Accountability is a word that the Detroit Red Wings have been throwing around a lot during training camp and the NHL preseason.

“That’s big, obviously,” winger Lucas Raymond said. “Just holding each other accountable.”

That’s also a good thing. They are aware of the need to upgrade in that area of the game.

Here’s the other thing about accountability. It’s great that they are talking about it. It will be much better when the Wings are showing evidence of its application.

Fabbri sneaks one in 🤫 #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/n50T3EbK1s

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) September 27, 2025

Sure, you can say it’s still the preseason, and it doesn’t matter. Still, early on, there are worrying patterns that are continuing to exist in the club’s game.

Detroit squandered a lead and lost in Pittsburgh on Friday. The Red Wings were humbled 5-2 on Saturday afternoon in Buffalo. That happens to them a lot in that city. One goal was scored directly off a facoff, another frequent issue for the team last season.

Tage Thompson, 3-1 #LetsGoBuffalo #LGRW pic.twitter.com/88jU1WzdPc

— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) September 27, 2025

Raymond looks back on last season and understands succinctly why the team came up short of its playoff objective.

“The way we played with and without the puck, managing games,” he said. “It’s just a big thing for us that we want to develop. We want to improve that big time.

“You look at a couple of tight games in the stretch where we could have easily shut it down and got away with points where we did not do that.”

McLellan Believes the Red Wings Should Have Made the Playoffs

He’ll get no argument from his boss. Red Wings coach Todd McLellan was adamant at season’s end that the team threw away what should have been a postseason appearance. Both McLellan and GM Steve Yzerman questioned the leadership of the team.

“I’m excited for him to challenge us again,” captain Dylan Larkin said of McLellan. “He’s already challenged us in camp, and I hope we’re going to hit the ground running.

“We have important games right off the bat this season.”

The only Red Wings player who’s endured all nine seasons of playoff absence, Larkin is tired of waiting until next year.

“That’s a little chip on our shoulder,” Larkin said. “I don’t think anyone enjoyed the end of the season last year. We finish, we pack our stuff, we just go home and you got to watch playoff games.

“No one enjoys that. And it’s been a while that we’ve been doing that.”

Only one team can change that outcome, and they all wear winged wheels on the front of their jerseys.

“We know what we’re supposed to do out there,” Raymond said. “It’s about executing, and that goes for everyone.

“We got to be comfortable holding each other accountable in good ways and know that it’s coming from a good place, where we want to develop as a team and players.”

Yes, it’s still preseason, but you know when the best time to hold a team accountable would be?

Always.