2015–16 Detroit Red Wings season

The 2015–16 Detroit Red Wings season was the 90th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on September 25, 1926.^[1] The regular season began on October 9, 2015, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and former Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, with a 4–0 victory.^[2] This season also involved the Red Wings extending their playoff streak to 25 straight seasons.

Off-season

On June 9, 2015, Jeff Blashill was named the head coach of the Red Wings, following the departure of Mike Babcock to the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[3]

On June 23, 2015, the Red Wings finalized their coaching staff, Tony Granato will return as an assistant coach, along with Pat Ferschweiler, who was an assistant coach under Blashill with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Dave Noel-Bernier was named video coach, and Chris Chelios will evaluate in-game player performance, and will continue to play a role in player development, by working on-ice with the team's defensemen during practices. Jim Bedard will return for his 19th season with the organization as goaltending coach.^[4]

Standings

Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Red Wings. Stats reflect time with the Red Wings only.
^‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Player suspensions/fines

Awards and honours

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Red Wings have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season:

Trades

Notes

• ^a Detroit to retain 15% ($720,000) of salary as part of trade.

Lost via waivers Player New team Date Ref Landon Ferraro Boston Bruins November 22, 2015 [23] Player signings Date Player Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) Ref June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26) Joakim Andersson 1 year, $815,000 contract extension [24] June 30, 2015 (2015-06-30) Brendan Smith 2 years, $5.5 million contract extension [25] July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01) Andy Miele 1 year, $575,000 [26] July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01) Tom McCollum 1 year, $600,000 July 3, 2015 (2015-07-03) Vili Saarijarvi 3 years, entry-level contract [27] July 5, 2015 (2015-07-05) Landon Ferraro 1 year, two-way contract [28] July 9, 2015 (2015-07-09) Jared Coreau 1 year, $600,000 [29] July 10, 2015 (2015-07-10) Gustav Nyquist 4 years, $19 million contract extension [30] July 13, 2015 (2015-07-13) Mitch Callahan 1 year, $600,000 [31] July 13, 2015 (2015-07-13) Nick Jensen 2 years, $1.764 million July 15, 2015 (2015-07-15) Louis-Marc Aubry 1 year, $575,000 [32] July 21, 2015 (2015-07-21) Teemu Pulkkinen 1 year, $735,000 [33] July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24) Tomas Jurco 2 years, $1.8 million [34] September 4, 2015 (2015-09-04) Daniel Cleary 1 year, $950,000 [35] October 2, 2015 (2015-10-02) Evgeny Svechnikov 3 years, entry-level contract [36] November 12, 2015 (2015-11-12) Justin Abdelkader 7 years, $29.75 million contract extension [37] November 16, 2015 (2015-11-16) Xavier Ouellet 1 year, $715,000 contract extension [38] March 21, 2016 (2016-03-21) Eric Tangradi 2 years, $1.25 million contract extension [39] May 27, 2016 (2016-05-27) Tomas Nosek 2 years, $1.225 million contract extension [40] May 31, 2016 (2016-05-31) Dylan Sadowy 3 years, entry-level contract [41] June 16, 2016 (2016-06-16) Riley Sheahan 2 years, $4.15 million contract extension [42] Brian Lashoff 1 year, $650,000 contract extension Draft picks The Detroit Red Wings' picks at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League) 1 19 Evgeny Svechnikov LW  Russia Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) 3 73[a] Vili Saarijarvi D  Finland Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) 4 110 Joren van Pottelberghe G   Switzerland Linköpings HC (J20 SuperElit) 5 140 Chase Pearson C  Canada Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) 6 170 Patrick Holway D  United States Boston Advantage U18 (MWEHL) 7 200 Adam Marsh LW  United States Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) Draft notes[43] The Detroit Red Wings' second-round pick went to the Dallas Stars as the result of a trade on March 1, 2015, that sent Erik Cole and a conditional third-round pick in 2015 to Detroit in exchange for Mattias Janmark, Mattias Backman and this pick.[44] a The Dallas Stars' third-round pick went to the Detroit Red Wings as the result of a trade on March 1, 2015, that sent Mattias Janmark, Mattias Backman, and a second-round pick in 2015 to Dallas in exchange for Erik Cole and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[45] The condition – Detroit will receive a third-round pick in 2015 if they do not qualify for the 2015 Eastern Conference Final and Cole does not play in 50% of Detroit's playoff games[44] – was converted on April 8, 2015, when Cole was injured for the remainder of the season.[46] The Detroit Red Wings' third-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015, that sent Rene Bourque, William Karlsson and a second-round pick in 2015 to Columbus in exchange for James Wisniewski and this pick.[47] Columbus previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014, that sent Edmonton's third-round pick in 2014 to Detroit in exchange for a third-round pick in 2014 and this pick.[48] References ^ National Hockey League (2013). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2014. Diamond Sports Data, Inc. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-894801-26-3. ^ Harris, Paul (October 9, 2015). "Blashill's Red Wings shut out Babcock's Maple Leafs". National Hockey League. Retrieved October 10, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (June 9, 2015). "Red Wings name Jeff Blashill head coach". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 9, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (June 23, 2015). "Red Wings name assistant coaches". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 23, 2015. ^ "2015-2016 NHL Hockey Standings". NHL.com. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (June 2, 2015). "2015-16 preseason schedule revealed". