Author: George Malik

The vast majority of the Red Wings’ players have the next week off, with the Four Nations Face-Off break extending until February 18th, when practices will resume across the NHL.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke to several Red Wings players and coach Todd McLellan regarding the rest and recuperation that the Wings will indulge in over the next week:

“It’s a long year,” Talbot said. “This helps reset not only physically, but mentally as well. We have a few days of practice when we get back from the break, but there can’t be any kind of letdown. We have to continue to build off what we’ve built up here, but I think for the most part it’s getting healthy, resetting and coming back ready to go.”

Detroit certainly wants to start what is shaping up to be an exciting final stretch of the season with some momentum, especially after seeing both its seven-game winning streak and eight-game point streak end with a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

“We can take some time to breathe,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “As a staff, we’ll review where we’ve been and what we need to work on. Some of the things we saw [Saturday] are important. Game-management skills are really hard to work on in practice because there is no score or fatigue and not a lot of line-matching. It’s hard to recreate stressful situations, so game-management skills just have to keep coming through video and experience. For us to move forward, those are going to have to improve.”

Detroit will resume game action on Feb. 22, when the club hosts the Minnesota Wild for Kids Day at Little Caesars Arena. Erik Gustafsson pointed out that the Red Wings have “a lot of road games coming up” — 15 of their final 27, to be exact – and he also believes the players should try to enjoy this rare breather in the regular-season schedule.

“I’m going to rest as much as I can,” Gustafsson said. “Spend time with the family. We all need to enjoy the time off because we know it’s going to be a battle when we come back. We’ve worked hard to be in this position in the standings, but we obviously got to keep going.”

Continued

Grand Rapids Griffins forward Dominik Shine spoke with WZZM 13’s Jacob Seuss regarding making his NHL debut with the Red Wings at 31 years of age:

On Saturday night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed the surprising possibility that Red Wings forward Vladimir Tarasenko might be moved to another team in a trade.

This morning, Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas address the Tarasenko rumors a bit further on the 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman suggests that the Florida Panthers are a team that might want to reunite with Tarasenko (at the 27:40 mark of today’s podcast):

“It’s just, if you look at how they’ve gone, he’s sort of the one guy who’s been the odd fit. He has a no-trade clause, so ultimately he has control, but I think, was talking to some people who see the Red Wings a bit more than I do, and they weren’t surprised to hear that, in the sense that, you know as the team’s gotten better, and players have started to play better, it has still been, a bit of a square peg in a round hole for Tarsaenko.

I gotta think that, you know, Florida doesn’t have a lot of flexibility. They don’t have a lot to deal, and they don’t have a lot of cap room,” Friedman said. “But they know the player [Tarasenko]. That was actually the first thing I thought of when I got off the air. I bet, in particular, Tarasenko would probably love to go back there, too…

But I just don’t know where this is going to go out. I think there’s something going on there. I think there’s an understanding that this has been a harder fit than everybody expected, and I’ve just been told by couple of places that don’t be surprised if something happens, because there’s a lot of good vibes with the Red Wings, but there’s not in this particular case.

The Red Wings would probably have to eat part of Tarasenko’s salary to move him, and I would imagine that the return would be minimal, but if he’s not fitting in, he’s not fitting in.

The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe offers his “Weekend NHL Rankings,” and this morning, part of his column addresses the Red Wings’ successes of late:

Detroit Red Wings — OK, now that they’ve finally lost a game, let’s regroup and see where this team is really at.

Saturday’s loss to the Lightning snapped a seven-game win streak and left the Wings with a mark of 15-5-1 under Todd McLellan. That’s still an excellent record, obviously, and it’s been enough to get them into the last wild-card spot. It’s been an impressive climb — when the win streak started on Jan. 23, they were 14th in the conference, five points out of a playoff spot. When McLellan took over, they were 15th, and eight points back. To cover all that ground and pass all those teams in just six weeks is an impressive feat.

