Red Wings Preview: The Potential of The Third Line

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The Detroit Red Wings season will be a surprise no matter what happens this off-season. I don’t think many people will go in with a concensous opinion as to what they should expect. One thing I think they should know though is we’ll be three lines deep this year.

The Detroit Red Wings have a lot of good, talented, young fowards, currently on their roster. This past year we got to experiance what It’d be like to have a fast, young, sniper on the wing in Lucas Raymond. In return for Raymond’s top tier production, he was able to make his way onto the first line alongside Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin.

That first line did pretty well when you consider everything that it took to get to that point, and as Raymond grows as a player, that line will continue to improve. But, as we all know, this game isn’t about just having one line. You have to have multiple.

The Red Wings second line fluctuated a lot this past season, which is more due to former head coach, Jeff Blashill than not being capable.

Jakub Vrana and Filip Zadina this past season showed signs of being the Red Wings elite goal scoring tandem. Which, wasn’t much of a surprise to many. When you have them on the same line, it is going to be dangerous for any opponent.

The only problem with the second-line is that they don’t really have someone capable to man the middle line. However, that isn’t going to stop Vrana and Zadina from dominating and carrying the second line to a big year. Now, onto the third-line.

This, in my opinion may be one of the best lines that the Red Wings have. Now, I know you may call me crazy for that statement and you may be right. Nonetheless, they do have all the pieces needed to become the Red Wings most complete line.

Robby Fabbri and Oskar Sundqvist. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

The Red Wings Third Line

The Detroit Red Wings made a move to acquire wing, Robby Fabbri, from the St. Louis Blues back in 2019. That trade was the first of many Blues-Red Wings moves. And, in looking at that trade now, I feel it’s safe to say that we’ve won it.

Fabbri since being traded from St. Louis to Detroit has done exactly what I feel we’ve all expected him to do. He’s showed off his speed, and his offensive talent consistnetly all the while making plays too. However, the problem with Fabbri has been the fact that he’s a liability when he has to play defense. With terrible positional awareness, it makes it hard to have him on the ice in tough situations. However, that’s why I feel this third line could be so strong.

When you look at some of the best lines around the league- there is generally a pattern. First, you have to have an offensive player. Rather that’s a wing or a center, that doesn’t matter. But, you have to have at least one player who can be trusted in the O-zone. Second, you have to have a defensive foward on the line. And third, you have to have a median or a combination, if you will.

When you think of top lines around the league, Boston’s generally comes to mind. At least for me. Therefore, let’s break it down to give you a visual.

Their first line is David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand. Pastrnak is your O-zone threat. When the pucks on his stick, you need to watch for the shot because he can and will pull the trigger if you give him space. Bergeron is your high IQ, defensive player that can lock down the opposing teams top player. Then you have Marchand does a little bit of both.

In my opinion what makes a line so dominant is having a line that complements each others strengths and weaknesses and that’s where I was getting at with the Red Wings line.

As I was previously saying, the Red Wings have an offensive threat in Robby Fabbri. He’s a very talented scorer and can really draw people from the net with his speed and offensive skillset. That brings us to the defensive player that can lock down the opposing teams top player. In this case, that player would be former St. Louis Blue- Oskar Sundqvist.

Now, I’d be lying to you if I said that part of the reason I have so much faith in this line is because of the previous connection that Fabbri and Sundqvist had in St. Louis. Being third/fourth liners for the most part, I’m sure that they are not unfamiliar with each others play styles. There’s probably just some rust to knock off.

Anyways, Sundqvist complements Fabbri well because Sundqvist can play elite defense while providing offense when asked too. However, Sundqvist is primarily known for his high IQ defensive play. He always seems to know the next move before it happens and it makes him such a reliable player on the ice. That brings us to the third player on the line which I predict will be Joe Veleno.

Joe Veleno is currently one of the guys I expect to have a breakout year this season. He has all the tools to be a very good player for this organization but he was just in a system that didn’t give him the right opportunites. I feel that under a different head coach who utilizes him correctly, he will become the Red Wings second-line center in no time.

Veleno does a little bit of everything for the Wings. But, the thing that I notice most with him is the grinding part to his game. He is an very, very, very good skater with some real raw offensive talent that could lead to a breakout season in terms of production. Furthermore, his speed and grinding play style could make him a very good standout defensive player for this team as well. And as you can figure it’s for this reason that I wanted Veleno to, in this scenario, to be the third-line center. I feel he really complements Fabbri and Sundqvist well with his play style.

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I know it’s too early to tell what will come of this line. Actually, we don’t even know if this will be a line during the season. But if we get the chance to see this line- we could be three lines deep that could be a first line for another team. I have that much faith in this line if we get to see it.

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