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 2, 2015. ^ "2015-2016 Regular Season Schedule/Results - Detroit Red Wings Schedule". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 17, 2015. ^ "Red Wings' Pulkkinen fined for diving/embellishment". National Hockey League. November 13, 2015. ^ "Abdelkader, Lindberg and Smith named stars of week". National Hockey League. October 12, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015. ^ "Wings' Larkin named rookie of month for November". National Hockey League. December 1, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2015. ^ "Star-studded Central roster highlights All-Star reveal". National Hockey League. January 6, 2016. ^ "Ovechkin, Mrazek and Barrie named stars of week". National Hockey League. January 11, 2016. ^ "Datsyuk, Lundqvist and Marchand named 'Three Stars' of week". National Hockey League. February 15, 2016. ^ DiFilippo, Alex (January 15, 2016). "Red Wings trade Richard Nedomlel to St. Louis for future considerations". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved January 15, 2016. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (February 27, 2016). "Red Wings trade Kindl to Panthers". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved February 27, 2016. ^ Roose, Bill (May 26, 2016). "Wings acquire prospect from Sharks". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved May 26, 2016. ^ Roose, Bill (July 1, 2015). "Green agrees to three-years with Wings". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 1, 2015. ^ Roose, Bill (July 1, 2015). "Wings add depth up middle with Richards". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 1, 2015. ^ Roose, Bill (July 8, 2015). "Red Wings sign winger Eric Tangradi". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 8, 2015. ^ Khan, Ansar (August 16, 2015). "Detroit Red Wings sign defenseman Robbie Russo, free agent from Notre Dame". MLive. Retrieved August 16, 2015. ^ "Penguins sign forward Kevin Porter". National Hockey League. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015. ^ "Bruins Sign Jonas Gustavsson to a One-Year Contract". National Hockey League. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015. ^ "Bruins claim Ferraro off waivers, place Miller on IR". National Hockey League. November 22, 2015. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015. ^ Khan, Ansar (June 26, 2015). "Detroit Red Wings sign forward Joakim Andersson to one-year contract". MLive. Retrieved June 26, 2015. ^ DiFilippo, Alex (June 30, 2015). "Red Wings re-sign defenseman Brendan Smith to two-year deal". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 30, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 1, 2015). "Miele, McCollum re-sign with Red Wings". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 1, 2015. ^ Roose, Bill (July 3, 2015). "Wings ink Saarijarvi, who may play in Flint". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 3, 2015. ^ Khan, Ansar (July 5, 2015). "Landon Ferraro will compete for spot on Red Wings' fourth line after signing one-year contract". MLive. Retrieved July 5, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 9, 2015). "Wings reach one-year deal with Coreau". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 9, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 10, 2015). "Detroit agrees to four-year deal with Gustav Nyquist". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 10, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 13, 2015). "Red Wings bring back Callahan and Jensen". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 13, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 15, 2015). "Detroit re-signs Louis-Marc Aubry". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 15, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (July 21, 2015). "Wings agree to terms with Pulkkinen". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved July 21, 2015. ^ St. James, Helene (July 24, 2015). "Tomas Jurco, Red Wings agree to two-year contract". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 24, 2015. ^ Beam, Todd (September 4, 2015). "Red Wings re-sign Dan Cleary to one-year deal". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved September 4, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (October 2, 2015). "Red Wings agree to terms with Svechnikov". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved October 2, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (November 12, 2015). "Detroit extends Abdelkader for seven years". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved November 12, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (November 16, 2015). "Wings sign Ouellet to one-year extension". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved November 16, 2015. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (March 21, 2016). "Red Wings extend Tangradi for two years". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved March 21, 2016. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (May 27, 2016). "Nosek signs to two-year extension". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved May 27, 2016. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (May 31, 2016). "Detroit signs Dylan Sadowy to entry-level contract". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved May 31, 2016. ^ Kujawa, Kyle (June 16, 2016). "Detroit extends Sheahan and Lashoff". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved June 16, 2016. ^ "2015 NHL Entry Draft Pending Transactions". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 3, 2015. ^ a b "Stars deal F Cole to Red Wings". TSN. March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015. ^ "Red Wings acquire forward Erik Cole from Stars". Sportsnet. March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015. ^ "Red Wings' Cole out for season with spine contusion". National Hockey League. April 8, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015. ^ "Jackets ship D Wisniewski to Ducks". TSN. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015. ^ "Notes from the 2014 NHL Draft". National Hockey League. June 28, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.