Red Wings hit brutal 56-year low point after missing 2026 playoffs

The Detroit Red Wings are a proud NHL franchise that is used to competing for Stanley Cup championships. Detroit however just went through a brutal 2025-26 campaign, that will be marked by disappointment.

“The Red Wings are 2nd team in NHL history to have 69+ points in the first 53 games and miss the playoffs. The Canadiens did it in 1969-70 (also 69 points),” the Associated Press reported.

It was a brutal free-fall. Things looked very strong for Detroit to open the season.

“The Red Wings’ collapse is something else. They woke up Jan. 25 leading the Atlantic Division and tied for the most points in the Eastern Conference, with a 12-point playoff cushion: 32-16-5 (69 points),” AP reporter Stephen Whyno posted on X, formerly Twitter, on April 5.

Things have reached a low point in Detroit. Despite winning 11 Stanley Cups, the team now faces a playoff drought of 10 years.

“This is Detroit,” said Red Wings coach Todd McLellan, per NHL.com. “This is Hockeytown. I’ve been lucky enough to be on the other side of it when they couldn’t stop cheering for this team, and they’re dying for that. They crave that. That’s what they want.

“And I don’t even know if they want a Stanley Cup championship anymore. They just want a team that’s going to come and give them something to cheer about.”

Red Wings players are disappointed that they couldn’t get the team back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Detroit now has the longest active playoff drought in the NHL, after the Buffalo Sabres snapped their drought earlier this season.

“It’s extremely difficult,” team captain Dylan Larkin said. “I mean, our fans are great. They’re passionate. They care. They care about winning. There’s been some great years here, and they want us back to that, and that’s what they expect here, and to hear that, very difficult. We’re down. I’m down, as down as I could be right now.”

The Red Wings have lost seven of their last 10 games.

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