And now back to reality, whoop there goes gravity...

[SpikeDDS]

And now we begin to see what we expected to see.

 

The last two Red Wing games have been completely different than the previous four were. You could see some of what was coming in the Anaheim game, but now reality has revealed itself: We have a great first line, and a surprising fourth line (thank heavens!), but defensively we just aren't good enough to be consistently solid on a nightly basis; not deep enough to keep solid opponents at bay. Dekeyser goes out, and despite getting an early lead, we watch the opposition score 5 goals, 3 on the PP.

 

They are blaming themselves for a lack of effort. There is likely some truth to that. But there is also the truth that Dekeyser is probably our best defender, and we aren't deep enough to make up for the defensive deficit that comes when he isn't available.

 

The reality could be that these last two games may be more representative of what this season is gonna be like than the previous 4 games were. The fact is that Larkin's line alone is not gonna be able to win many games for us on its own. And yeah, the fourth line (or should we call it the third line now?) has been better than anyone would have expected, but we cannot ignore the void that the middle six are creating.

 

The fact that AA is not scoring isn't as big a deal to me as the defensive liability that the line has. Even if AA scores a goal every night, if they let in 3 goals, they are a liability. It is the defense that must be fixed. If they fix it, the offense will come. AA won't be denied. But he's not getting chances because chances are not being manufactured from defensive play.

 

Yes, AA's most natural position is on the wing. Theoretically, the wing gives him more opportunities for breakaway goals, which are one of his greatest threats to the opposition. But he won't get any if they are not generated by takeaways followed by passes to his tape. That's supposedly why they went out and got Filppula, to fill that role. But it's not working so far. So I hope if things continue this way that they may consider putting him back at center. No, I'm not saying I prefer him there, but it may end up being the right thing to do until we have centers that are good enough to make the plays that spring AA for scoring opportunities. And until those centers develop, perhaps we should consider putting him back in the middle. Even though it didn't work right away last season, by season's end, it WAS working.

 

One thing is certain, if a guy like AA is not scoring goals, something is definitely wrong, and changes will need to be made. I hope they leave this option open as a possibility.

 

Thoughts?

[yave1964]

The big difference that I have noticed over the past two games is in the first four, we forechecked, took the puck and controlled the flow of the game. The past two we spent two much time standing around watching. Of course Toronto has the most skilled top six in the game and Vancouver is fast and skilled as well (and at home had last change) so when you are not as skilled, as we the Wings aren't on most nights, and you allow the opponent to control the tempo this is the result. Two losses by a 10-3 combined score, hopefully it is a lesson to the team.

 

  My early thoughts:

 

 Big line of Mantha, Larkin Bertuzzi is outstanding. 

 

The rest of the forwards, meh, not so much.

 

 Some are okay, Hirose if on the third line would be fine as he learns the NHL but he is expected to play second line minutes, out of his weight class. The big problem is that sums the rest of the team up as well. With Nielsen out, who has been the teams 2C (and lets face it he is best suited for a 3C role) Glendening who is an outstanding 4th liner, an okay third liner is forced into the 2C role. Abdelkader and Helm at this point should be on the fourth line, so should Erne, all would be great in that role, but all are punching over their weight class. Fillpula looks lost, still trying to find a role, 

  Athanasiou deserves his own spot on here, he has had some breakaways and is one sloppy goal from getting it together. The big problem as I see it is he doesn't have a quality 2C feeding him the puck but he is creative and eventually the pucks will start going in.

 

  The cure is probably in Grand Rapids.

 

 Michael Rasmussen has been playing center in the AHL and simply dominating. He is crushing it, 5 points in 3 games a few nice dishes to Chris Terry that Terry barely missed on or the point total would be higher. 70 percent faceoff percentage, looking like a mountain in the middle of the ice, his game and confidence are soaring. With Nielsen out and the team forced to play Glendening on the second line I see no reason to keep him down there. I was also frustrated that we recalled Svechnikov, sat him as a healthy scratch for four games and then returned him to GR where he was off to a fine start. If you are going to recall him play him. Zadina looks better, more fluid and stronger on the puck but his defensive game has yet to improve. Still, all three should be recalled soon and permanently. Starting with Rasmussen tho, he looks like he has it together and is the real deal.

 

 Defense, I listened to Anthony Stewart on the Hockey Network rip the Wings for lack of effort when the Canucks were on the power play. He stated there was no justifiable reason the Wings allowed the Canucks to set up uncontested in front of the net for two tip ins, he said it appeared Vancouver simply wanted it more. Again, if you lack skill you need to make up for it in heart and desire. The last two games that hasn't been there.

