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Detroit Red Wings: Analyzing Jeff Blashill’s Work This Season

By Nate Brown

Jan 30, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Tyler Bertuzzi (59) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period against the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 30, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Tyler Bertuzzi (59) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period against the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /
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Lineup Decisions/Deployment

I don’t know a single Red Wings fan who at some point hasn’t questioned the lineup decisions Blashill has made. The view from the fan’s perspective are the guys deserving of more play time aren’t getting it. The response from Blashill has been on any number of occasions, with any younger player you can think of, that the time has to be earned by playing well consistently with little room for error.

Just look at his comments regarding Dennis Cholowski and Michael Rasmussen in Ted Kulfan’s piece from the Detroit News:

"“You can’t just come in and fit in, ultimately, you have to show you’re making us better,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It’s not good enough to show, ‘I can kind of come in and play and help us lose.’ That’s not what we’re looking for. “We’re looking for our young players to grow to a level where they come in and help us win. That’s what good players do.”"

This quote could be used in the past for guys like Mantha, Zadina, Larkin, or Smith. What we don’t see are names like Frans Nielsen, Valtteri Filppula,  Darren Helm, Adam Erne, or Sam Gagner preceding a statement like this.

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This is where Blashill loses the confidence of fans. I’ve written about it before where the idea of players having to show they’re “making us better” is bunk if we apply it to those aforementioned veteran players. But the tie is still going to the veteran–and both guys who instilled that into the “Red Wing Way” are gone.

The more damning part of this has been the deployment of the veterans during close games when the team needs goals. They are not the group to get it done. Instead of shifting the

ice time to the players who could score those goals, there have been Nielsen sightings during the final minutes of a game when he’s generated absolutely nothing offensively. He hasn’t “made them better” in Blash speak.

If there is a flaw in Blashill’s coaching, it’s here. Coaches certainly have players they trust more than others, and even grow more comfortable with. Blash will default to the 200-foot/defensive responsibility schematic every time. They can still score goals while playing a more defensive style. It’s just that the wrong players are being deployed when they need that scoring.

It’s often coming at the expense of players who need to be on the ice during those situations to learn and grow. At some point, you have to trust those players to step up.

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