Andreas Athanasiou
The speedy, dynamic playmaker for the Detroit Red Wings has yet to reach his full potential. Athanasiou often finds himself breaking away from defenders using his world-class speed to create his own scoring chances.
Athanasiou who turned 24 years of age a couple of weeks ago is set to start his third full season as a regular with the Wings. The same theory applies to double-A as it does to Mantha. Hopefully a big step forward as a pro entering his third full season.
Athanasiou found himself in Blashill’s doghouse on many different occasions. The reasoning often explained by the head coach related to lacking defensive responsibilities. AA only averaged 15:19 minutes per game which is WAY to low for a player with this much potential.
Double-A, found himself often losing out on minutes to players like Luke Glendening, and Darren Helm, Blashill cannot continue to do this and expect players to develop quickly.
Last season Athanasiou recorded 16 goals, 33 points in 71 contests. The numbers are to low for a player of his talent & potential. He only recorded 170 shots on goal, that’s only 2.39 shots per game, similar to Larkin much to low.
Another reason why coach Jeff Blashill needs to change his philosophy and play these talented players more than he has liked to in the past. More ice time for the top 6 and even the top 9 forwards equals more shots from the top of your line-up, which translates to more scoring chances.
Two seasons ago double-A recorded 18 goals in 64 games. The goal production dipped some last year, but Athanasiou is more of a scorer than a facilitator. Andreas has the potential to become a 30 goal scorer for the Detroit Red Wings.
Andreas needs to commit to on the defensive side of his game to begrudgingly show Blashill he is not a liability. Blashill will in turn allocate more ice time and hopefully, Athanasiou rewards the franchise with better offensive numbers.