The Detroit Red Wings made several moves this off-season to boost the production of this team’s forward core. Andrew Copp was brought in on a five-year, $28.125 million contract this summer while Steve Yzerman continued trying to improve the Red Wings.
On his five-year deal, he takes home $5.625 million annually. The Detroit Red Wings got production out of David Perron and Dominik Kubalík to start the season, but Copp has been a bit underwhelming.
For the Red Wings, there was hope with Copp. The former University of Michigan product is friends with the team’s captain, Dylan Larkin, and even earned an Assistant Captain “A” on his sweater. The issue is that the offense is not coming as smoothly as they would have liked.
Copp’s strong suit is his ability to play a two-way game. But the scoring needs to improve a bit for this contract to seem even more worthwhile as the 2022-23 season continues. Yzerman made a significant commitment to him for the next four seasons.
Detroit Red Wings have to be hoping for more from Andrew Copp.
Through his first 29 games in a Red Wings uniform, he has three goals and 14 assists for 17 total points for the Red Wings. He is a minus-1 on the season with an abysmal 8.3% shooting percentage. Even a step further, Copp has a 47.9% faceoff percentage which is a few ticks lower than where he usually ranks.
The 28-year-old centerman has not been able to find the back of the net nearly as often as the Red Wings were likely hoping for. It’s still early, and there is reason to believe things could change, but a lot of work still needs to be done.
Copp is certainly not meeting the expectations that he had coming into this season. He’s coming off a season where he was traded, but he logged 72 games in total, scoring 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 total points between his time with the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers.
He had shown that he could be solid on both ends of the ice but still also contribute on the scoresheet with some offense. But three goals through nearly 40% of the season is not what the Red Wings were hoping for.
The only good news is that Copp still has time to bounce back. With Larkin out injured, Copp can use this as an opportunity to step up and try to fill the void left by the team’s captain. It might help him at least start moving in the right direction in terms of his performance in 2022-23.