Tale as old as time, Detroit Red Wings & veteran players

The Detroit Red Wings and overpaid veterans. 

Name a more consistent duo in the last decade. I’ll wait. 

People can argue all they want about how veterans are imperative to fighting for a Stanley Cup. They create a competitive environment and young players aren’t ready for the National Hockey League (NHL) until they aren’t just equal to the veteran in terms of talent, output, and overall play, but superior. 

Possibly the biggest reason the Detroit Red Wings haven’t been a Stanley Cup contender since the salary cap was introduced. Sure, there were the initial stages of the salary cap era when the Detroit Red Wings found success, but this success was because of their incredible roster. 

When the team needed to shift gears into developing players rather than buying star players who had already found success, they floundered. Clutching on to its old ways, the Detroit Red Wings were (arguably continue to be) blown out of the water when others harness the restricted cap to their advantage. Their young star players from the draft were the key.

Imagine the relief and joy that washed over me when the man who played a huge role in piecing together the back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning returned to his beloved Detroit Red Wings.

Yet, it feels a bit more of the same old same old. 

I’ve been outspoken at length about Jonatan Berggren, Simon Edvinsson, and most recently, Marco Kasper. The newest casualty on the list is Albert Johansson. 

This topic isn’t a new topic for me, as I thought Johansson was robbed last season of an opportunity to play one or two games in the NHL to best prepare for this upcoming season. 

Detroit Red Wings sit another young player, Albert Johansson, but it doesn't help him or the team

Understandably, the Detroit Red Wings want to get Erik Gustafsson back in the lineup. 

Although he had a rough game to start the season, he’s meant to be a solution on an underwhelming power play. 

My question: 

Why does Gustafsson’s chance come at the expense of Johansson?

Maybe there were plays that I didn’t catch, problems that Johansson caused at various points throughout his two-game stint with the Detroit Red Wings. 

There were points that he and Olli Määttä were hemmed in their own zone, but that’s not different than the other pairs in the lineup. The games seem to lack consistency from the Detroit Red Wings.

Another concern, Gustafsson has had plenty of opportunities from training camp, preseason, and a regular season game to show his pop on the power play.  Yet, I didn’t see a demand from his game to earn the time on the power play. 

Historically, Gustafsson has performed well on the power play, so maybe it’s a confidence thing, and more reps on the power play would help his game. 

I don’t understand when we have a guy with Edvinsson’s abilities he’s not even given a chance on the power play. 

Maybe they shouldn’t try Edvinsson on the top power play unit, but at least the second power play unit would see improvement with Edvinsson manning the point.

In training camp, it seemed like he had some reps on the power play, so maybe they weren’t keen on the result. With the Grand Rapids Griffins, Edvinsson ran the top power play unit with consistency and found success for his team. 

Part of his best qualities is playing in the offensive zone, keeping plays alive (especially keeping pucks in the zone with those go-go gadget arms). 

I’ll leave a better analysis of helping on the power play and Edvinsson to my colleague, Bob. It’s a great read. 

It might even be interesting to run Moritz Seider and Edvinsson on the second power play unit. Hardly any power play uses two defenders, but Edvinsson is a bit more flexible in his game where he looks and plays like a forward. 

Also, there wasn't a need to scratch Johansson; there were plenty of other defenders begging for a reset, yet Johansson was the only one to sit. As a fan, it's unbelievably frustrating.

Whether the selection of older players is a result of a contract, previous NHL experience, misguided expertise, or something else the Detroit Red Wings (coaching and management staff alike) have made it clear that their prospects aren’t the priority. 

It’s possible the Detroit Red Wings genuinely think the older players are giving the team the best chance to win. Time and again, though, the older players are proving their loyalty to veteran players is misplaced. 

What kind of message does it send to sit a guy like Johansson, who by all accounts, has played well?

Neither game saw Johansson play more than 12 minutes, which leads to another concern of mine particularly for the head coach. 

Supposedly a guy who loves young players, he’s as stingy as he can be with roles and time on ice for young players. Young players are put through an American Ninja Warrior course and if they take one misstep, it’s the pressbox or Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the foreseeable future. Who knows what time on ice or roles guys like Moritz Seider or Lucas Raymond would played if Derek Lalonde was the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings? It’s a question I don’t want to answer. 

I question Lalonde’s ability to analyze players’ performances both in game and afterwards. Distribution of ice time seems to be the biggest reward, then roles within the team. 

Sending the message that after a player puts up two games where he passes the eye and statistical tests with flying colors (on a team that lacks players who pass one let alone both methods to assess players’ performances) that he can be sat in favor of mediocrity isn’t a recipe for success. 

What’s surprising to me is how surprised players and coaches sound when their play reflects said mediocre changes. 

People can blame goaltenders, defensemen, forwards, the power play, or penalty kill all that they want. However, their fundamentals, including the basic principles of who deserves to play, fall by the wayside with this team.

This team has no luxury of picking and choosing who plays for it. Not icing the best possible team isn’t working and hasn’t worked. Waivers, contracts, and NHL experience shouldn’t be the biggest concerns. 

Who wants to play for this team? When mistakes happen (as nobody is perfect), who recovers the best or makes up for it? Who is part of the solution and future of this team?

When silly games are played, silly prizes are won.