The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton filed a training camp notebook this evening, and what I took most notably from his article was this passage about the Red Wings’ level of roster depth:
All of Lalonde, Seider, and Larkin noted that improved depth brought about by the team’s off-season business is cause for excitement.
Larkin described this year’s group as “the best team on paper that I’ve been on in a few years,” while Lalonde said that “added depth” was his biggest source of excitement entering the season.
Focusing on the team’s defense corps, Seider said that new additions like Jeff Petry and Justin Holl “will definitely support our back line, they will have an impact on our game…they look strong, they look mature, and I’m really excited to get some reps in with them. I think we bonded pretty well up here already, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week.”
At his pre-camp availability, Steve Yzerman noted that between the new acquisitions and the team’s off-season acquisitions along its blossoming prospects, “there is competition at all levels, not only to be on the roster but for ice time and spots on special teams and what not.”
In practice, that sort of intra-squad friendly competition has already begun to manifest. As Larkin explained, seeing other players, especially the new arrivals, perform at a high level provides fuel to lift your own peformance:
“It’s natural to see Daniel Sprong go down the wing today, and he snipes one over the glove, and then, our line is like ‘hey, let’s go do that.’ I think that way. It’s just natural competition, and it pushes you, and it’s what you want on a team and in an organization.”