We’re in a weird situation here in Detroit, pretty much every single pro team’s outlook isn’t bleak — aside from maybe one particular Club one which we’ll touch on here in just a bit.
However, heading into 2022 there’s some level of optimism to be had if you’re a Detroit sports fan, something that hasn’t been the case generally speaking for quite some time now. Of course, each team’s outlook is varied and as we’ve been accustomed to here in Detroit nothing is guaranteed, especially when you’re looking at things just on paper.
But with all that said, let’s take a look at each team and grade their respective outlooks.
Detroit Red Wings
It’s hard to imagine where the Red Wings would be at this point if Steve Yzerman never made his return to Detroit. It’s some alternate dystopian timeline that Red Wings fans may have nightmares about, especially given what Ken Holland is doing to the Oilers in Edmonton as that organization continues to waste Connor McDavid.
Since taking over in 2019 Yzerman has been laying a new foundation for the Red Wings after literally going a quarter-century of never missing the playoffs.
And that new foundation has already begun to show its potential.
Rookies Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, and Alex Nedeljkovic have each garnered their own Calder consideration and there’s a good chance one of those three ends up taking home the honor.
Captain Dylan Larkin looks completely rejuvenated as he’s putting together a career year working on a top line with Raymond and Tyler Bertuzzi. And speaking of Bertuzzi, the 26-year-old is putting together a year for himself (politics aside) that will give Yzerman some pause in terms of what to do with him. Do you trade him now and potentially get a massive haul in return (especially considering one Canadian team is in playoff contention) or roll the dice on a contract extension after previously going to arbitration? Of course the gamble there is after next season, Bertuzzi is a UFA and you risk losing him for nothing without any RFA safety net.
In any sense, though the outlook for the Red Wings is very bright. Between guys like Simon Edvinsson and Jonatan Berggren coming up through the pipeline, Jakub Vrana getting healthy, and Yzerman’s ability to draft Detroit’s return to being playoff regulars looks to be approaching fast.
Outlook: A
Detroit Pistons
The good news for the Pistons is Cade Cunningham is legit. The rookie thus far has lived up to being the No. 1 overall pick from this past NBA Draft putting to bed any prior hesitations Pistons fans may have had when trying to decide between Cade and Jalen Green.
On the flip, it’s unclear if there are any other parts of the Pistons’ lineup that are worth keeping around Cunningham. Now that’s not to say that every other player aside from Cunningham is worthless, in fact as Cade’s development continues he will have the capability of making average players good and good players better.
In the meantime, the hard part for an organization like the Pistons has already been accomplished — getting a budding star player to build the rest of your team around. Mix in what you hope to be a decent return for Jerami Grant at the deadline, what’s sure to be another lottery pick this coming summer, and some tactical free agent signings and you have a Pistons squad that could make some good headway in the east.
Outlook: B-
Detroit City FC
Detroit’s most recent champions after winning literally EVERYTHING put in front of them throughout their entire stay in NISA, Detroit City FC embarks on a new challenge as they move up the U.S. Soccer pyramid to second-tier USL Championship.
Let’s backtrack a little bit though and once again talk about alternate timelines, in this sense if City never announced their departure from NISA this past November. If that was the case, you could probably expect more Detroit City championships in 2022 as they would have continued to dominate the third-tier.
I don’t think anyone is expecting DCFC to come in and roll USL Championship, at least not yet… right?
Sure Detroit City is more than likely turning over a large part of their roster heading into this season despite announcing some returning players thus far.
However, the wild card in all of this is head coach and general manager, Trevor James.
Since his arrival to Detroit City back in 2019 when the team was still considered amateur, James has done a remarkable job to say the very least helping elevate the Club to the next level both literally and figuratively. In that first season back in 2019, James helped guide the team to an NPSL Member’s Cup title, followed by that incredible run in NISA leading up to where we are today.
James’ ability to identify and plugin talent has already been proven as a coach/general manager bringing in a wealth of experience to Detroit City FC which is going to continue to be vital for Le Rouge. Seriously, James has coached at pretty much every level in the United States and scouted FC Barcelona, Newcastle, FC Porto, Sporting Lisbon, and England national team for Sir Bobby Robson.
Outlook: A
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers like the Red Wings have done a good job rebuilding their respective minor league/farms systems after prior runs that depleted them.
This past season, Detroit had two of their top pitching prospects contributing in Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal while this upcoming year their two biggest offensive prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene may be making their own respective debuts in the Motor City.
Throw into the mix guys like Eduardo Rodriguez and Javy Baez and the Tigers seem to be on the right track to respectability.
However, like Detroit City FC, the Tigers’ wild card resides on the bench in the form of their manager, in this case, A.J. Hinch who very well could have won AL Manager of the year in 2021 after getting the team to overachieve all last season.
Hinch is arguably the best manager in the game and vital for any continued success for the Tigers, especially with their top prospects making their way up through the system. Heading into 2022 Hinch has two more seasons left on his contract but can opt-out after this season.
Will the Tigers, specifically Chris Ilitch do enough to prove to Hinch that the team is serious about building a contender here in Detroit? Or will Hinch opt-out and move on to a team that presents a better situation for himself?
Outlook: B
Detroit Lions
It’s weird to think that any team coming off a 3-13-1 record has a positive outlook, especially when that team is the Detroit Lions.
Despite that it’s hard to deny what this team was able to accomplish in the final six weeks of the season.
After looking every bit like a team that would once again go winless for the entire 2021 season, the Lions rattled off a 3-3 record between December 5 and January 9 recording wins over the Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. Jared Goff looked like a completely different player during that span while Dan Campbell had the entire team ready to play throughout the majority of the season despite having a pretty talentless roster to work with.
Jared Goff isn’t any long-term solution at the QB and there’s only so far a coach can get a team with a severe lack of talent, in fact, you may have seen the extent of that this past year.
But it’s not like the Lions are a black hole devoid of ANY workable pieces.
Amon-Ra St. Brown looks like he could be an extremely good slot receiver for the Lions moving forward. Meanwhile, after a slow start first-round pick, Penei Sewell came around and should continue to play a big role in a solid offensive line while the running game led by D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams looks like it could also be a strength for Detroit heading into next season.
Without a franchise quarterback in the mix, it’s hard to make any concrete determination on the outlook for this team. However, with four first-round picks over the course of the next two drafts for Brad Holmes to work with, some good pieces already in place, and a head coach who isn’t going to lose the locker room and we have a situation here with the Lions that isn’t bad at all.
Outlook: B-
Michigan Stars FC
The Michigan Stars FC finished the 2021 NISA fall season with a 5-6-7 record good for seventh in a table where three points separated fourth and ninth place. So the Stars didn’t have a horrible season relatively speaking, especially after the disaster that was the Spring half of 2021 and the questions as to whether they would actually stick around in third-tier NISA.
So what does the outlook for 2022 look like for MSFC?
Well, they already lost their best defender in Devon Amoo-Mensah who signed with Detroit City while the Club has remained mum on any roster announcements ahead of the season. Nonetheless, it’s assumed they’ve constructed some sort of roster considering they apparently played a friendly against Detroit Union FC this past weekend.
The Stars have had a good keeper in Tatenda Mkuruva, however, without any roster announcements, no one can be entirely sure he’s returning to the team, especially when it’s entirely possible a more stable, put-together club could use his services.
Meanwhile, aside from the uncertainty surrounding the Stars, there’s a legit uncertainty surrounding the future of NISA. If NISA goes under what does that mean for a club like MSFC? Given owner George Juncaj’s actions in the past, it’s hard to believe that any level of USL would take in a Juncaj owned club.
Outlook: Unknown
