MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the shape of the Red Wings’ top line this morning, with Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat to skate on the same line regardless of whether their center is Andrew Copp or Dylan Larkin…

“We have plans,” McLellan said. “You know how that goes. It changes instantly. And just deal with what we have right now and what’s in front of us.”

DeBrincat and Raymond gives the Red Wings two high-volume shooters on the same line. The DeBrincat-Copp-Kane line was the team’s most effective the second half of the season.

“(DeBrincat) lost his comfort with Kaner not being there,” McLellan said. “So, that’s the first thing we’re going to look at is how’s the new chemistry with different linemates? I think Kaner and Razor play the game differently. We were looking to try to keep a pair together — Copper and DeBrincat — and what would complement it? We looked at Razor. They’re arguably our best scorers, and they’re going to be on the ice a lot, so let’s see what they can do together first.”

“They (Copp’s line) were our best line down the stretch last year; it wasn’t even close really from an offensive perspective, and then throw Razor into there, encourage him to shoot a little bit more, and now maybe we have something,” McLellan said.

DeBrincat led the team with 41 goals and 85 points last season. Raymond was second with 76 points, including 25 goals.

“I think the way we can work off each other, and Copper, too, we all battle down in the corners and win pucks back, and I think that’s where we create our offense,” DeBrincat said. “We can create it on odd-man rushes as well, but I feel like our bread and butter is getting it deep and winning pucks back and kind of battling for it that way.”

And the Free Press’s Helene St. James discussed the same topic this morning:

“Those three I think will start,” coach Todd McLellan said. “But Dylan is the wild card. We’ve got to figure out when and how much he can produce and go. But those three have been pretty consistent.”

The other lines have much more in flux. Marco Kasper started out centering the second line between Viktor Arvidsson and Emmitt Finnie, but in the latest iteration it was J.T. Compher in that spot, and Kasper was with Michael Rasmussen and Keegan Kolesar. Nate Danielson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard have been paired up most of camp, early on with Carter Mazur but most recently with Mason Appleton, leaving Mazur as an extra.

“Ras, who, in my opinion, has had a real good training camp and exhibition season, has played with Kolesar,” McLellan said. “We like that size. Kasper, Compher, has been in the middle there. Arvi and Finnie have been a pair that have basically been together for most of camp with different centers. And then the kids have played well. Danny and Brands, with whoever goes with them. Both App and Ras have had good training camps, and they needed to. They’ve done a good job.”

A big issue is who will score the goals left on the table with the departures of Patrick Kane (16) and James van Riemsdyk (15), especially if Larkin (34) remains unavailable. DeBrincat (41 goals, 85 points) and Raymond (25 goals, 76 points) were the leading offensive players last season for the Wings, and to have them both on the same line would draw the attention of opponent’s top shut-down defense pairing and line. In past seasons, Raymond and Larkin have been linemates, as have DeBrincat and Copp.

Asked if Larkin becoming available might lead to DeBrincat and Raymond on separate lines again, McLellan hedged.

“I can’t even answer that yet,” he said. “Like, I don’t know when that’s going to be. I don’t know what it’s going to look like. You know, we have plans. You know how that goes, right? It changes instantly. So just deal with what we have right now and what’s in front of us.”