We've been working on our season previews for the last couple weeks and have gotten all the way through the forwards and the offense. We'll start on defensive personnel soon, but let's go ahead and take a look at the overall team defense as it stands.
Last Year's Benchmark
While there are lots of ways to describe "defense" in the NHL, the collective way of looking at it all together as a factor of preventing goals bears a strong indication that what the Red Wings had last year defensively was fairly average. In all situations, the Wings were 12th in goals allowed per 60 minutes and 13th-best in total shots against.