The Detroit Red Wings’ offseason might or might not be done.
When general manager Steve Yzerman met with the media last week, he still alluded to the possibility of trade opportunities that could arise in the wake of free agency. He even mentioned there were “a couple teams looking to do some things that we do have some interest in and are possibilities.”
In the days (and possibly weeks) to come, we’ll find out whether any of those will materialize into anything more than tire kicking. If not, perhaps a 13th forward or third goaltender will come into the mix instead.
But as of now, as the dust begins to settle, Yzerman and the Red Wings have a roster in place. And that means the rest of us have a chance to start imagining how the pieces could fit together.
Granted, coach Todd McLellan doesn’t have to pick just one arrangement. Throughout the long NHL season, there are all kinds of combinations he can experiment with — more than we can realistically project here. And the new lineup players the Red Wings added — wingers James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker — give McLellan plenty of flexibility.
So today, even acknowledging the possibility of one more move, it’s worth examining what kind of options Detroit is looking at with its new depth chart.
The default
James van Riemsdyk
Dylan Larkin
Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat
Marco Kasper
Patrick Kane
Andrew Copp
J.T. Compher
Mason Appleton
Elmer Söderblom
Michael Rasmussen
Jonatan Berggren
Ben Chiarot
Moritz Seider
John Gibson
Simon Edvinsson
Albert Johansson
Cam Talbot
Erik Gustafsson
Justin Holl
Jacob Bernard-Docker
I’m calling this the default because when I look at the names on Detroit’s roster, it’s the one that makes the most sense to me. But rather than start at the top, I want to start in the middle of the lineup, because the rest of the decisions ultimately flow out from there.
We know Yzerman views Appleton as a classic checking-line winger who can contribute offensively as well. That makes it easy to slot him onto the third line at right wing. The first question, though, is whether Andrew Copp or J.T. Compher will center that checking line — and the answer might turn out to be both.
When I asked Yzerman after the draft how he saw his center situation playing out after Marco Kasper’s great finish to the season as the team’s No. 2 center, he noted the possibility of Compher and Copp’s playing on the same line together, determining who takes faceoffs by which side of the ice the draw is on. Yzerman is ultimately going to leave those decisions to McLellan, so he’s not tipping a hand or anything here, but keeping both players higher in the lineup in a matchup role that would give Detroit a real advantage on faceoffs is an interesting idea.
So, for Scenario 1, let’s go with that as the construction for the third line. From there, the question is who will move into the top-line left-wing role. And there are a lot of options, with no clear choice. But looking at it on paper in early July, I found myself homing in on two players: veteran van Riemsdyk and young winger Elmer Söderblom.
My gut, though, is to give the close call to van Riemsdyk, who had 16 goals last year and is as proven a net-front presence as you’ll find in the NHL. He’s no longer in his prime, at 36, but being able to dig pucks out of a scrum or bang home a rebound? That’s still right in his wheelhouse, and it makes a lot of sense to put him with two players who funnel plenty of pucks into that area.
There is a question of pace, but none of the alternatives answers that question any better. The biggest issue might be workload, as van Riemsdyk averaged just 12:24 of ice time last season. But there were games van Riemsdyk got as high as 17 minutes, and if he can give 15 good minutes at even strength, that might be enough. It’s not ideal, but no top-line option is, and van Riemsdyk’s size and touch around the net make him an interesting option.
That leaves a fourth line of Söderblom, Michael Rasmussen and Jonatan Berggren, which is admittedly a bit of a mishmash of skills. But it still has a solid defensive center in Rasmussen, a nifty playmaker in Berggren and a skilled stickhandler with a big shot in Söderblom. That could work, even if the line feels like it lacks a real identity.
Meanwhile, on defense, there’s not a lot of analysis needed because it’s basically what Detroit went with when Jeff Petry was out last season. In that time, Albert Johansson broke through and earned a lot of trust from McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney, although some of the underlying numbers weren’t as encouraging. For a young defenseman, though, Johansson can continue to grow into being a steady puck-mover, and his ability to play either side is a real asset.
Going into the season like this would once again ask a lot of Johansson and Ben Chiarot, but absent an upgrade from outside, this looks like the obvious top four.
As for the third pair, some will be itching to see new addition Bernard-Docker on the right side, and I’ll get to that later in this piece. But in sheltered minutes last season, Justin Holl did turn in an expected goals share of 50 percent for the season, and it was even better under McLellan. That goes against a lot of the narratives around him. The actual goals share was a different story, which is where the frustration stems from — and of course, that is the number that counts on the scoreboard.
But I wouldn’t be quite so quick to write off Holl as an extra. He’ll still be in plenty of games for Detroit this year.
