The articles regarding Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s media availability yesterday continue today. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discussed the depth provided by Jonatan Berggren, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson this upcoming season…
Berggren is still an unsigned restricted free agent, but the Red Wings do seem to need him to replace some of goals lost through forwards David Perron, Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong leaving through free agency and trade. Berggren has 17 goals in 79 NHL games, and last season he tallied 24 goals and 56 points in 52 regular-season games for the Griffins. He managed five goals in nine AHL playoffs.
“He’s shown the ability to create offense,” Lalonde said. “When he’s been with us, he’s created offense. But again, we have a lot of guys with a similar DNA. We need him to be responsible.”
The reason why Berggren didn’t stick in Detroit is that coaches didn’t trust his play without the puck. Reducing goals against will be an emphasis in 2024-25.
“We’re gonna ask the whole team to be conscious of a two-way game, without taking away from some of his offense,” Lalonde said. “It’s a credit to him. He did a really good job in a really tough situation last year. I’ll never say anyone’s played themselves out of the American Hockey League. It’s just too good of a league. But he’s proven, or maybe more it’s he’s earned this opportunity… He’ll have to do it in camp but I believe in my conversations with him this summer.”
Edvinsson should play regularly this season. The Red Wings have nine defensemen, counting Johansson and Edvinsson. Presumably, William Lagesson goes to Grand Rapids if Johansson makes the roster.
“I like the depth. I think we got really fortunate last year in staying healthy on the back end,” Lalonde said. “But we’ll need that depth. I think all eight are very capable. I’m very excited about Simon. I think his play towards the end of last year was exciting. But I’m very excited about Albert, too. I was able to see him towards the end of the year and into the playoffs. I think he’s ready for the National Hockey League. He’ll have to show us that in camp. ”
As did the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton:
Lalonde expressed his enthusiasm for a number of the younger players potentially poised to join the Red Wings in the coming season. He described himself as “very excited about some of our young guys from Grand Rapids that are gonna be pushing,” citing defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson, as well as forwards Jonatan Berggren, Carter Mazur, Nate Danielson, and Marco Kasper.
“You need that push from the bottom,” said Lalonde of the importance of young players to team success. “There’s something unique about the energy of youth, guys getting their first NHL games, guys competing for spots. There’s a sense of urgency to them. I think you’ll see that in all those guys in camp. I just think it’s healthy.”
At the same time, Berggren’s 2023-24 season is something of a cautionary tale about the perilous combination of youth and defending. Though veteran scorers in the bottom six like Robby Fabbri and Daniel Sprong didn’t make it easy to force his way in, Berggren could never hold onto a place in the lineup, because Lalonde never seemed to trust him to defend adequately.
Despite that hold up, Lalonde is optimistic about Berggren’s impact in the coming year, and in fact, where Lalonde wants improvement from Berggren is precisely where he wants it from the collective. “He’s shown the ability to create offense,” he said of Berggren. “When he’s been with us, he’s created offense. Again, we have a lot of guys with a similar DNA like that…We’re gonna be responsible. We’re gonna ask the whole team to be conscious of that two-way game, without taking away from some of that offense.”
“He did a really good job in a really tough situation last year,” Lalonde continued, in reflection on Berggren. “I’ll never say anyone’s played themself out of the American Hockey League. It’s just too good of a league, but he’s proven and more has earned this opportunity. Again, he’ll have to show us, and he’ll have to do it in camp, but in my conversations with him, I’m gonna ask everyone a little bit more of the responsible two-way game, without taking away from his offense.”
At this point, Berggren is slated to start on the fourth line alongside Joe Veleno, though injuries and preseason performances can always change his situation, while Edvinsson and Johansson’s situations are a little less clear.
Any way you slice it, all three are going to have the opportunity to contribute to the Red Wings’ cause this upcoming season, and they’d better be ready–the Wings will need all three to contribute both offensively and defensively.
