These players can be the Red Wings' saving grace with Larkin out

It's no secret that whenever the Red Wings lose Dylan Larkin for any period of time, they struggle to fill in the hole he left. After his injury against the Florida Panthers, there was genuine concern as to who would be their first-line center. Thankfully, Andrew Copp is having a great year and can fill in adequately as the first-line center.

Wait, what do you mean Copp's hurt? Against the Panthers, too?

Well, at least we can call up Nate Danielson and Amadeus Lombardi, who are both putting together solid seasons in the Grand Rapids Griffins top 6 in the AHL. Wait. They're hurt too? March may actually be cursed.

Clearly, the Red Wings are in dire need of some help within the lineup. Unfortunately, some guys on this roster haven't been pulling their weight for most of the season. This upcoming stretch will show who deserves to be on this team in the future. \

It's time for the rest of the roster to step up or get stepped over.

Young guns and seasoned vets that should lead the charge

Marco Kasper

Disappointing would be an understatement for Kasper's sophomore season. Last season, he finished a promising campaign with 19 goals and 37 points. He came into his own during the second half of his rookie season, and it looked like he was poised to have the same, if not a more successful, sophomore season.

Unfortunately, it just hasn't happened for the most part. A combination of low confidence and subpar/inconsistent line mates all season hasn't allowed him to get his spark. Thankfully, though, since just before the Olympic break, Kasper has looked like his old self again. He's more than capable of getting under teams' skin while generating loads of pressure and offensive chances.

With Larkin and Copp both out, Kasper has been promoted to second line center. This is the perfect time to prove that he can be a legitimate option as the future 2C for this team in the future. If he can prove that he has the ability to step into this big role, his list of doubters will grow smaller by the day.

J.T. Compher

This one is fairly obvious. Compher has had a season that can only be looked at as one thing: bad. After his first season with the Red Wings in the 2023-24 season, where he scored 19 goals and 48 points, he's failed to reach anywhere close to those numbers. Offensive zone plays just never come to fruition on his stick, and when he gets a grade-A scoring opportunity, he misses the net entirely.

That said, with the limited options the Red Wings have, Compher is filling in as the 1C between Alex DeBrincat and Patfrick Kane. The frustrating thing about Compher is that you can see he has the ability to make a difference on the ice. When he's 100% committed and locked in, he's one of the better players on both sides of the ice. Unfortunately, we don't see that version of Compher on a nightly basis.

This is the time for Compher to prove that he still has worth to this team. We've seen it before, we know it's there. From this point onward, he has to be able to lock down the top line and start contributing more. If he doesn't, then there's no room on this team for him anymore.

Emmitt Finnie

What better story is there in the NHL right now than Emmitt Finnie? The 7th round pick in the 2023 draft blew everybody's expectations away in both the preseason and training camp. His early success earned him a spot on the roster. While he's one of four rookies to have played with the Red Wings this season, he's the only one to have played every game up to this point.

His gritty, hard-nosed style has been something that the Red Wings have lacked in most of their players for a few years now, and while he's had an up-and-down season scoring-wise, his overall play rarely ever dips. He's been the team's go-to plug-and-play guy, inserting him in the lineup where he's needed, and he's been filling that role very well.

Finnie now has the opportunity to show that he's more than just a plug-and-play guy; he can now show that he's a legitimate threat and that he can come up big when called upon. While it may be unfair to put that kind of pressure on him, the team has no other choice.

Simon Edvinsson

Edvinsson has had a fantastic season. The pairing of him and Seider has been one of the best defensive pairings in the NHL. The duo is big, mobile and can score on the best goalies while defending against the best players without breaking a sweat.

Edvinsson has really stepped up his play and has become the cornerstone piece the team was hoping he'd become when he was drafted. He's had a few bumps in the road, as any young defender does, but he's been overall steady and has shown his ability to score from the point or crash the net and score the game-winning goal in overtime against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

However, this is real crunch time for him. Without Larkin and Copp in the lineup, the Red Wings' offense isn't the only thing that's feeling the loss. They were both crucial parts of the team's defense. While the defensive corps is more than capable, they'll need to shoulder a heavier burden without Larkin and Copp's assistance. Great defense may just be the thing that gets the team through this rough period with their heads above water; Edvinsson will be no small part in that.

Patrick Kane

Kane has had an odd season. While he's still producing at the rate we expect, it's not in the same way many have gotten used to seeing him produce. He still has the hands of a god, but he almost seems not be as calm as he's been in the past with the puck on his stick.

Everyone knew going into this season that Kane wouldn't be able to produce much at 5v5, but he's always been able to make up for it on the power play. But, the thing is, he's not producing on that anymore either. The Red Wings' power play has run through Kane since he first got here in the 2023-24 season. Teams have learned that and are now honing in on him when he has the puck. Instead of making the calm and safe play he normally would, he tries to make the high-risk play or hold on for too long, forcing a board battle instead of continuing the cycle.

If this team want's to get the offense going without Larkin and Copp, then Patrick Kane absolutely needs to get back to his usual self. His ability to wait out opposing players for the perfect seam to open up for him to make that perfect pass to whoever he's targeting is what's made him such an asset to the Red Wings thus far. Get back to that, and the team may just have a functioning power play again.