3 keys to this fresh start for the Detroit Red Wings

No matter who you are, what you’re doing, or how long you’ve done it, sometimes we all need a fresh start. It could be a physical change, like moving from Colorado to Michigan, or a change in state of mind. Maybe somewhere in between or a combination of both. 

Bob Kaser and Danny Dekeyser find themselves in very different positions for this stretch of the season. They are calling and color commentating the Detroit Red Wings games on their Western Canadian road trip (plus Seattle, Washington). This is a stark contrast from calling games for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings American Hockey League (AHL) feeder team, or selling real estate. Of course, fans are spoiled beyond measure with the likes of Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond regularly, but Kaser and Dekeyser have stepped up for Detroit Red Wings fans. Dekeyser, a former Detroit Red Wings star, is beloved by fans.

Another guy experiencing tons of change within the Detroit Red Wings organization is Dominik Shine. Known as the Grand Rapids Griffins shepherd, Shine has been responsible for helping guide Detroit Red Wings prospects to the National Hockey League for over a decade. This time around, though, he earned the call-up and played in his third NHL game. As Christian Fischer took the game off. As a Shine fan, I couldn’t be happier for him. Quite frankly, he’s earned another look, too, as he’s been excellent with the Detroit Red Wings. Not at the expense of Patrick Kane or Vladimir Tarasenko, but he’s earned the chance to play again in his own right.

Everywhere we look within the Detroit Red Wings team, we are finding a change for the better. 

Three keys to the Detroit Red Wings’ fresh start

Outside of the coaching change, which is clearly the biggest impact thus far on the Detroit Red Wings’ success, I wanted to focus on the players themselves as well as the way that their new head coach delivers messages.

Marco Kasper allowed to develop on the wing

My colleague, Anthony Ibanez, provided insight into five different Detroit Red Wings who have benefited the most as a result of McLellan rejoining the Detroit Red Wings coaching staff. He mentioned Marco Kasper in his list (I won’t spoil the others as it’s too interesting to read, so I’ll leave just the one name here). I couldn’t agree more with all the names he mentioned, but especially for Kasper. For all the opportunities Kasper earned (and even received) from the previous coaching regime, Kasper experienced a lot in a short amount of time. Possibly, too much too soon.

His performance output mirrored his Grand Rapids Griffins tenure. To some degree, Kasper could look overwhelmed or downright invisible on the ice. When Kasper was noticeable, he was trying to do the right things to be successful, but his effectiveness is the thing I questioned most. Yes, it was incredible seeing him center Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat so soon in his NHL career. At the same time, I think there were many problems with this philosophy.

Breaking into the NHL is a challenge for anyone. Players who break into the league while playing center are few and far between. Much more likely, players shift to the wing position and are eased into the center position. We need to look no further than captain and Kasper’s current linemate, Dylan Larkin. A green coach may not have the awareness or confidence to shift a young player like Kasper, who has played center during his North American career, to the wing position. Yet, prior to coming to the AHL, Kasper had a tall order. He was asked to break into the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). 

Sweden’s top league is no joke. Rögle, his team in the SHL (as well as Moritz Seider’s former SHL home along with William Wallinder and former Detroit Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach), shifted him to the wing position.

It’s clear the ask of a center in any highly touted professional league is a lot to ask of a young player; it’s why so few are ready to take on the role of a center so early in a new league. It’s not a slight against Kasper, as he’s been fantastic.

Furthermore, Kasper needs the freedom to learn the pace of the NHL without the added stress of centering two of the most elite players on the Detroit Red Wings. While on paper, having guys like Kane and DeBrincat should help Kasper (finding open space, creating offense, etc.) in execution, the opposing teams are more likely to deploy their top-six forward group and top-four defensemen against Kane and DeBrincat, so Kasper would be asked to go up against the opposing teams best or second best players. A tall ask even for veteran forwards, let alone a rookie.

Everything from winning faceoffs to positioning to learning to play within systems at the center is just a lot.

It’s likely why we saw so many veteran players within the same role get pulled off that line. They, too, struggle to keep pace with the top-performing hockey players in the world. 

This opportunity, which Kasper earned in some capacity, demoted veteran players like Andrew Copp and/or J.T. Compher outside of the top two lines when all parties suited up for the Detroit Red Wings. In the previous regime, these swaps read fully as demotions (players and fans alike deemed it as such without any coach saying anything to the contrary). Whether that’s the intention of the previous coaching staff, we might never know, but it’s not how the current head coach handles things, thankfully.

Todd McLellan is a master of positive positioning. In my early days of call center work, I thought it was a joke. Positive positioning is everything in life. The older I get, the more and more I agree with it. As silly as it seems, what we say isn’t as important as how we say things. We can give two messages that are 100% the same (outcome, meaning, etc.), but the way we frame it makes a world of difference. 

