There is a sense of optimism — or confidence — among players that this season won't be another losing one for the Detroit Red Wings.
A more realistic outlook is that the growing pains associated with a youth movement will continue in the short-term, but they could lead to a growth spurt within a couple seasons. Two solid draft classes have added high-end talent to a rebuilding project headlined by Dylan Larkin. Henrik Zetterberg’s retirement last month because of a bad back has created an opportunity for the franchise's next leader to emerge, and if the rest of the nucleus responds, the long-term outlook looks promising for a team that hasn't made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season.
“For us to be good, the young guys have to carry the team and be our best players,” veteran center Frans Nielsen said. “From what they have shown so far, you get a feeling they are ready to take the responsibility and be leaders. Hank is not here so there is going to be a lot of ice time and it really looks like they are going to thrive with that ice time.
“I for sure see light at the end of the tunnel. The way the young guys have been playing, especially Larkin, you see they support each other.”
Larkin, the Wings’ first-round selection from 2014, is the face of the rebuild because of his inner drive. He’s had one taste of the NHL playoffs, in his rookie season, and hungers to return.
“We have this chip on our shoulder,” Larkin said. “Everyone went home this summer and had a really good offseason, everyone looks really good, and that is giving me confidence. There are fresh faces and a new energy.”
In the four years since the Detroit Red Wings drafted Dylan Larkin at 15th overall in 2014, he has become the face of their rebuilding project. (Photo: Bill Streicher USA TODAY Sports)
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The 25 & under core
The struggles Larkin went through during Nielsen’s first year with the Wings left the veteran impressed. A stint at center didn’t go well, and 36 games into the 2016-17 season, Larkin had just 14 points, 11 fewer than he had at that point as a rookie.
“You see a lot of younger guys, even older guys, when it’s not going their way they are hiding a little bit, they don’t want the puck, they lose their confidence,” Nielsen said. “But he always wants the puck, he wants to lead his line and be that guy. He just kept forging ahead.”
Instead, Larkin grew stronger. He led the Wings with 63 points in 82 games last season and had the highest average ice time among the team's forwards at 19:51 per game. His status as a franchise cornerstone was cemented over the summer with a five-year, $30.5 million contract.
“Dylan has been a big piece, an important piece, of our team over the last year,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Growth gets harder as you move up and try to get to the next stratosphere, but he’s driven to do that."
“Certainly one area where he can help himself a lot to be a next-level player is on the power play. That’s an area where he has not excelled where there are lots of points to be had. The other side of it is making sure in the big moments of games that he is making plays both defensively and offensively. He’s talked about wanting those moments and he’ll be in those moments as long as he is making the plays.”
Larkin wants to be like Zetterberg: A leader who is called upon at crucial points of a game, a guy who can calm a rattled team.
“It’s important for me and my growth on this team,” Larkin said. “I’m in my fourth year. I feel really comfortable with all the guys. To be a leader on this team, you need to play right every night and that is something I want to do. I want to be the best player every night. That is something a leader does.
“I still want to improve my game. I want to be good defensively and have my puck possession time up and be better on the power play. Winning games is big for me this year, and I want to do anything to help this team win games. I want to be the best player on the ice.”
Larkin is part of the 25-and-under core that will determine whether the Wings can rekindle their perennial runs to the postseason. The group also includes Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha.
Athanasiou, 24, was one of the best stories to come out of the exhibition season. He played with assertiveness and had great chemistry with veteran Thomas Vanek, who has returned for his second stint with the franchise. With his ability to accelerate and finish around the net, Athanasiou can be a game-changer. Bertuzzi 23, plays a game that is both smart and gritty, and he forced his way into the top-six mix last season with his willingness to score in tight areas.
Mantha, 24, may turn out to be the most interesting of the group to watch. He has proven he can be a 20-goal scorer (he reached 24 last season, and had 17 goals in 60 games in 2016-17), and now must show if there’s more to him.
“There’s another step for me to take,” Mantha said. “With Z gone, there are a lot of minutes to go get and a couple of them could be mine. I think I can handle the pressure.”
Red Wings Dennis Cholowski skates with the puck against the Penguins during the second period of the Wings' 3-2 preseason win over the Penguins on Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018, in Pittsburgh. (Photo: Charles LeClaire USA TODAY Sports)
Fresh faces
As Larkin and Mantha come into their own, fellow first-round draft picks are finding a foothold. Forward Michael Rasmussen, the ninth overall selection in 2017, and defenseman Dennis Cholowski, the 20th selection in 2016, made the opening-night roster after convincing preseason performances.
Cholowski, 20, is intriguing because the Wings haven’t had a high-end prospect on their blue line since Niklas Kronwall became a regular in 2006-07.
“Dennis Cholowski has the ability to go tape-to-tape, the ability to create things out of nothing, without big risk,” Blashill said. “He’s a real efficient offensive defenseman in my mind. He’ll rush up the ice, but it’s not like he’s rushing up all the time. He moves the puck great, he shoots the puck really well from the offensive blue line.
“If he can continue to play the way he is playing, I know we will have the puck more. We will have the puck more because he can break us out, we will have the puck more because he can find open people in the neutral zone, and if you have the puck more, you are going to have a chance to score more and give up less.”
In Rasmussen, the Wings have a 6-foot-6 forward who can play center and wing, on any line.
“He goes to the net and he’s not afraid to get in there and he scores in front of the net,” Nielsen said. “He has shown that he deserves to be on the team.”
Other prospects pushing for roles include defensemen Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak. The stock of prospects from the 2018 draft is highlighted by forwards Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno, Jonatan Berggren and defenseman Jared McIsaac. All have the potential to accelerate the rebuilding process.
The Detroit Red Wings have a slogan for 2018-19, "Sixty Minutes of Hell," but will it backfire? (Photo: Helene St. James DFP)
Sixty minutes of growth
The Wings have a lot of speed in their lineup this season, and scoring may increase from last season’s 2.59 goals-per-game average because of the increased roles of young players and the addition of Vanek, who has an extremely high hockey IQ and excels at making plays in the offensive zone.
“I see lots of potential for growth,” Blashill said. “We’ll have more young new players start the season with us, we’ve got a bunch of young players that have been with us that I think have potential to continue to push to greater heights. I challenged all the returning players to get better this summer. So I think the growth can come from all three of those areas. What we’ve been isn’t good enough, so we have to push to find ways to be better.”
Blashill opted for a visual reminder of this mindset, as players received T-shirts emblazoned with “Sixty minutes of hell” during training camp. It’s Blashill’s version of the ’40 minutes of Hell’ from Nolan Richardson’s days coaching Arkansas basketball.
“That can be a separator for us,” Blashil said. “Let’s make sure it’s miserable every night for the opponent.”
Blashill and the players talk of wanting to make the playoffs, and so they should. Their mindset should be on winning. Yet it’s hard to see the Wings being hellish to play against this season — for starters, their best players are very young.
For the long-term improvement of the team, another shot at the draft lottery and a high-end pick would be best. If the Wings have another good draft next summer, and the young core shows growth this season, maybe the Wings use money freed by expiring contracts to bolster their roster in free agency. The potential to be much better is there, as soon as next season.
Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
