If you were taking offense to the offensive output that Christian Fischer was delivering during his inaugural campaign with the Detroit Red Wings, you’re not alone.
Heck, even he knows it didn’t pass the smell test.
“Early on the season, I remember thinking to myself, I’m watching my clips and just kind of shaking my head thinking, ‘How the heck did I not put that one in?’” Fischer said.
Signed to another one-year contract at the same AAV ($1.125 million) as last season, Fischer is expecting an uptick in his output on the scoresheet during the 2024-25 campaign.
WHAT AN EFFORT 💪
Take a bow, Christian Fischer! pic.twitter.com/Oxw69tVm1z— NHL (@NHL) March 16, 2024
“Definitely I wasn’t too pleased with my offensive production,” Fischer acknowledged. He finished the 2023-24 season with five goals and 19 points in 79 games.
“I know I should be well over the double-digits in my goal mark,” Fischer said. “I just wasn’t that that dialed in last year, didn’t have the good fortune with point totals.”
How Much More Can Fischer Contribute?
That being the case, how much more can Fischer give to an offense that saw a lot of goals leave town? Daniel Sprong (18 goals), Robby Fabbri (18), David Perron (17), Jake Walman (12) and Shayne Gostisbehere (10) were among the departed.
Fischer isn’t going to make up for all of those lost tallies. He should tally up more than he did a year ago, though. It’s the question of how much more that’s masked in uncertainty.
UPDATE: The #RedWings today signed forward Christian Fischer to a one-year contract with an AAV of $1.125M AAV. pic.twitter.com/r02clMAXLU
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 1, 2024
During the 2022-23 season, his last with the Arizona Coyotes, Fischer was accounting for 13 goals and 27 points. He was good for career highs in goals (15) and points (33) during the 2017-18 season with the Coyotes. He would pot 11 goals during the 2018-19 campaign.
Then again, in between those good years, he only scored five goals in 2021-22, three in 2020-21 and six in 2019-20. But in each of those three years of downturn, circumstances were limiting him to less than 60 games. In three of the past four seasons in which he suited up for at least 70 games, Fischer did score more than 10 goals.
He thinks he’s capable of getting to those kinds of totals again this season.
Offense Not Fischer’s Leading Concern
“Oviously that’s not not my biggest concern,” Fischer, a bottom-six role-playing forward, said of driving the offense. “That’s never going to be how I’m really measured in performance.
“But with that being said, I definitely have way higher expectations for myself. I’ve done it before. That your previous to coming here I had 13 goals. I’ve been right around that mark and 30 to 40 points.
“That’s kind of my bread and butter.”
In point of fact, if Fischer were to be finishing the upcoming season with 10 goals and 30 points, the Red Wings would find that to be absolutely delightful.
