MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde and captain Dylan Larkin regarding the Red Wings’ status as a team with much to prove this upcoming season:
“Obviously, no one has us making the playoffs,” Lalonde said. “I don’t necessarily have that as a knock on our guys. There’s really nowhere to go in the division. … I saw an article, ‘The 10 Hopeless Teams.’ I scrolled through and we’re the first hopeless team. It’s up to us to change that narrative. Playing the right way and establishing an identity, creating a little bit of a process will give us a chance to talk about (playoffs). Last year through three-quarters of the season, we were right there because we were playing the right way. Now we have to get there again.”
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“I know Steve and Newsie have not really set an expectation,” Larkin said. “The guys in the room, we want more. There’s a good attitude. There’s guys coming in that have been on teams that have been locks for the playoffs. There’s veteran players, guys going into contract years. I like the dynamic of everyone’s situation on our team.”
Still, they will need a lot more than the 80 points they accumulated last season, coupled with significant decline from multiple teams that finished ahead of them.
Lalonde said the ‘underdog’ label might be a little extreme in describing his team.
“Probably more of a reality where the conference and division are at,” Lalonde said. “I don’t think we’re going to go in there ‘Us vs. the World, no one believes in us.’ Just do the right thing and let’s see where this plays out.”
