It has been a long time since the Red Wings were relevant in March in the way they are right now. The drought without a playoff appearance has been genuinely painful and this fanbase has earned some optimism, which is why the energy around this team feels different. Dylan Larkin has been exactly the captain this rebuild needed - he's producing, he's competing, and on nights when the Wings need someone to take over a shift and make something happen, he's been the one doing it.

Lucas Raymond has taken a real step forward this season and the combination of him and Larkin with whoever ends up on that line has been better than it was a year ago. The Moritz Seider situation is always somewhere in the conversation - when the big defenseman is playing with confidence the entire blue line looks different. Cam Talbot in goal has been serviceable without being spectacular, which in a tight Eastern Conference race is a thing you notice.

Little Caesars Arena for a late-season home game is worth going to right now - the building has a different energy when the fanbase smells something real, and after this long a wait, they can smell it. Detroit hockey has been rebuilt by attrition and patience. The front office has mostly done the hard work right. Whether the finish line is this year or next year is still genuinely uncertain. But the fact that it's in sight at all is something. We're watching. Everyone here is watching.