The Athletic’s Max Bultman offers several “offseason thoughts” today, including the following:
Once [restricted free agent Joe] Veleno’s deal gets done, Detroit should be as deep down the middle as they’ve been in years. That’s mainly due to the addition of J.T. Compher, who not only finally gives Detroit a right-shot center, but gives them another tough-minutes option who last season topped 50 points.
Now, Compher probably won’t get 20 minutes a night next season, as he did in Colorado, and won’t have any linemates as good as Mikko Rantanen, his most frequent linemate last season, either. But between him, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp, the Red Wings now have three centers they should be able to pencil in for 40-plus points, all of whom they can trust against opposing teams’ top players.
That’s going to be important for each of them, and perhaps especially for Copp, who often drew the toughest matchups last season and finished with just nine goals, after breakout scoring seasons the previous two campaigns. Whether it’s him or Compher technically slotting as the second-line center, it’s probably safe to expect they log similar ice time, with a much more balanced division of the toughest matchups.
And Veleno should benefit, too. With three centers above him who can all take on opponents’ top players, the door should be open for Veleno to get more of an offensively-driven deployment than is typical of fourth lines.
With all that said, even with their best outlook in years, the Red Wings can’t yet call this position a strength compared to some of the teams they’re competing with in the Atlantic Division. Maybe it gets there in time, with top-10 picks Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson on the way, but right now the top end of the NHL group still has question marks relative to its divisional foes.
Their 1-2 punch won’t, for example, stack up favorably against Toronto, Tampa Bay, Florida, Buffalo or Ottawa. But the depth of the position is stronger and will be counted on to neutralize that gap.
Continued (paywall)