 

 Not unhappy with the goaltending, when you are getting poor support it doesn't matter if Jacques Plante is in net. 

 

  Its the season I thought it would be, IMHO we are mostly showcasing vets to contenders for picks/futures by early March. Still, overall I think the worst is over and by next year we will be a completely different team and ready to be taken serious.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I've been paying a bit more attention to the Wings this season (you can thank having Stevie Y as your GM for that) and you have to think that the Wings not being good defensively WAS going to be a reality.
Spike hit the nail on the head: When Danny DeKeyser isn't there, the depth falls off a cliff when it comes to actually preventing goals.

IMO, DeKeyser himself probably shouldn't be a top pair D, but on this team he is, and well, there is part of the problem as well.
Offensively, you have guys back there that are still pretty good, and that part of the game is lead by Mike Green and hopefully for Wings fans, Filip Hronek.

I STILL have the Red Wings as playing out a season that won't be as bad as some people think (they won't be last), but despite them playing some solid games throughout the season, they will miss the playoffs as they are not good enough to crack the top 8 yet.

Bright spot?
Yzerman, despite being a forward in his playing days, seems to know a little something about drafting, developing, and fixing defenses and goaltending quandaries.

When he took over the Lightning's GM seat, the Bolts had a defense very similar to what the Wings have now.... poor defensive minded players, some way too young players, some players who were at the end of their useful NHL careers, and still others who were being played well out of their ideal slotting.

The Detroit GM will sift through what he has, and if he does anything like he did in TB, the Wings can expect, at some point, to have a very good, mobile, and probably larger sized defense (he seems to favor the bigger defensemen over the smaller ones...as long as they can skate).
And along the way he will also look at different options for goaltending (and not just plug in bodies for the sake of it) who have a real shot sticking..... again, just like he did in TB....and, since the Wings will be drafting relatively high (probably top 10 in most instances), you can be sure that he will acquire some very good talent along the way.

In the meantime, expect your Wings to go through a few highs, lots of lows, with "serviceable" players place holding positions till the younger crop can definitively take over.
DON'T look for Stevie Y to go for the "home run", sign some player to a ridiculous contract based on past glories, knowing full well his team, as a unit, simply isn't ready to compete.

If a player is a vet, has a good skill set still, and is reasonable on the contract, he can play for Detroit on short term deals till a proper contending core can be formed.
Also, don't be surprised if Yzerman trades off some good young talent now, which may cause some people to initially question his decision making,  to acquire BETTER talent (or picks) for down the road.....seen him play that card with the Lightning as well.
And almost every time, he makes his critics eat their words.

Watching the development of guys like Larkin, Chowolski, Hronek, Bertuzzi, and Adam Erne (he is really stepping into his role as agitator with the Wings...a role he played lightly on the Bolts), who could be the Wings' version of a Patric Hornqvist, should still at least, be entertaining for the present time.

[SpikeDDS]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Agree on Yzerman. In addition, he’s coming to a team who have a recent history of overpaying middling veterans with either too much $ or too much length of deal. I think he recognizes that as much as Holland did for the franchise, he repeated this mistake multiple times toward the end of his tenure here. Steve will want to distinguish himself by making better decisions, avoiding overcommitment to older players.

 

Nor do I think he will swing for the fences on a FA signing. Not any time soon, anyway. He’s gotta build first, and that takes time, and he knows it. He is NOT dumb. 

 

@yave1964

 

I hadn’t seen Ras’ stats, but I am thrilled to hear it. Call the guy up and get him going!

 

Bringing Svech up time reward him was a great idea. Leaving him out and not letting him play was ridiculously stupid and negated the whole benefit of the call up. To me, it almost sounds like the way Blash is talking and running things, it’s like he’s trying to put lipstick on a pig. He won’t play Svech, because he won’t help them win? Well take a look, because they aren’t gonna win with what they are putting on the ice anyway. Just tell the kid, “For better or for worse, we’re putting you out there. Your job is to show us where you DON’T need to improve as much so that we can figure out how best to help you get your game to the NHL level, if it’s not already there.” What did the kid learn?! Not much!

 

I think they are trying to keep their best faces on, when this team really isn’t very good. Yes, our top line is very good. And goaltending would be if we had any kind of defense. AA will struggle until, as you say, someone can start putting pucks on his tape. He can’t do it all on his own (very often).