Red Wings lineup changes: Kasper ready to soar, Berggren stuck in neutral

Following the horrible West Coast road trip that left the Detroit Red Wings returning home amid a three-game skid, something needs to give.

The Detroit Red Wings, who've been nearly lifeless for a week and have a 7-9-2 record heading into Thursday's tilt with the New York Islanders, decided to shake things up. I wouldn't say head coach Derek Lalonde is making rash decisions here, but I'd guess he's beginning to hear the noise. Plus, the Boston Bruins, who currently sit fourth in the Atlantic Division with 19 points, a mere three ahead of Detroit, recently fired their head coach, Jim Montgomery.

Detroit currently owns the third-ranked power play in the league, which is operating at a robust 32% success rate on the season. The red-hot Winnipeg Jets have the best group to date at 35.7% followed by Vegas at 34%. In contrast, Detroit's penalty kill unit is the league's worst at a mere 66.7%. That's pretty embarrassing, considering Lalonde is known to be a defensive-first head coach, plus Bob Boughner, a former NHL defender with head coaching experience, runs Detroit's defensive group. Is it a lack of talent? Or is it usage? Maybe scheme? Is it the execution of said scheme? I suppose a combination of 'all of the above.'

The Detroit Red Wings shake up their lineup ahead of Thursday's tilt with the New York Islanders.

Despite their tremendous power play, the Detroit Red Wings have been dreadful, scoring goals at even strength. The Red Wings currently rank 25th in the league with an even-strength goal differential of -14. Part of this is due to Detroit's defense and forwards lacking defensive ability or awareness. In comparison, the top team in this category once again is the Jets, with a differential of 34.

Examining Lalonde's newest lineup, which skated together Wednesday during practice, it's obvious he's looking to generate more scoring at even strength. When drastic changes are made, someone is going to suffer; this time, it is Jonatan Berggren.

One of Detroit's best lines over the first near quarter of the season had been their third line of Vladimir Tarasenko, Jonatan Berggren, and Marco Kasper, but with Detroit lacking a scoring threat skating in the middle on the second line, Lalonde was all but forced to break that group up for the time being.

Kasper, 20, like many rookies, started the season slowly, but he's beginning to look a lot more comfortable of late, and his offensive production has followed, which led to a big-time promotion. The rookie center recorded just one assist over his first 11 games of the season, but he's scored two goals and added an assist over his last three contests. Now, the reliable two-way center will find himself between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane to begin the game on Thursday. Kasper will replace J.T. Compher, who, like many Red Wings, is off to a very sluggish start. Compher has scored three goals and totaled six points over 17 games. The veteran center has been demoted to Detroit's fourth line to skate between Tyler Motte and Berggren.

That brings me to Berggren being the odd man out. It's unfortunate to see Berggren banished to the fourth line, but when you really dissect Detroit's lineup, it's difficult to decipher their third and fourth lines, which may be a large part of their even-strength success or lack thereof.

In a perfect world, you know, where the Detroit Red Wings are at the very least competitive, we'd be talking in top-nine lingo with a checking fourth line. Instead, I am forced to talk in top-six and bottom-six terminology because the third and fourth lines are much of the same now.

With the previous lineup, Tarasenko, Kasper, and Berggren made up a solid third line that at least posed a scoring threat, although the overall results were sparse. In the new lineup, Lalonde has his checking line slotted in third. Every great team has a capable checking unit a coach can trust in any situation, and that is something Andrew Copp, Michael Rasmussen, and Christian Fischer can provide, but if they're asked to check and deliver third-line scoring, we're about to become quite disappointed in the results. I look at that group as the fourth line, making Compher, Motte, and Berggren the third line. Compher and Berggren are fine third line players, but Motte isn't doing either of them any favors. Berggren can score, but he's more of a facilitator who needs to be paired with a scorer. When he's right, Compher is a good all-around center, but that group is destined to fail (offensively) with Motte on the other wing. Motte is a valuable penalty killing forward that should be on a fourth line. Joe Veleno is the odd man out of this lineup. I feel he's plateaued as a depth forward, and again, the Red Wings have far too many of those types of players.

Although Tarasenko is off to a slow start, flanking him on Dylan Larkin's wing with Lucas Raymond adds some balance to the top group. Tarasenko is a proven scorer who may see more opportunities with Larkin as his center allows Lalonde to play DeBrincat and Kane with Kasper. We'll see what happens, but it's evident whether it's via trade or through the system (Amadeus Lombardi leads the Griffins with six goals this season) Detroit needs to add another scoring forward to play with Compher and Berggren.