A pair of potential breakout candidates next year for the Detroit Red Wings

Although it was somewhat of a disappointing season for the Detroit Red Wings, they had players breakout and sort of come into their own.  The hope is those players can continue to produce while a few others develop into impact players next season.

Tyler Bertuzzi along with Andreas Athanasiou seemingly took a huge step forward last season for the Detroit Red Wings.  Athanasiou was able to record 30 goals for the first time in his career.  Star forward Dylan Larkin was able to elevate his game also achieving more than 30 goals.

The Wings hadn’t had a 30 or more goal scorer since 2009 when the team had four players reach the milestone.  Marian Hossa led the way with 40, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Johan Franzen were all able to settle in the ’30s leading the Detroit Red Wings to their second consecutive finals appearances against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Dylan Larkin seemed to take a huge step forward this past season with his active play in all three zones.  He was one of the teams’ best penalty killers; he also anchored the teams’ top power-play unit.  Larkin had a strong season in the faceoff dot winning 54.5% of his draws.  That is quite impressive when you understand that Larkin had never been above 50% over his first three NHL seasons.

Larkin also owned an impressive CF% at 54.4%, when you realize he averaged nearly 22:00 TOI a night on a lottery-caliber team that number simply pops out.  Larkin didn’t necessarily break out this season, but he certainly put the pedal to the metal accelerating as the Wings top forward.

Tyler Bertuzzi was a plus 11 on a bad team, he recorded 47 points, scoring 21 goals.  All of his production doesn’t come graciously; he needs to work extremely hard for everything.  He became the mudder on the Wings top line working down low to retrieve the puck for his talented linemates.  He did his job exceptionally well last season.  It seems he understands his role and thrives embracing it.  He broke out with the Wings last year; the hope is he can improve on his play and continue to develop next season.

Andreas Athanasiou is an elite skater; at times he needs to defer to his teammates as he tries to enter the offensive zone.  He draws a crowd leaving his linemates open as he tends to try and do too much on his own.

He skates like a thoroughbred chomping at the bit, waiting for the gate to open.  Athanasiou proved he could back up his world-class speed with the ability to snipe.   He tends to score in bunches if he can corral the slumps while scoring on more of a consistent basis it will bode well for the depth of the Detroit Red Wings forwards.  He was able to thrive playing down the middle for the last quarter of the season; I expect Athanasiou to start next season after his breakout year as the Wings second line center.

Now we have a look at a pair of players who have breakout potential for the 2019-20 season.  Honorable mention- – Evgeny Svechnikov but we would like to see how he’s bounced back from the knee surgery that cost him the entire season last year.

Also, Filip Zadina who had an up and down season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.  He should start in Detroit next season especially if he has a strong training camp.  I personally would like to see him be more dominant in the American Hockey League before making the jump the to show.

He was the talk of the town for the final two weeks of the regular season with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Detroit Red Wings signed Taro Hirose to an Entry-Level contract right out of Michigan State University.  The forward had a spectacular final season with the Spartans; he wasn’t a Hobey Baker Finalist which is awarded to the NCAA hockey player of the year, they only nominate three but he had to of been in consideration.

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Taro Hirose was awarded Big Ten player of the year edging out the Michigan Wolverines defenseman Quinn Hughes.  Hughes is a player the Wings had an opportunity to draft last season before Filip Zadina fell into their lap.  By all accounts, the team had their eyes on a defender from the London Knights named Evan Bouchard.  He could turn into a solid pro, but I feel that would have been a safe pick by Ken Holland.  Hughes dazzled in a short spurt with the Vancouver Canucks at the end of the season after his college career came to a close.

Hirose became a valuable find for the Ken Holland and company.  Hirose decided to sign with the Wings because he figured it would be his best opportunity to play right away.  If he decided to sign with a playoff team or a Stanley Cup contender he would have been hard-pressed to crack the lineup until next season.

You may think that wouldn’t be a big deal, but Hirose might have started his career in the American Hockey League next season.  It would be the first year of his three-year Entry-Level contract.  By playing immediately with the Wings to end last season, it accounts for the first year of his ELC meaning he can sign his first deal a year quicker making more money a year faster.

I was very impressed with his play last season.  He seems ready for the big stage; he controlled the play with confidence.  He proved to be a crafty pass-first player who won’t score a tonne of goals, but if he’s playing with players like Andreas Athanasiou or Filip Zadina, he would compliment their scoring ability very favorably.

Last year Hirose played 10 games and recorded 1 goal adding 6 assists totaling 7 points.  This is a prime example of how analytics don’t always agree with the eye test.  If you were to look at the stat line along with asking fans how they thought Hirose faired it be essentially be all positive feedback.  His possession stats through those ten games were atrocious; he recorded a 37.7 CF%.

I expect if he starts next season as a top-six forward, he should be around 50%, that would be much more respectable.  I feel as though Hirose could be a 10 goal, 40 assist type of player as early as next season.  He’s another breakout candidate for the franchise next season.