As the Detroit Red Wings become healthier Blashill finally has options

The Detroit Red Wings are starting to get a bit healthier, well up front anyway.  It’s been a season stricken with injuries and challenges to put a competitive lineup on the ice every night.

When the time comes to fill in the game card Jeff Blashill doesn’t exactly have the luxury of a star-studded lineup to pencil in.  Jeff frequently tried to level out his lineup rather than having it top heavy.  Up front, the Detroit Red Wings could create two solid NHL lines, but that leaves a pair of below average lines and possibly an AHL caliber fourth line for the majority of the year up until the last two games.

With the return of Anthony Mantha, Blash has the opportunity to balance out his top two lines.  Mantha has returned in terrific shape.  Over the last two games, he’s been skating in all three zones and continues to work hard on the boards.

He was ferocious on the back-check last night and created a turnover and in the neutral zone and made it count.  He streaked in and slipped a backhander past netminder Brayden Holtby.  I’m not sure Mantha earlier in the season was as interested in continuing to move his feet.  All too often he was caught flat-footed.

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When Mantha plays this way, he opens up space for his linemates.  I thought he would be locked in as the top winger alongside Dylan Larkin, that’s where he was at the time of his hand injury.  Gustav Nyquist has formed excellent chemistry with Larks on the top line, and Blash decided to roll Mantha in on the second line with Nielsen and Vanek instead.  They’ve worked well together.

Bertuzzi was elevated to play with Larkin and Gus on the top line in favor of Abdelkader who’d been there in the absence of Darren Helm.  Helm also missed significant time with a shoulder injury; he was playing with Larks and Mantha.  Since his return, he’s been playing as a bottom-six forward with Abby.  The duo playing on the fourth line lengthens the Detroit Red Wings lineup.

I would love to see a Mantha-Larkin-Nyquist line or an AA-Larkin-Mantha unit.  Jeff Blashill can do a bit of exploring with Mantha back in the lineup.  Maybe he will find a combination that jives well.  I urge him to not just sit still and resist the urge to shuffle the lines.  All to often Mike Babcock would wait until it was too late to put Pav and Hank together.  Blash, don’t be stubborn and try to be a bit more creative when the opportune time arises.

I have no problem with Bertuzzi playing on the top line although I don’t see him as a true top-six forward.  He’s an upgrade to both Helm and Abby in my opinion.  I would like to see Nielsen, Mantha, and AA together as the second line.

I think Andreas is a top-six forward within this group and Blashill needs to play him that way.  This would create two respectable scoring lines for the Wings.  The third line with Glendening, Vanek, and Helm is a line with the ability to chip in here and there with a goal and play responsibly in their own zone.

Michael Rasmussen is expected to be out Tuesday night once again with a lower-body injury.  He is expected to be back by the weekend though.  At this point, it is considered a minor injury.  Ehn is scheduled to skate with de La Rose and Abdelkader as the checking line.

It is critical with how banged up the defense corps currently is, that they Wings forwards remain responsible in the defensive zone.  The played that way last night against the Caps and will need to continue the trend until Green, DeKeyser, and Daley all return.

Finally, Jeff Blashill has some bodies he can mix and match with.  It is amazing what one player like Mantha returning can do to a lineup.  A player like Abdelkader who was playing over his head on the top line moves all the way down to the bottom. It’s not a knock on him; some players are grinders, and others are scorers.  Needless to say, number eight is not a scorer these days.

It will be exciting tomorrow evening when the Montreal Canadiens roll into Detroit how Jeff Blashill writes out his forward lines.  He can finally juggle some talented players around until he finds something that clicks.