Derek Lalonde's message in his end-of-season availability matched what he said when it began: The Detroit Red Wings weren't good enough.
"I will give this group credit," Lalonde said Friday afternoon, the day after the Wings finished the 2022-23 season with a 35-37-10 record. "I did not see this as a playoff team — where our roster was, stacked up against our division, our conference, I did not feel like it was a playoff team. But this group thought they could get there."
When the Wings started the season on a five-game point streak, Lalonde said he thought the group was overachieving.