Detroit Red Wings Preview: Won’t Get Fooled Again

When the Detroit Red Wings waived Frans Nielsen last Sunday, it looked like that a thaw was occurring for the prospect freeze that prevented players like Evgeny Svechnikov, Givani Smith, Michael Rasmussen, and Taro Hirose from having regular time in Detroit.

Then, Nielsen played on Tuesday in the Red Wings 2-0 loss while Svechnikov watched. Sure, Detroit had won their game against Florida on Saturday, and it could make a bit of sense to stay with the same lineups. But he’d been waived, presumably for more roster flexibility now or at the latest, a few games down the road.

Apparently, it might be even further down the road, if ever. From MLive’s Ansar Khan:

There of course is the outside chance that Nielsen is simply “filling in” because of Robby Fabbri being out,  but I just don’t buy it. On Tuesday, he worked in with the third line and was in the lineup at puck drop.

It must mean a couple of things:

1. The Red Wings are going for the hard tank and will trot guys out there to preach the defensive discipline while struggling to get goals to cement that top four pick.
2. The waiver move is simply to provide flexibility and nothing should have been read into at all. It’s going to be running out the contract until it expires for vets (Val Flippula, Darren Helm) or bought out (potentially Nielsen).

The Detroit Red Wings will be exactly what we’ve seen all year

This team is going to be stubborn, defensive, and at times, absolutely boring to watch. Nothing underscores that more than Tuesday’s snoozefest which reminded me of Minnesota-Vancouver games during the dead puck era. Keeping players like Nielsen in the lineup just underscores that not much will change for the duration of this season. Guys like Svechnikov, Smith, Rasmussen, or Hirose won’t get real minutes. They’ll pinball back and forth between Grand Rapids and Detroit and fill in where need be. Svech I don’t see see leaving because he’s exposed to waivers. But at this point, he’s obviously not doing whatever it is they want to see.

This is the true dilemma of a rebuild. Watching the growing pains of a team that has a boatload of veterans in it who won’t be anywhere near this roster when it is entertaining to watch. It’s the necessary evil–securing another high pick while just running out what’s left of the season.

But none of it anymore–save a trade or two–will fool me again into believing any shifts in the roster will open the door for younger players.

This is what the rebuild is.

Don’t get fooled again.

Tonight’s Game

It’s the final game of the six game home stand which has been about as even in wins-losses as you can get. Nashville capitalized on two power plays which resulted in Tuesday’s only two goals. The script can flip pretty easily as regardless of how the game went down, the Red Wings have been known to come out and get another win here and there.