But it still leaves them in a precarious spot, setting up a second half in which every point will be crucial. And for our purposes, it makes them a tough team to evaluate. The pessimist’s view is they’re a mediocre team that got hot for just long enough to barely climb into a wild-card spot. Every team has a win streak at some point, and while those wins count as much as any other, regression arrives eventually. When it does, these Wings will revert back to being what they’ve been for a few years now — a wild-card bubble team that ends up falling short.

The optimist’s case is McLellan, and the fact his arrival coincides with the best six weeks this team has played in years, isn’t some random quirk. This is his team now, and he’s unlocked something here. Derek Lalonde had sucked the life out of this group, and McLellan brought it back. Maybe they won’t play at a 120-point pace for the rest of the year, but we shouldn’t worry about anything that happened in the pre-McLellan era. And if you buy that, the Wings are going to roll to a playoff spot.

Of course, you could also be boring and say the truth is somewhere in the middle. That might be good enough for Wings fans, who haven’t seen a playoff game since 2016 and might figure an underdog run as a wild card would be good enough for this season especially given how it started. But at least they can spend the break hoping for something more, as unlikely as it seems.

Continued; you know where I stand on this.

I don’t care whether the Red Wings actually make the playoffs. I just want them to be in the playoff mix for the balance of the regular season. To simply be competing for a playoff spot going into the final 5 games of the season would be quite the feat given how badly things went under coach Lalonde, and it would be a testament to how much they might be able to accomplish under a full year of coach McLellan’s stewardship.

As far as the pessimist’s view is concerned, I roll my eyes a bit at The Athletic’s company line regarding the Red Wings being nothing more than a mediocre team, and I suppose that the cynic does hold that view.

Therein lies the rub: I believe that it is incredibly important in life to be skeptical of everything, but to not become cynical, because I find cynicism to be an unhealthy state of mind.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan reports that Red Wings coach Todd McLellan had a simple message for his players after yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning–to head into the Four Nations Face-Off break with their minds “turned off” from hockey, so that they can regroup and refresh over the next week-and-a-half:

“It’s been stressful for a lot of players here and a lot of staff,” McLellan said. “During the year, the team to go through what it has gone through, it takes a lot out of you mentally and and physically. But mentally as much as anything.”

McLellan isn’t worried about players getting out of shape or flowing too much out of a hockey mindset.

“I would have been more worried about them 10 or 15 years ago, letting themselves go by just laying on the beach,” McLellan said. “Enjoy this for 10 days. They actually enjoy training now and feeling good about themselves. Yes, they’ll have some fun, and they should. They’ve earned it. Mentally, I’d like for them to turn their heads off.

“I’d like for them to focus on their families, their kids, the people that sacrifice for them during the year. Give their time back to them now and when they get back here [on Tuesday the 18th], we’ll turn it back on. We’ll have four days of practice, so it’ll be a little mini-training camp. We’ll get them back into it.”

The coach is concerned for Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, the team’s two representatives at the Four Nations Faceoff in Montreal and Boston:

“It’s taxing,” McLellan said. “You’re spending another two weeks on the road. We’re just coming off a real long road trip, you wash your clothes, and now you’re leaving again. It’s been about three weeks on the road for our guys.

“The intensity and the stress of the tournament will travel with them everywhere they go. They’ll come back and skate right into the season. They miss out on their bodies feeling better and that type of stuff. We’ll find days for those two somewhere along the way to try and get them what they need.”

Continued

The Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins’ play-by-play announcers dispense wisdom today on Twitter/X:

27 games left for the Red Wings after the break.
12 Home
15 Road
18 games against teams that would qualify for the playoffs as of today.

— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) February 9, 2025

First time in three months (Nov. 8) the @griffinshockey have been anywhere other than first place. pic.twitter.com/tGdSrWeG9s

— Bob Kaser (@bkaser1) February 9, 2025

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons weighs in on the Red Wings’ coaching change:

There has rarely been any doubt about Todd McLellan’s ability to coach hockey. But what’s been happening with the strange roster that is the Detroit Red Wings is more than fascinating. McLellan has this rather ordinary Wings roster playing at a 127-point pace in his first 20 games behind the Detroit bench. When Derek Lalonde was fired as Wings coach, he had Detroit playing at a 72-point pace. Still not sure the Wings will maintain this and be a playoff team, but McLellan’s start is close to remarkable and he is the latest example of why you fire coaches in mid-season.

