The Detroit Red Wings prove they still have a pulse under Todd McLellan

Well, the way the Detroit Red Wings have played since Todd McLellan took over for Derek Lalonde is more of what many of us envisioned this team would look like from the get-go. Since the three-day holiday break, the Detroit Red Wings have been playing more inspired, hard-nosed hockey. It's funny what a new coach can do. Suddenly, the players feel as though they are auditioning, receiving a clean slate, a second, third, or fourth (for some) opportunity to prove they belong at the NHL level or in a specific role.

McLellan has moved Joe Veleno up to the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. He's split up Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson in an attempt to balance Detroit's lineup, and it's all worked so far. These are not new moves; Derek Lalonde experimented with both of these lineup decisions over his tenure. However, there seems to be a clear difference between Lalonde and McLellan in terms of game preparation, which could be the real difference. McLellan appears to run a more vocal practice and continues to implement a variety of different drills. One of which is a variation of a drill often performed in youth hockey where everyone on the ice skates with a puck between the blue lines at center ice, bobbing and weaving around each other, avoiding a collision and maintaining possession of their puck.

A new (to me) and intense drill was unveiled on Wednesday during practice and is shown in the video below. It appears to be another way McLellan is trying to enhance the compete level of his players as they battle for pucks and create scoring chances in a tight area.

It's a breath of fresh air, but it probably comes a little too late to save this season, but you never know. It's the beginning of January; anything can happen. Remember, the St. Louis Blues were dead last on January 1st, 2019, and went on to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games. Now, I don't believe the Red Wings have what it takes to go on such a run, but I wouldn't be too quick to rule out fun at the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs just yet, and that would place them right where I expected they'd be when the season began. It's complicated to understand that there are five teams between Detroit and that final Wild Card position.

Still, if the Red Wings can start stringing together a few winning stretches over January and February similar to what they did a year ago, they could find themselves back in the postseason hunt. These next four to six weeks will be telling for general manager Steve Yzerman, who finds himself firmly in the NHL rumor mill again. First, it was the anticipation of the coaching change; now, it's speculation that the Red Wings will be active ahead of the NHL trade deadline, shopping a plethora of their veteran players.

That makes sense if Detroit is out of it. Hell, it makes sense if they are in the conversation for a final playoff spot, playing good hockey, because even Yzerman admitted this roster isn't a Cup-contending roster quite yet. Moving some veteran assets in exchange for draft capital or mid-level prospects will only continue to enhance Detroit's rebuild if that's the case. Yes, they are still in a rebuild, and for many of Yzerman's roster management errors over the past couple of seasons, you can't deny the prospect pool he's built with the Red Wings.

A few Red Wings related notes

Detroit's 4-2 victory over the Penguins on New Year's Eve was Todd McLellan's 600th career win.

Dylan Larkin buried the empty-netter, his first goal since late November. Hopefully, Lucas Raymond, who could have scored the empty-netter yet elected to differ to Larkin, clearly understands how hard he's been pressing over the past couple of weeks. I know it's only an empty-netter, but sometimes goal-scorers need to see the puck find twine whether there is a goaltender in or not; hopefully, this is able to get Larkin going as we head into 2025.

Next up for the Red Wings is a date with the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Thursday night. The Jackets are currently 16-16-6 on the season but boast an incredible 12-4-3 record on home ice this season. This will be, yet again, another test to see if these McLellan-run Red Wings are the real deal or if the coaching surge, or as McLellan recently described it as the honeymoon stage, begins to wear off.