By now we’ve all been told that the Red Wings have lost 75 goals over the course of free agency thanks to the departures of Shayne Gostisbehere, Daniel Sprong, David Perron, Jake Walman and Robby Fabbri.
This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff asks whether this year’s Red Wings team will be able to match that lost production:
“I don’t think that’s necessarily a concern,” said Alex DeBrincat, author of 27 goals last season. “I think we should be ready to play and hopefully ready to score a lot of goals.”
Certainly, Detroit is going to be able to put out two top lines that should prove formidable when it comes time to light the lamp. It’s only training camp, but the top-six forwards set out by coach Derek Lalonde are telling.
He’s keeping DeBrincat with captain Dylan Larkin (33 goals) and Lucas Raymond (31 goals). They were a potent unit last season.
“I think all of us are looking to grow, too,” DeBrincat said. “All the guys that came back were looking to improve and be better players and obviously, hopefully score more goals.”
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Larkin is also viewing Tarasenko as an X-factor when it comes to what he can bring to the Wings.
“I didn’t watch much of the first part of the playoffs, but obviously watched a lot of the finals and later rounds,” [Dylan] Larkin said. “And I watched Florida play and Vladi [Tarasenko] stuck out to me,” Larkin said. “I think him and Kaner can really click with Kaner’s playmaking ability and Vlad’s finishing and also Vlad’s forecheck. He can get on pucks and be very hard to play against. So I’m very excited to watch that line and how it goes throughout the season.”
Last season, this group of six was good for a combined 153 goals. It doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch for them to up that total to at least 165 goals this season.