I think back to Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture video, which is available on YouTube. In this segment, Pausch is attempting to get approval to work with the Imagineers at Disney on a project. The first boss Pausch sought approval from entered a “pissing match,” as Pausch describes. Pausch emphasizes the importance of recognizing when one’s in a pissing match and exiting stage left as quickly as possible. His immediate boss doesn’t understand the information Pausch provides and states that he’s not sure if it’s a good idea. 

Realizing the situation at hand, Pausch switches gears, hoping to find a better contact for approval. The Dean of Sponsored Research at his university could give this specific approval. When Pausch recognizes this option, he says he bolted over to the dean’s office like Wily the Coyote.

Asking the same question, “Do you think this is a good idea?” to the dean, his dean replied by saying he didn’t have much information on the topic but that he knew that a star faculty was in his office, and he wanted to learn more about the pitch.

“They both said the same thing, but think about how they said it...both ways of saying I don’t know, but there’s a good way and a bad way.” Randy Pausch

It’s possible, even likely, that the messages might have been the same between the old coaching staff and the new one, but how the message was sent may have made the biggest impact on the team. 

When McLellan speaks of changing up lines, he never explains it as players being demoted but frames it in more positive contexts. For instance, when Joseph Veleno swapped places with Kasper on the fourth line, the hope was that Veleno would bring energy to the fourth line as he did on the top line.

“I made sure that Joe knew that he wasn’t centering that line now because he was playing poorly. In fact, sometimes it’s the opposite. We trust him enough to go down and take care of that line.” Todd McLellan

McLellan stressed then and with multiple players along the way that moving up and down the lineup may not be promotions/demotions as fans (and likely players) are so quick to think. Whether McLellan is being honest or giving lip service, the point remains: selling a positive message to people is important no matter the industry or point we’re trying to get across. 

I am all for young players getting their opportunities. Almost always, I’m pushing for young guys to get a chance (usually at the expense of a veteran player who I feel isn’t quite taking advantage of an opportunity), yet looking back; I could see how Kasper getting such a high opportunity in the lineup and moving veterans down the lineup could be downright insulting to the veteran players. 

Also, too much of a role and information may have been provided to Kasper too quickly. Thankfully, these changes have been made (shifting Kasper to Larkin’s wing and playing Copp as the second-line center between Kane and DeBrincat before, now DeBrincat and Vladimir Tarasenko), and the Detroit Red Wings seem all the better for it. 

Trent Yawney brought Grand Rapids Griffins fans’ dreams to life

I, along with many other fans, mistakenly thought McLellan was the mastermind behind the reunion of the bromance on the ice of Albert Johansson and Simon Edvinsson. Instead, it turns out that Trent Yawney—the new defensive coach for the team—is the brains behind the duo gracing the NHL with their presence. Something Grand Rapids Griffins fans could only dream about.

The Detroit Red Wings presentation by Trevor Thompson, seven-time Emmy-winning reporter/host/anchor for FanDuel Sports Network, shared great content centered around Yawney and his role in this decision to have Edvinsson and Johansson on the same defensive pairing.

In the telecast from the Calgary Flames (this past Saturday night), Thompson interviewed Yawney. A neat tidbit: Yawney played on a defensive pair with Roger Johansson, Albert’s father. Also, Johansson’s dad played for the Calgary Flames in the same building as the younger Johansson did on Saturday night. At that time, it was a brand-new arena for the Calgary Flames. Now, it’s one of the older buildings in the NHL. Funny how time flies. 

Later on in the segment, we found out that Yawney is responsible for a couple of successful defensive pairings in the league: Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook together with the Chicago Blackhawks, then Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson together with the Anaheim Ducks. He’s hoping Edvinsson and the younger Johansson can be a defensive force for a long time for the Detroit Red Wings. 

This change to the defensive pairings, as opposed to bringing up Erik Gustafsson or Justin Holl as the previous regime seemed to do whenever there was an injury, created a night-and-day look for the Detroit Red Wings. 

For as great as Edvinsson and Seider played on the top pairing, it seems that Edvinsson is able to spread his wings a little bit more on the second pair with Johansson. For those of us who watched this pair with the Grand Rapids Griffins, their play isn’t much of a surprise. They played the same way together in the AHL as they do in the NHL. Are they perfect? No, but by golly do they put forth the effort. Johansson is sneakily hard to play against, baby brother energy that knows how to scrap with anybody.

Even with his smaller stature, he uses his stick and mind effectively to close gaps, direct pucks, and players’ actions. The pinnacle moment was against Connor McDavid, the most talented player in the NHL, who creates highlight reel goals without even trying anymore. Yet, Johansson calmly, effectively, and without taking a penalty ended things before McDavid could become lethal:

Meanwhile, Edvinsson’s quick, long strides help to cover empty ice effortlessly. Truly poetry in motion if I’ve ever seen it. Edvinsson’s seemingly endless stick helps to fill passing and shooting lanes, or it can help keep pucks in the offensive zone that most players can’t reach. He, too, has a good mind and can be relied upon to make effective plays. Although sometimes he can get carried away, Johansson helps bring him back down to earth, creating a tremendous duo that will only get better.

