The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood offers 3 items of note to watch in tonight’s rematch between the Red Wings and Blackhawks (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/ChicagoBlackhawks.com), and while I must suggest that all preseason games need to be taken with some salt, I’m interested in Eargood’s 3rd item the most:
Moritz Seider and Ben Chiarot Building off Experience Together
The Red Wings’ top pairing heading into both Friday’s preseason game will be Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider. While Lalonde stressed not reading too much into line combinations, it appears as though this is the most likely top pair duo for the season as well. After playing together parts of the past two seasons, Chiarot and Seider build on a wealth of experience together. The hope is that this experience can make them more effective together.
“I think over the years, I’ve learned (you’re) just not so much complimenting the other guy. You just play your game, and he plays his game,” Chiarot said Friday. “And over time, through camp and over the years now, we’ve played together a decent amount. We know what to expect of each other. I know what he’s going to try and do in most circumstances, and I think he has a good read on what I’m going to do.”
When Chiarot first joined the Red Wings, the vision was that he and Seider would comprise the top pair. But struggles showed up early. He and Seider were one of Detroit’s least efficient units, finishing the 2022-23 season with a meager 44.4% expected goal share while bleeding 2.66 goals against per 60 as tracked by Moneypuck. And on the heels of Seider’s Calder-winning rookie season, a lot of fans pinned these struggles on Chiarot.
Right or wrong, once Jake Walman and Seider played together after that, they took off as one of Detroit’s better pairings. The Chiarot-Seider pairing was left on a shelf until late last season, when Jake Walman was out of the lineup with an injury. The statistical results were once again poor — an even worse 43.1% expected goal share and 2.98 goals against per 60 compared to their previous campaign. But this came in the context of tougher usage, and they were also the best numbers among all of Seider’s consistent pairings.
So now, the Chiarot-Seider pairing is together yet again, and this time they have more experience to work off of. The hope is that increased experience can help them improve.
Continued; I’m still hoping that the Wings find a way to spare Seider and Chiarot of some of their difficult shut-down minutes, be that by adding a defenseman via trade or by organically finding someone on the team who can step up and play shut-down time (Simon Edvinsson at some point?).
