On February 22nd, Andrew Copp played his final game of the season for the Detroit Red Wings. In a crushing loss to the Minnesota Wild, no one could have predicted that in less than 40 days, the Wings would be on the brink of elimination as a challenging April 2025 approached.
At the time of Copp’s injury, Detroit was one of the hottest teams in the league, holding a 28-22-6 record with 62 points through 56 games. Based on that pace, they were projected to finish with 91 points and land between 80 and 81 points by April 1st.
Had they maintained that trajectory, they would have been clinging to a wild-card spot entering the final month of the season. However, after Copp went down, the team unraveled. While the decline wasn’t immediate, it felt like every time you checked, the Wings were slipping further out of contention.
Red Wings were in for issue after issue as playoff hopes dwindled
Yeah, their performance has really dwindled, and that brutal April 2025 schedule isn’t doing them any favors. While Copp’s injury wasn’t the sole reason for Detroit’s struggles, it played a major role in their decline. Ever since he suffered a pectoral injury, the team’s offense has taken a hit, and they’ve struggled with puck possession—managing just a 45.8% faceoff win rate and a Corsi For of 49.2.
During that stretch, the Red Wings have posted a 6-11-0 record, scoring only 47 goals while allowing 57. On a per-game basis, that translates to just 2.76 goals scored while conceding 3.35. But how did they perform when Copp was in the lineup?
Even though Detroit’s Corsi For was slightly lower at 48.5, their faceoff win percentage was noticeably better at 50.5, with Copp winning just over half of his draws. Offensively, the team was more productive, netting 163 goals—an average of 2.91 per game—while allowing just 3.12 per contest, a significant improvement compared to their performance after Copp’s injury.
Andrew Copp’s overall efficacy when he was on the ice for the Red Wings
Looking at Andrew Copp’s 5-on-5 numbers, he wasn’t exactly a driving force for the Red Wings’ offense, posting an on-ice shooting percentage of just 9.4. However, his defensive reliability and faceoff success—winning 50.8% of his draws in both the offensive and defensive zones—were invaluable to the team.
Detroit also wasn’t hemorrhaging goals when Copp was on the ice at 5-on-5, as shown by an impressive 91.9 on-ice save percentage. This team-wide save percentage during his shifts highlights the stabilizing presence he provided, making it hard not to wonder just how much his absence contributed to Detroit’s collapse.
Of course, losing Copp wasn’t the sole reason for the team’s struggles—that’d be an oversimplification. But his injury left a major void that the Red Wings never truly filled. It’s a situation they’ll need to address moving forward, ensuring they have the depth to withstand the loss of a key player.
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