The Athletic’s Max Bultman and Shayna Goldman assess the defensive impact of the Red Wings’ free agency additions this morning, and they compare the potential improvement of the Red Wings to the models presented by last year’s Los Angeles Kings:
Los Angeles – where [Olli] Määttä has been for the last two seasons – is a good example of what Detroit is likely hoping to see result from these additions. The Kings had been on a largely parallel track to the Red Wings until L.A. made some big offseason additions – highlighted by a strong 200-foot center in Philip Danault and scoring winger Viktor Arvidsson – that propelled them into the playoffs last year.
“I think those were really big pieces for us,” Määttä said. “We had more depth, and I think everybody being more comfortable with the system. I think the depth was the biggest thing. We were a good team before, but we didn’t have that two or three lines … and I think last year we found that. And it’s hard to play against when you can roll with three or four lines and you’ve got three ‘D’ pairs you can play. It’s tough to match up against that.”
The Red Wings – partly due to playing in the Eastern Conference’s loaded Atlantic Division – likely won’t see quite the kind of jump in the standings the Kings did. But they can still aspire to see a similar level of improvement in their play.
At the very least, these additions of defensive support should help avoid a collapse similar to last year. The Red Wings showed just how quickly those lapses could snowball once a game started heading south, with waves of rushes headed towards their goaltender. Even if Detroit doesn’t dive right back into the playoff race, it can build some level of confidence if it can stay competitive in the defensive end, which should have a positive ripple effect on its offense.
And with all these additions taken together, there is reason to believe that defensive improvement will come.
Continued (paywall)
