NHL.com’s Fantasy Hockey staff weighs in on coach Lalonde’s potential impact upon the Wings’ point-producers

NHL.com’s Fantasy Hockey staff compiled a column in which they discuss the fantasy hockey impact of the NHL’s offseason head coaching changes.

They weigh in on the players which the TEN new head coaches might affect. Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s potential impacts upon the Red Wings’ best players was analyzed at length:

RED WINGS HIRE LALONDE: Derek Lalonde was named coach of the Detroit Red Wings on June 30, replacing Jeff Blashill. Lalonde was an assistant under John Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning for four seasons from (2018-2022).

The Lightning made the playoffs in all four of Lalonde’s seasons, including the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past three, and won back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021. Lalonde joins Detroit during its full-fledged rebuild but has a promising opportunity under general manager Steve Yzerman, who helped build the current core of the Lightning when he was their GM from 2010-2018.

Lalonde’s experience with the Lightning’s elite talent should help the development of young defenseman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie this season, and wing Lucas Raymond. Raymond had the third-most points (57) among NHL rookies this season, and Seider was fourth in points (50) and led rookies in blocks (161). The Red Wings also signed defenseman prospect Simon Edvinsson (No. 6 pick in 2021 NHL Draft) to an entry-level contract April 24 and could see him debut as early as next season.

It’s worth noting center Dylan Larkin, who had an NHL career high in points per game (0.97; 69 in 71 games) this season, is a potential 2023 unrestricted free agent. But Larkin could have an even higher fantasy ceiling if Lalonde plays him more often on a line with valuable wing Jakub Vrana, who missed most of last season because of injury but has 30 points (including 21 goals) in 37 games over two seasons with Detroit. Additionally, Detroit signed forwards David Perron and Andrew Copp, significantly increasing the strength of their top-six forward group for this season. Both forwards had good postseason performances with Perron leading the St. Louis Blues in both points (13 in 12 games) and goals (nine) during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Copp was an instrumental part of the New York Rangers’ Eastern Conference Final run with 14 points in 20 playoff games.

DET players in top 250 rankings: Moritz Seider, D; Dylan Larkin, C; Lucas Raymond, LW/RW; Jakub Vrana, LW; David Perron, LW/RW; Andrew Copp, C/LW/RW; Tyler Bertuzzi, LW/RW; Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic, G

Continued; given how damn smart the NHL’s Fantasy Hockey staff is, I’m surprised that they don’t suggest that Larkin will remain on a line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Raymond.

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!