The Detroit News’s John Niyo has posted a column in which he discusses the Red Wings’ attempts to find more offensive contributors as the rebuilding effort evolves:
What’s also clear a couple weeks before the puck drops on [coach Jeff] Blashill’s seventh season behind the Wings’ bench — and [Steve] Yzerman’s third season in charge of filling it with players — is that their job isn’t getting any easier.
There’s more young talent worth keeping an eye on this preseason, certainly. More players who could conceivably be part of a playoff push a couple years from now as well. But there are still far more question marks than answers if you’re trying to find a bridge from here to there.
Blashill felt compelled to remind everyone in his postgame media session Thursday that this was still the preseason, “so you take everything with a grain of salt.” It’s probably a spoonful, if we’re being honest. Especially against the Sabres, a team likely to finish last in the NHL again this season.
Still, for a roster in the midst of a major rebuild — and one that already has some serious injury concerns — there were a few hopeful signs. Starting up front, where Blashill, who admittedly lacks the “pure high-end guys” some other coaches can send over the boards — in Toronto and Edmonton and Colorado, for example — but does have something to work with here.
Continued (paywall)
