1990–91 Detroit Red Wings season
The 1990–91 Detroit Red Wings season saw the team return to the playoffs after missing the previous season, despite winning only thirty-four games. Until the 2016–17 season, this was the Red Wings' last losing season, who were to set a National Hockey League record for the most consecutive winning seasons during the following two decades.
Offseason
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
At 34–38–8, the Red Wings finished third in the Campbell Conference. In the playoffs, they faced the St. Louis Blues, who had finished 47–22–11. The Red Wings were beaten in the seven-game series, three victories to four.Round 1: St. Louis Blues vs. Detroit Red Wings
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| C | 80 | 51 | 57 | 108 | 34 | -2 | 12 | 6 | 4 | |
| C | 77 | 31 | 48 | 79 | 66 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 5 | |
| LW/C | 80 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 112 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| D | 62 | 7 | 40 | 47 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 64 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 28 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
| RW | 70 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 55 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| LW | 71 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 18 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| LW | 55 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 315 | -3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| LW | 67 | 16 | 19 | 35 | 38 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 51 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 16 | -8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 45 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 111 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 77 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 55 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 42 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 80 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW/C | 46 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 22 | -10 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| D | 65 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 24 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 58 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 106 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 64 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 81 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 26 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 16 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 27 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 21 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 50 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 52 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 253 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 56 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 47 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 183 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 11 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | -4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 17 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 17 | -6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 65 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 20 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 22 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 43 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D/LW | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 3615 | 65 | 30 | 26 | 5 | 214 | 3.55 | 2 | 1716 | 1502 | .875 | |
| 862 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 46 | 3.20 | 0 | 438 | 392 | .895 | |
| 178 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 4.38 | 0 | 99 | 86 | .869 | |
| 108 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 6.11 | 0 | 55 | 44 | .800 | |
| 35 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10.29 | 0 | 28 | 22 | .786 | |
| 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.67 | 0 | 11 | 9 | .818 | |
| Team: | 4843 | 80 | 34 | 38 | 8 | 292 | 3.62 | 2 | 2347 | 2055 | .876 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| C | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW/C | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW/C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 398 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 3.32 | 0 | 208 | 186 | .894 | |
| 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 | 0 | 12 | 11 | .917 | |
| Team: | 418 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 3.30 | 0 | 220 | 197 | .895 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;
Awards and records
Transactions
Roster
Draft picks
Detroit's draft picks at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft held at the BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 3 | Keith Primeau | Niagara Falls Thunder | |
| 3 | 45 | Vyacheslav Kozlov | Khimik Voskresenki | |
| 4 | 66 | Stewart Malgunas | Seattle Thunderbirds | |
| 5 | 87 | Tony Burns | Duluth-Denfeld High School | |
| 6 | 108 | Claude Barthe | Victoriaville Tigres | |
| 7 | 129 | Jason York | Kitchener Rangers | |
| 8 | 150 | Wes McCauley | Michigan State University | |
| 9 | 171 | Tony Gruba | Hill-Murray School | |
| 10 | 192 | Travis Tucker | Avon Old Farms | |
| 11 | 213 | Brett Larson | Duluth-Denfeld High School | |
| 12 | 234 | John Hendry | Lake Superior State University | |
| S | 3 | Mike Casselman | Clarkson University | |
| S | 7 | Donny Oliver | Ohio State University |