NHL.com’s cycling through a set of season previews ahead of the start of the 2022-2023 regular season, and Nicholas J. Cotsonika previews the Red Wings this evening. Here are his “3 Keys” for the Red Wings to improve this upcoming NHL year:
1. Jell into a team: The Red Wings have a new coach and several new players, including goalie Ville Husso, defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, and forwards Andrew Copp and David Perron. The good news is they have a clean slate and internal competition for jobs. That should provide a jolt from the start. But they must learn a new system, develop an identity, and determine the forward lines, defense pairings, goalie rotation and special teams. General manager Steve Yzerman said it could take a time to sort out everything and jell into a team.
2. Improve the defense: It was the biggest of many issues last season. Detroit ranked 31st in goals against (310) and 32nd on the penalty kill (73.8 percent). At his introductory press conference July 1, Lalonde said the Red Wings need to improve the risk in their game, stressing details and habits that lead to winning no matter the personnel, such as staying on top of plays. But the personnel should help too. Copp and Perron are strong defensive forwards. Chiarot (6-foot-3, 234 pounds) and Maatta (6-2, 210) each adds size and a defense-first approach.
3. Develop young players: For the Red Wings to return to Stanley Cup contention in the long term, they need their top prospects to turn into difference-makers and other young players to emerge as bona fide NHLers. Defenseman Moritz Seider, the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year last season. Forward Lucas Raymond, the No. 4 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, finished fourth in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. What do they do for an encore? Who else is ready to not only make the roster, but make an impact?
Continued with a “roster rundown” and a projected lineup;
The Red Wings’ “today” prospects might underwhelm in terms of star power given that they’re defensemen and Swedes–as Cotsonika notes, Jonathan Berggren, Elmer Soderblom, Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson and free agent signing Pontus Andreasson might be the closest to NHL-ready, but the Wings spent so much cap space on depth this offseason that it’s going to be hard for the Swedish Quintet to make the NHL team.
