So I’ve been quite sick, the website is acting funky and customer support can’t solve whatever issues are causing the shenanigans, and the Red Wings are 1-3-and-2, though the team did sign Alex DeBrincat to a 7-year, $91 million contract this morning.
Some simple thoughts here:
- I’m not patting Chris Ilitch on the back for ponying up the dollars to sign DeBrincat to an appropriately-large long-term contract (remember when the salary cap was $39 million in 2005-2006, and Robert Lang was overpaid at $4 million?)–that’s the job of a proactive, progressive ownership group, to put up the big Pizza Pizza money when necessary–but I am glad to see that Shawn Horcoff can exceed the Moritz Seider/Dylan Larkin cap in order to retain talent…
- And it’s equally great that DeBrincat chose to remain in Detroit. More than a few people on the hockey podcasts/YouTube shows are asking why the hell DeBrincat would choose to sign with the Red Wings long-term because the move makes no sense, and I’d kindly extend my middle finger for a “Detroit Salute” at those who cannot comprehend that some people are perfectly happy to remain with their hometown teams, and that not everyone thinks that the Red Wings are going to suck for the next ten years.
- I’m also very enthused by Shawn Horcoff’s comments today suggesting that neither he nor the team have any intentions of trading Simon Edvinsson. I hesitate to use the word “stupid” to describe people or things, but any trade in which Simon Edvinsson is involved is a trade in which the Red Wings’ #1B defenseman is the best player in the trade, and it would be stupid to trade a top-pair defenseman for anything less than a top-pair defenseman in return. Really, really stupid. The trade suggestions that the Red Wings should trade Edvinsson for forwards and/or futures are even dumber. You don’t trade a sure thing for a bunch of lottery tickets, and you don’t blow a hole in your defensive depth chart for the sake of addressing a completely different need. Edvinsson needs to be signed, and signed by December 1st. I’m glad that he’s back in North America (Kudos to Ryan Hana of the Winged Wheel Podcast for snagging that one) and I hope that, at some point, Edvinsson and the Wings come to an amenable contract agreement. It may take a while for Edvinsson to cool down in terms of the heated desire for a trade, but it’s going to be in his best interests to stay here, and vice versa.
- As far as Dylan Larkin is concerned, I know that he’s just getting his “sea legs” under him, but my impression of him thus far is that he’s playing at 75% to 85% of his performance envelope thus far. I understand that the situation with Larkin is complicated–it’s like you’re stuck living with your ex-partner because both of you have your names on an apartment lease until spring, and you don’t want to break favorable terms on the lease just because you’ve broken up…But you know that, at some point, you’re going to move out and he’s going to move out, and you’re going to go your separate ways. That sense of an inevitability of break-up seems to have colored Larkin’s game thus far, and while I know he missed a chunk of training camp, some of his heart doesn’t seem to be in it right now. For now, the best thing he can do for both himself and the Red Wings is to give Detroit his “A Game” instead of his “B Game,” but that’s got to be difficult to manifest on a daily basis. He will be traded at some point, I believe, and I think that he’s very relieved to no longer be wearing the heavy “C” on his jersey.
- John Gibson is starting very slowly (again), and that’s discouraging. Lucas Raymond is starting very slowly (this is new), and that’s disconcerting. The penalty-kill sucks (again). Players like Nate Danielson, Carter Mazur (even if it takes waiving him) and Axel Sandin Pellikka all look like they need more seasoning in Grand Rapids…
- But Emmitt Finnie is fulfilling his entire potential as an NHL sophomore, which some of us believed he could but may not be able to achieve over the course of 3-5 years of development, Viktor Arvidsson’s motor goes up to 33 on a scale of 1 to 10, Ben Chiarot of all people looks good with Mo Seider again, Anton Johansson has moments of greatness and moments of learning by making mistakes, both William Wallinder and Andreas Englund are solidly quiet, Daniil Tarasov was superb in the Wings’ encouraging shootout loss to Montreal, and Sheldon Dries got called up from Grand Rapids to push “the kids” and show them how to play physically and simply solid hockey. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is also showing flashes of power forward potential, Keegan Kolesar is finding his way, Justin Faulk’s offensive game is excellent, though he’s an adventure in his own zone thus far, and when he’s up with Seider, Albert Johansson looks great.
- I’d love to see Detroit’s special teams play better. I’d love to see more offense from the non-DeBrincat-Finnie-“Taxi” Brandsegg-Nygard line, and I’d love to see every player try 5% harder to not cheat toward offense for the sake of playing better defense as the Wings utilize that awful 1-3-1 trap in the neutral zone, because sharper, simpler and more consistent hockey in all three zones is a recipe for success. But I’m very happy with coach Todd McLellan and the rest of the coaching staff and video crew–they’ve been sharp, reacted well, and McLellan’s lieutenants seem to have the pulse of the team down pat–and if the players would just listen to their coach more regularly, they’d win more often.
- It definitely sucks that the Wings are blowing their home-ice opening slate, but the Wings will have 4 road games with which to bond away from the rink and play beatable teams in Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and then step up for the final road game in Edmonton over the course of the next week-and-a-half, and perhaps some time away from “home” will give the team the cohesion they usually build over the course of training camp in Traverse City or a longer preseason.
- The Grand Rapids Griffins are also playing well (and no, I am not worried about Trey Augustine’s early struggles, he’s young and raw at the pro level), from Michal Postava on out, and players skating elsewhere, like Eddie Genborg, Myles Brosnan and others, are showing flashes of becoming special players.
- Overall, the Red Wings’ early-season record is not ideal by any stretch of the imagination, but the “interim” management team seems to be on the right track, Gibson and Raymond’s slow starts are salvageable, Larkin can offer a bit better of a “B Game,” there are good performances from many individual players, and the upcoming road trip should be a great time to reset if the rest of the home stand continues to show the Wings’ sometimes shaky foundations.
- Long story long, there’s no real reason to panic about the coaches, players or prospects, DeBrincat chose to stay, Edvinsson will eventually choose to sign (I hope!), and it’s a matter of starting to play balls-to-the-wall, blue-collar hockey in order to start winning games. I do not have any idea whether this is going to be a rebuilding season or a season of steps taken forward, but I do believe that it’s too early to freak the hell out about anything that’s within the team’s control.
Things could be a lot better for sure, but this is a team in progress, the latest flashes of potential in the shootout loss to Montreal and the OT loss to New Jersey were extremely positive in my opinion, and if everybody can get their shit together and find the same page of coach McLellan’s playbook, this team will take some real steps forward. I’m as tired of waiting around to see it fulfill its potential as you are, but I am hopeful about the season to come.