Talking about the Red Wings’ first line left winger

I try to respect The Athletic’s subscription status while providing you a peek behind the paywall, and this morning, I chose to discuss Max Bultman’s “burning question” about the Red Wings’ coaching staff…

But Pro Hockey Rumors’ Josh Erickson offers a summary of another important point, and we’re gonna share it here:

The biggest training camp storyline for the Red Wings will be who begins the season as their top line left wing next to Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. They’ve had a revolving door there for the first four years of the latter’s career, and it doesn’t look like that will be changing anytime soon.

To that end, Max Bultman of The Athletic explored that topic today. Their most frequent linemate last season was youngster Marco Kasper, but with his development more apt in filling a much-needed second-line center role for the Wings, that’s where Bultman anticipates him staying to open the season.

If not Kasper, it’s a rather uninspiring list for a unit expected to be Detroit’s most productive. The leading contender might be a swap of who Kasper replaced down the middle late last year. Veteran Andrew Copp has played exclusively down the middle since signing with the Wings three years ago, but could slot in on Larkin’s wing to “bring some of the same heaviness and defensive elements Kasper did to that line,” Bultman writes.

Copp is arguably the leading contender because of Detroit’s relatively quiet offseason, leaving them with uninspiring top-line options in the likely scenario they keep wingers Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane as their second-line anchors. Other names in the mix, Bultman writes, will be free agent pickup James van Riemsdyk and the towering young Elmer Söderblom. The former was more productive last season with 36 points in 71 games for the Blue Jackets, but only averaged 12:24 per night.

Continued; I wouldn’t be surprised if the Red Wings bring in somebody like Max Pacioretty on a pro try-out during training camp, but at this point, the internal options are JVR and Soderblom.

I wouldn’t mess with the chemistry of the DeBrincat–Kasper–Kane line as I believe that Kasper is the Wings’ 2nd line center of the present as well as the future, and instead, I’d experiment with Michael Rasmussen or even J.T. Compher or Jonatan Berggren on the top line if necessary.