Right now, I can tell that the pair is tired, and rightfully so. They’ve taken on the hardest task so far in their careers and they’ve embraced the challenge. 

Since the Jeff Petry injury, the consistent pairings are as follows, and here are some stats to think about (the metrics are all based on one unit and pulled from Natural Stat Trick’s website): 

The picture that is painted (based on the actual graphic and statistics) is that the Detroit Red Wings pairings aren’t great except for the Edvinsson and Seider pairing. 

Given the roster construction, both the players and coaching staff have done an excellent job of making do with what they have. Based on my eye test, the top two pairings aren’t as bad as their numbers show. Unfortunately, I think the third pairing’s numbers show better than I anticipated. It could be my bias creeping in, but at the end of the day, I think the Detroit Red Wings are putting forth the effort. 

Game by game, I think Edvinsson and Johansson have taken steps. Sometimes they’re steps moving forward, other times they show that they are still young players learning to play in the best hockey league in the world. A friendly reminder that these things take time. Although we would love to watch Edvinsson and Seider play side by side again (sooner rather than later), I think this balancing act is needed for the defensive core to succeed.

The hope is that Edvinsson and Johansson grow more to carry a harder workload toward the back end of the season for the Detroit Red Wings. With alleviating some of those tough minutes from Chiarot and Seider, which Edvinsson and Johansson have already been entrusted to do—possibly more consistent difficult minutes are in their future, it can allow Seider and Chiarot a bit of breathing room. 

Chiarot is facing difficult minutes for anyone, and I think for as much stuff I have flung his way, Chiarot’s handled the difficult work well. The mindless penalties have lessened, something I wasn’t sure was possible with him, and he seems to have relaxed a bit (as has everyone). Reuniting the bromance of Johansson and Edvinsson breathes life into Chiarot’s overall game and confidence, which was great to see that change as well.

Lucas Raymond took the superstar step; other young players stepping up, too

The final change I want to touch on is the confidence that Lucas Raymond is oozing. My goodness, does this guy know how to create a symphony on ice? 

When Patrick Kane went down with an injury, I think all Detroit Red Wings fans shared a concern about the power play. For as much complaining as fans do about Kane and what “little he might bring” to five-on-five play, his impact on the Detroit Red Wings power play is undeniable (and it’s one of the top power plays in the NHL). Raymond took hold of the power play, along with just overall play in general, and hasn’t looked back. Taking an even bigger step than I thought possible, Raymond is such a special player.

He’s poised with the puck, seemingly thinking three steps ahead of everyone else. Raymond shoots pucks on net or finds another way to create chaos. Once everybody is everywhere out of position, Raymond feathers passes to a wide-open teammate. Opponents, fans, and his own teammates get caught watching Raymond create his masterpiece on ice. I can’t blame anyone; he’s mesmerizing. To watch Raymond’s confidence soar is something to behold. The Detroit Red Wings and the team’s fanbase are so lucky to have him (and so lucky we dropped to fourth overall and that Raymond elected to stay in the SHL as opposed to playing in an easier league his draft year, which led to him falling to fourth overall instead being picked in the top two as he should have).

Raymond is keeping pace with some of the best point-getters in all of the NHL. Still within the top 20 of the entire NHL in total points, Raymond is chasing the league’s best offensive dynamos. As of writing this (per the NHL website), Raymond sits in 16th place based on total points and games played, with 58 points (21 goals and 37 assists) in 54 games played. He’s just behind Martin Necas, Sam Reinhart, and Jesper Bratt, who have all played one more game than Raymond. He truly is a superstar in this league. 

Watching Raymond and all of the other young players carve out their place in the Detroit Red Wings lineup is so rewarding for fans. We knew the answer wasn’t going to be a quick fix where an outsider comes in and saves the day, though one may argue the Detroit Red Wings did just that by swapping coaches, but no players outside the organization have come into the lineup to save the day. There wasn’t a first-overall pick or free-agent signing making waves. It was the Detroit Red Wings players methodically putting in the effort, long and challenging days, fighting for every millisecond of ice time they have received. 

On the flip side, it took a coach who believed in the Detroit Red Wings, offering guidance and a can-do attitude to breathe new life into the dying embers of what was a roaring flame (that we saw to close out last season). McLellan and Yawney are offering empathy when mistakes are made, yet still holding players accountable to each other but, as importantly, to themselves.

It’s been a great ride so far in this crazy season. Here’s to many more fun and exciting times.