An alternate look
Elmer Söderblom
Dylan Larkin
Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat
Marco Kasper
Patrick Kane
Michael Rasmussen
Andrew Copp
Mason Appleton
James van Riemsdyk
J.T. Compher
Carter Mazur
Jonatan Berggren
Ben Chiarot
Moritz Seider
John Gibson
Simon Edvinsson
Albert Johansson
Cam Talbot
Erik Gustafsson
Jacob Bernard-Docker
Justin Holl
Here’s a different way of approaching those same decisions, and there’s a real argument to be made that this could be a better overall construction.
For starters, van Riemsdyk goes from the top line into a depth role more in line with his average ice time last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was effective in that kind of role, and for a big body of his age, maybe it will turn out to be the best way to use him.
That leaves a hole up top, and in this scenario, it’s Söderblom who will get that look. I did have some pace questions when Söderblom got some limited run with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond last season, but like van Riemsdyk, he brings a needed size element to that line and does so with considerable skill to boot. If the 24-year-old can take a step in the skating department over the summer, he might even offer a little higher upside because of his combination of size, hands and shot.
The big difference, here, though, is in how Detroit will use Compher and Copp. I struggle with the idea of the Red Wings’ top three centers all being left-handed, but we saw how effective Copp, Rasmussen and Christian Fischer were as a checking line in recent seasons, and Appleton could offer a similar look with the potential for a touch more offense, too.
That would free up Compher to center the fourth line, still keeping van Riemsdyk with a veteran center who has offense in his game. I could have left Berggren on the right wing here as the playmaker on the line, but I also wanted to acknowledge that Mazur could make this team out of camp. He’s had some rotten injury luck in recent years, but is still an intriguing young player who (when healthy) probably better suits a fourth-line identity than Berggren does and still brings scoring touch in the hard areas of the ice.
This bottom six would have a clear checking line plus a fourth-line trio that has real scoring potential, and the bottom six as a whole would be harder to play against on paper.
On the blue line, Bernard-Docker gets into the lineup in this scenario, and I am curious to see what he can do in new surroundings. He’s had some decent underlying numbers in limited action thus far in his NHL career, and Yawney has a great track record for developing young defensemen. Maybe Detroit can tap into something there.
A surprise rookie
Marco Kasper
Dylan Larkin
Lucas Raymond
Alex DeBrincat
Andrew Copp
Patrick Kane
Nate Danielson
J.T. Compher
Mason Appleton
James van Riemsdyk
Michael Rasmussen
Elmer Söderblom
Jonatan Berggren
Ben Chiarot
Moritz Seider
John Gibson
Simon Edvinsson
Albert Johansson
Cam Talbot
Erik Gustafsson
Justin Holl
Jacob Bernard-Docker
All right, now let’s get a little more wild.
In the first two scenarios, I’ve assumed Detroit would stick with Kasper as the 2C, since that’s where he projects long-term. But it’s worth noting he was also excellent as a top-line left wing for a stretch last season, and Copp showed pretty well between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat under McLellan. So, absent a clear answer at top-line wing before camp, who’s to say the coach doesn’t go right back to that to begin the season? It would give Larkin and Raymond a great high-paced complement who can mix it up down low, and Copp has the size and hockey sense to work with the two smaller skilled wingers on line two.
Ideally, Rasmussen would probably be the checking line winger in that scenario, but with no other center options left, he instead stays at 4C. The question then becomes who gets the bump up to third-line left wing among van Riemsdyk, Söderblom, Berggren or even Carter Mazur.
Instead, though, what about Nate Danielson? Yes, Danielson is also a natural center, but it’s not uncommon to break in young centers on the wing, and his mature defensive game could fit right in next to Compher and Appleton — while also bringing great skating and some playmaking flavor to the line. I can’t see Detroit bringing Danielson up to play on the fourth line, and frankly, even this third-line wing role might be stretching it. But if Danielson has a great camp, this would be one way to get him top-nine minutes, and he could move up the lineup by season’s end, like Kasper.
I’d be fascinated to see Danielson play with Kane and DeBrincat — though that seems like more of a March consideration than an October one.
In this scenario, too, the fourth line would have a lot of size but also some real offense, with van Riemsdyk plugging into a new version of the old “Redwoods” line that used to feature Ramussen, Söderblom and Oskar Sundqvist.
There are other options to work with beyond what we’ve laid out here. It wouldn’t be unthinkable for Berggren — who finished last season on the top line — to get another look there. It also wouldn’t be unreasonable to give Copp or Compher a look in that spot. Would it be unheard of to even see Danielson there at some point, after how well that worked for Kasper?
Though Detroit’s offseason left plenty to be desired in terms of sizzle, it has also left McLellan plenty of options in how he can arrange his lineup — regardless of whether one really sticks or whether he instead cycles between them throughout the year.
(Photo of Andrew Copp and Ben Chiarot: Brett Holmes / Imagn Images)