NHL.com examines the Detroit Red Wings as part of their “31 in 31” season preview series today, and their items of note include:
- A video preview in which Dan Rosen and E.J. Hradek discuss the team’s outlook:
2. A season preview in which Nicholas J. Cotsonika speaks with Ken Holland regarding his team’s future and present:
The Detroit Red Wings want to be in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, not to win the Cup now, necessarily, but to win the Cup in the future.
“The hope is that we can hang in,” general manager Ken Holland said. “The longer that we can hang in, I think the better the environment is for everybody — for the fans, for our players, for especially our young players.
“But ultimately, my focus as the manager is probably on this team a little bit down the road. I don’t want it to be way down the road, but a little bit down the road.”
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Even in a rebuild, the Red Wings don’t want to just give jobs to younger players; they want them to earn it. They want them to develop under strong mentors, have a chance to win each night, and slowly take over.
“It’s important that we’ve got some veterans around our kids, but at the same time, it’s important that our kids are going to get an opportunity,” Holland said. “We believe we can make both things happen.”
3. A set of three questions facing the Wings, as written by Cotsonika:
Which younger players will make the team?
Four players 24 and under already have spots: forwards Larkin, 22, Andreas Athanasiou, 24, Tyler Bertuzzi 23, Anthony Mantha, 23.
Holland said two or three others likely will make the opening roster, but it depends on who seizes the job. It’s uncertain whether the Red Wings will carry 14 forwards and seven defensemen, or 13 and eight.
“If two young defensemen make our team, maybe we’ll carry eight defensemen,” Holland said.
The Red Wings will give long looks in the preseason to forwards Evgeny Svechnikov, 21, Michael Rasmussen, 19, and Filip Zadina, 18, and defensemen Joe Hicketts, 22, Dennis Cholowski, 20, and Filip Hronek, 20.
Whoever doesn’t make it could come up later in the season.
“Everybody obviously focuses in on opening day,” Holland said. “But it’s six-month season, and lots happens.”
4. An examination of the Red Wings’ top prospects, written by Cotsonika:
Filip Hronek, D
How acquired: Selected with No. 53 pick in 2016 NHL DraftLast season: Grand Rapids (AHL): 67 GP, 11-28-39
Hronek (6-foot, 170) seems ready for the next step after breaking out in the AHL last season with skill more than size. The 20-year-old led Grand Rapids defensemen with 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) in 67 games, with 18 (three goals, 15 assists) coming on the power play.
The Red Wings have a spot open at defenseman — two, if they carry eight defensemen — and Hronek is the leading candidate among a group that includes Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts and Libor Sulak.
Projected NHL arrival: This season
4. A discussion of three key statistics which may determine the Wings’ success or failure over the course of the upcoming season, written by stats guru Rob Vollman:
Reversing course
One of Detroit’s top priorities in 2018-19 is to reverse the downward direction of its power play. Over the past two seasons, Detroit has a power-play percentage of 16.3 (last in NHL), down from a combined 21.4 percent in 2014-15 and 2015-16 (fourth).
Of the 135 NHL players to score at least 25 points with the man-advantage over the past two seasons, forward Henrik Zetterberg, whose return this season is in question because of lingering back issues, is the only one to do so for the Red Wings, and he was tied with 11 other players for 87th with 31 power-play points (three goals, 28 assists) in 164 games.
To address this, the Red Wings signed free agent forward Thomas Vanek on July 1. He had 28 power-play points (nine goals, 19 assists) over the past two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets. Detroit also re-signed defenseman Mike Green on June 30. He had 23 power-play points (four goals, 19 assists) in that span, tied for 39th among NHL defensemen with Will Butcher of the New Jersey Devils and TJ Brodie of the Calgary Flames.
5. And finally, a fantasy hockey outlook for the team and its key fantasy hockey players, (listed with their rank among NHL.com’s Top 250 Fantasy Players list), written by Rob Reese:
Michael Rasmussen, C (249) — In a similar situation to Zadina, Rasmussen will compete for a roster spot in training camp. The 19-year-old finished second in Western Hockey League playoff scoring with 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists), including 10 power-play points in 14 games. If he makes the team, Rasmussen could play on Detroit’s top power-play unit featuring Mantha, Larkin and Green. Although the Red Wings are one of the lowest rated teams in NHL.com’s fantasy power rankings, they have several players with sneaky upside worth drafting.
