3 Detroit Red Wings that deserve more ice time now for next season
Although there have been some ups and downs, overall, it’s been another arduous season for the Detroit Red Wings. The team suffered many injuries throughout the first half of the season, which prevented the organization from gaining much positive momentum. As the Red Wings got healthy, we saw a team capable of being a fringe playoff team. Following the NHL trade deadline, that robust west coast road trip early on in 2023 feels like a year ago.
General manager Steve Yzerman will have many decisions to make this offseason as he tries to piece together a competitive roster yet remains patient with prospects and splash signings until he feels, as a whole, the roster is ready to make a serious playoff run. One thing that has become evident with Yzerman, he is not interested in just making the playoffs or maintaining some playoff streak.
Yzerman wants to put together a roster that is built to advance deep into the postseason, not one that is just one-and-done. Yzerman is committed to building this organization through the draft and developing their own before adding expensive vital pieces to put the team over the top. Ten games are left this season, and the Detroit Red Wings should use them to evaluate a few of their former top prospects properly.
Here are three Detroit Red Wings draft picks that deserve a closer look before the season expires.
The Detroit Red Wings need to consider giving Filip Zadina more ice time down the stretch to accurately assess his skill set and potential future with the organization. Zadina missed a couple of months early this season after suffering a broken leg after blocking a shot. The injury has limited Zadina’s availability to just 30 games to date this season. Over that span, Zadina has recorded just three goals and seven points while maintaining a minus-5 rating.
Zadina, 23, was selected sixth overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft way of the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. With Halifax, Zadina filled his fair share of nets, and after falling to Detroit at six despite being a consensus top-three pick, Zadina had words for the organizations that passed him up on the draft night, particularly the Montreal Canadiens, who selected center Jesperi Kotkaniemi instead, has yet to fill anyone’s net at the NHL level.
Over his first 190 NHL games, Zadina has totaled 28 goals and 68 points. We’re getting to a make-or-break period with Zadina. Will the talented winger sink or swim at the NHL level? Steve Yzerman and head coach Derek Lalonde need to find out. A way to find out is to give the 23-year-old more responsibility and ice time down the stretch. Zadina has averaged just a hair over 13 minutes of ice time this season; there is no reason he shouldn’t be skating 15 or 16 minutes per night from here on out. Before last season, Yzerman gave Zadina a three-year contract that averages $1.85 million per season.
Notably, Zadina missed Saturday’s game in Philadelphia due to a lower-body injury.
The Detroit Red Wings need to give Joe Veleno a closer look down the stretch.
Similar to Zadina, the Detroit Red Wings selected Joe Veleno in the first round (30th overall) in the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft.
Veleno, 23, is a native of Montreal and was granted exceptional status to begin his junior career. If you are unfamiliar, exceptional status allows a player to play major junior hockey at the age of 15, a year earlier than everyone else. At 15, Veleno was selected first overall by the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. Others granted exceptional status over the years are Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad, John Tavares, Sean Day, Shane Wright, and most recently, Michael Misa.
Although the Detroit Red Wings expected more offensive production from the first-round pick, Veleno is still a feasible piece for the Red Wings, but I can only assume his offensive game hadn’t progressed the way they had hoped when they drafted him in 2018. Like Zadina, general manager Steve Yzerman and head coach Derek Lalonde need to see what they’ve got in Veleno. The pending restricted free agent has primarily skated as a bottom-six center, and that just might be where he belongs as his career continues to progress.
This past Saturday in Philadelphia, Lalonde moved Veleno from the third-line center spot and up to the left wing on Detroit’s top line alongside Lucas Raymond and captain Dylan Larkin. Lalonde is undoubtedly looking to see what Veleno can provide the organization while playing with more skilled players. Veleno skated well over 16 minutes in that game, a mere four minutes more than his usual total. This is something the Red Wings need to continue to do for the remainder of the season.
Through 71 games this year, the speedy Veleno has recorded seven goals and 16 points but is in the midst of a lengthy pointless drought that has reached 19 games. Veleno is a fabulous skater but has struggled in the faceoff circle all season long, winning just 42.1% of his draws.
The Detroit Red Wings need to give Jonatan Berggren a bigger slice of the pie for the rest of the season.
The Detroit Red Wings have been struggling as a team since their lengthy impressive west coast road trip that concluded about a week before the NHL trade deadline. Rookie winger Jonatan Berggren has also struggled of late. It’s nothing to worry about long-term, but the organization should consider skating the talented playmaker as a top-six forward down the stretch.
We know what to expect from the likes of David Perron, Pius Suter, and Adam Erne. As mentioned, Derek Lalonde skated Joe Veleno on Detroit’s top line this past Saturday in Philadelphia. Lalonde also skated Erne and Perron with Andrew Copp on the second unit, which left Berggren with Matt Luff and Austin Czarnik on the fourth line. With all due respect, skating Berggren with Luff and Czarnik isn’t doing the skillful winger any favors.
Like Veleno, Berggren has gone cold for an extended period. Over his last 18 games, the 22-year-old rookie has recorded one goal and two points while skating to a minus-14 rating. I admit, nothing here suggests that Lalonde needs to move Berggren up in Detroit’s lineup. Still, I feel if Berggren spent a consistent amount of time playing with Larkin and Raymond or Copp and Perron, he’d perform much better offensively than he has since the calendar turned to 2023.
In his rookie season, Berggren has totaled 12 goals and 23 points through 57 games, averaging nearly 13 and a half minutes of ice time. Ironically, like Zadina, and Veleno, Berggren was also drafted in the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft, 33rd overall. Do you sense a trend here? These three young forwards are all about the same age. It takes prospects a while to find their game; some adapt to the NHL quicker than others.
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The Detroit Red Wings need to give these three forwards a more prominent role down the stretch to evaluate them better heading into next season.