Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Kuehl posted a fantasy hockey-friendly Red Wings season preview today, estimating the Red Wings’ lineup, summarizing the team’s offseason moves, breaking down the Wings’ offense, defense, goaltending and coaching situations, and asking three “burning questions”:
1. Will Simon Edvinsson be on the top pair? At first? Probably not. As important as he was down the stretch last season, he probably starts on the second or third pair. Edvinsson certainly has the tools to be a No. 1 defenseman, but with he and Seider both having the offensive vision, the two probably wouldn’t work well together on the same line.
2. What needs to happen to reinvigorate Alex DeBrincat? The former Windsor Spitfire scored 27 goals for the second consecutive season, far from the 40-goal guy that Debrincat became while as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. They tried pairing him with his old linemate, Kane, but only with limited success. It might sound like a lame answer, but DeBrincat just needs to get off to a good start like he did last year, and keep on the grind to show that he is still an elite scorer.
3. Is it Jonatan Berggren’s time to make an impact? One of the quiet storylines is what the Red Wings are trying to do with Berggren. The former second-round pick was one of the best players in the AHL last season but saw limited time in Detroit compared to the 2022-23 campaign. Even when he was called up, Berggren hardly saw the ice, which left the Swedish forward feeling disgruntled near the end of the regular season. He has shown he can be an everyday NHLer, but he needs to demonstrate that he can buy into the Red Wings’ system.
- Probably not is right, though Seider wants to play alongside Edvinsson thanks to his tremendous skating speed;
- The renaissance of DeBrincat, a former Erie Otter, is definitely an important story line heading into the upcoming season. Whether he can score 35-40 goals is uncertain at this point;
- Berggren’s offensive abilities are well-known; coach Lalonde wants to see whether Berggren can play a two-way game this upcoming season.
