Of Red Wings-related note this evening from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan and MLive’s Ansar Khan:
Kulfan penned a notebook regarding Michael Rasmussen’s status as stepping in for Dylan Larkin, who will miss tonight’s game due to personal reasons…
Unlike past seasons, the Wings are better prepared for situations where key offensive players are out of the lineup.
“We have improved our depth,” Blashill said. “We’ve worked hard as a coaching staff to make sure we’re getting ice time to other lines and the other lines have responded. Other people have responded with good play. We’ve moved a number of young players into our lineup and they’re growing with the added responsibility.”
Blashill wouldn’t speculate as to how long Larkin would be out, but he looks upon it as a day-to-day situation.
“I’m not going to expand further than that,” Blashill said. “He’ll just miss tonight’s game for personal reasons and that’s it.”
Bertuzzi is expected to rejoin the Wings on Wednesday in Boston and be available to play Thursday against the Bruins. But with scoring depth from the likes of Lucas Raymond, Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina, among others, there isn’t the blatant concern there would be in previous seasons.
“Depth matters a ton and part of that depth might be Joe Veleno coming in and can he have a real good game for us?” Blashill said. “Carter Rowney is a guy who has played well the last little bit after being a healthy scratch. Can Givani Smith chip in offensively, something we know he’s capable of doing. Certainly depth matters.”
And Khan let Rasmussen speak about his role on the team:
“I’m going to try to help out Razor and Fabbs, create some space for them, make some plays,” Rasmussen said. “But just play the same way, play hard, play good defensively. Just give the puck to those guys. They can make a lot of plays.”
Rasmussen is averaging 16:05 in ice time, playing more on the penalty kill than before while continuing to rotate in on the power play in a net-front role.
“Ras has been tasked with lots,” Blashill said. “He’s out there a lot of times against other team’s good players and I think he’s done a good job. He’s a big body, his skating has improved dramatically from when he first turned pro, he’s played hard, he’s doing lots of good things. He’s a guy whose impact isn’t going to be felt just on his offense, it’s going to be felt in his overall game and it’s continuing to grow.”
Blashill said Rasmussen’s skating has improved significantly from his rookie season of 2018-19.
“It’s shown in the impact of his game,” Blashill said. “He’s a big body that’s had to fill into his frame and that’s not easy. A lot of times those big bodies take a little longer. He’s worked really hard in the offseason, spent lots of time in Detroit and really built up his body and his skating has definitely improved.”