says the guys that have been here the longest are the ones that need to change? We didn't reacquire Perron coincidentally. The front office and the coaching staff can acknowledge there's an issue with leadership in the room, but the moment anyone is critical of Larkin it's just the internet being angry?

   Just because you can lead without a letter, does not mean that the letter is irrelevant. Some players need to be prodded into that leadership role. Some players get prodded into leadership roles that they don't belong in and wearing a letter shields them from accountability.

   I'd also love to see all these times that Team USA is praising Larkin's on ice leadership. I've watched dozens of hours of post-olympic hockey content, interviews, etc and never once have I heard someone say anything about Larkin on the bench. Locker room? Johnny Gaudreau stuff? Practice? Absolutely. In game? Not once.

   This team has shuffled almost the entire bottom 6 forwards and bottom 4 defenseman, both goaltenders, and added a handful of youngsters, and the issue of effort down the stretch has never changed. Larkin's message has either missed all of them, or it's the message that's not working.

   There's a dozen smoking guns pointing at the source of the problem, and we're doing gymnastics trying to come up with any other explanation.

6. Anyone who thinks McLellan should be fired is a moron.

7. Im not sure what more he could do. Most high value players reject the trades or choose to sign elsewhere. This roster is going to be the youth movement he built in the next 2 years and that to me is end of the runway. Bear 1 or 2 years into nhl career ish timeline.

8. Perspective. Axel pelikka has 7 goals and was sent down to ahl 2 weeks ago and he’s a rookie dman. Yet copp has 9 goals. And compher has 10 goals. Both have 1 goal last 19 games. So a rookie dman has almost as many goals as our second line center but he gets sent down while zero accountability for copp and compher… Copp and compher should be in the press box or sent down to gr

9. I live in the UK I will not be staying up to watch anymore games. Unless it's a playoff game. Then I will stay up and watch them get beat down.

10. Why are you guys pronouncing 'Detroit' like dumbass elliott friedman does, as in 'De-troyit'? 'DEE-Troyt', aren't you Michiganders??

11. Wings are the Colorado Rockies of the NHL.

12. Sadly i think the main person to blame is the coach. The team is never prepared to start in time and has reverted to the same bad habits they had under Lalonde.

13. the wings have no identity. are they a tough team? are they going to lock you down on defense? are they going to fly by you? are they going to outscore you? what do they hang their hat on? what do they do well, other than miss the playoffs every year?

14. It's not over until we're officially eliminated. Doomers can doom, but I'm not wishing failure on this team. Cat, Kane, and Seider are keeping me going. Hit 40, Alex!

15. Yzerman needs to go

16. is this team trying to get McLellan fired ? maybe they hate the dump and chase offense ?

17. Mentally and physically the softest team in the league.

18. Just because Yzerman has unlimited runway doesn't make conversations about his job pointless. Most people acknowledge it

    Has he done enough to deserve being brought up? The national/international media is now putting a microscope on the Wings and calls are getting louder. It's not useless or pointless if it becomes blatantly obvious to Chris Illitch it's not working

19. National media is not talking about Larkin’s leadership, or Raymond, or Finnie. Even the talk about Seider has quieted down with his diminished play.

20. Be careful guy, the losers on Red Wings Reddit are gonna start calling you doomers. We could go 0-82 and those dorks would tell us that Sebastian Cossa is going to save our franchise. So delusional.

21. Stop crapping on about yzerman. The team clearly hasn’t got the mental fortitude it takes to be winners. And I honestly don’t believe Todd is too much the reasoning. Look at the flyers game played like shit For 90% of it and then one goal off tying it in about 10 minutes. Where the fuck was that effort in the first. And second periods. Could yzerman do better yes ofcourse. But the team is getting better year on year. And it’s partially upto the players to go out and win.

22. Now I know how Lions fans feel

23. I would take the overpay on some guys that produce secondary scoring than paying market value for trash. Offense top to bottom needs a major shake up. Top end and bottom six talent are needed. Other teams either draft and develop or sign bottom six guys that actually help on offense. We continually don’t. I think of guys like Acciari, Brazeau, and others I never heard of but they show up against us. We could use more offensively gifted instead of defensively responsible or 200 foot player in our draft pick scouting reports. Continual lack of finishing for far too long. Other teams do not have as much trouble in the offensive zone generating 5 on 5 scoring. It has been a huge issue for too long. My patience is running thin on these historical issues which haven’t been addressed. Goalie – good now. Coach – seems solid. Defense – may be shored up with Falk/ At least is workable. Offense – 5 on 5 is a disaster. No true 2C, no other finishing winger. Bottom 6 needs 4 players gone IMO. I am trying to hang my hat on a shorter to do list and really focus on upgrading the offense from the forward group.

24. Boston lost and they were able to get in

25. The last season of Datsyuk in Detroit was the last time they made the playoffs

26. I take keeping Todd over Larkin if it comes down to it. The coach isn't able to make players who don't care, actively care.

27. It's April! They can win again, right? Right??? RIGHT?!!!!

28. 14:13 The last time they made the playoffs they backed into it. Maybe they need to do that to get back in.