Continued; I still don’t know whether the Red Wings will make the playoffs, but this season started so poorly that I just want the Wings to be relevant to playoff conversation for the rest of the season…

2. Sportsnet’s Michael Amato, who focuses on fantasy hockey, notes Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin’s resurgent play under coach McLellan:

Perhaps no one has benefited from Todd McLellan’s hiring more than Dylan Larkin. The Detroit Red Wings forward has exploded since McLellan was named head coach, scoring 24 points over the past 21 games. Larkin and Lucas Raymond are becoming a dominant pair and whoever is playing with them is a must-roster. Marco Kasper is the one taking advantage right now and keep an eye out if anyone else gets bumped up to Kasper’s spot.

Continued;

3. And finally, Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz discusses whether each and every one of the NHL’s 30 teams should “buy,” “stay” or “sell” as we approach the March 7th NHL Trade Deadline:

The Free Press’s Jeff Seidel posted a lovely column about the Pochmara family. Red Wings usher Pat Pochmara happens to be the father of two referees in Brian Pochmara, who refereed Saturday afternoon’s game between the Red Wings and Lightning, and Barry Pochmara, who refereed Saturday night’s game between Michigan and Michigan State:

While Brian was officiating the [Red Wings] game, Pat had his own official duties in LCA, working as an usher at Portal 54.

Which would be a cool story on its own — a dad working as an usher in the same arena at the same time his son was working as a ref?

But wait.

That’s only half of it.

In the nightcap of this amazing day — at least for the Pochmara family — Pat’s son (and Brian’s brother), Barry, was a ref for the Michigan–Michigan State hockey game at LCA, while his dad, once again, worked as an usher.

Somebody call Guinness Book of World Records because this must be a first — at least, it was for the Pochmara family.

Continued

This morning, Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses “what 6 weeks have taught Todd McLellan” about helming his new team, in the wake of Saturday afternoon’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning:

“The good thing about where we’re at now is we can take some time to breathe and we’ll review as a staff kind of where we’ve been, where we’ve come,” McLellan said, bothered by a cough he has had for the past week.

Where they were entering the Christmas break was second from bottom in the Eastern Conference, worn down by a three-game losing streak that had dropped them to 13-17-4 and convinced Yzerman a change was needed.

Where they are entering this break is 28-22-5 and bumping around the wild-card spots, enmeshed in a tight race with a handful of other teams.

…

McLellan has, as Moritz Seider put it last week, “brought us back to life,” ever since their first practice together, when he urged the Wings to “play (expletive) hockey. You’ve done it your whole lives.” There’s a sense of joy and fun in the locker room that had completely ebbed at Christmas.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes that, as of this morning, the Detroit Red Wings still occupy the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot:

Even with Saturday’s loss, Detroit has won seven of the past eight games. Among the teams in the hunt for the Wild Card placings in the East, only the Red Wings are showing any sort of recent life.

The standings show the Ottawa Senators with 62 points and occupying the first Wild Card spot. However, the Sens have lost three in a row.

Detroit sits with 61 points. Boston (60) has dropped two straight and is 5-5 over the past 10 games. Columbus (60) is 4-5-1 through the last 10 outings.

Sitting with 58 points, the Rangers are 5-4-1 over the last 10. The New York Islanders (57) were on a roll, with seven wins in the past 10 games. But they’ve suddenly dropped two in a row.

Of the three teams with 55 points, none among Montreal (3-6-1), Pittsburgh (4-5-1), or Philadelphia (3-6-1) is showing signs of life.

“I think our game’s in a pretty good spot,” [Alex] DeBrincat said. “Obviously not as good (Saturday), but overall we’re doing good things and winning games and, yeah, the feeling’s confident in that room. The break’s going to be nice to get rested and come back full strength.”

Here are the standings as of this morning. Tampa Bay will play against Montreal at 1 PM EST today, so they can increase their lead on the Wings from 1 to 3 points, should they defeat the Canadiens: