That 1st line has explosive offensive potential, but puts a load on Larkin defensively. Would need Raymond to step up on that end some, DeBrincat is what he is.
How do you see our top 6 D shaking out in 2-3 years when Ghost, Maatta, and Petry are off the books? We will still have Seider plus Chiarot, Walman, Holl under contract unless we trade them (or buyout Chiarot). Then the kids: Edvinsson, Wallinder, Johansson, and a host of others that probably won't be ready.
Walman - Seider Edvinsson - Holl Chiarot - Johansson I think Wallinder becomes the next man up in 2024.
I can see Wallinder quickly becoming a great partner to Seider if we are going to keep Seider and Edvinsson split up. 6’4” 195, elite skater. Played as Rogle’s #1 D at 20 years old which is extremely rare. Played all situations. Put up 8+26=34 in 59 games. All the earlier knocks on his game he made great improvements upon.
Based entirely on day one lines, this appears to be the baseline roster for opening night. It’ll obviously change but we can at least gauge where Lalonde’s head is at. DeBrincat - Larkin - Raymond Rasmussen - Copp - Perron Fabbri - Compher - Sprong Kostin - Veleno - Fischer Berggren Walman - Seider Chiarot - Holl Gostisbehere - Petry Maata Husso Reimer I am merely speculating on D but my hunch is if Chiarot were skating yesterday he would have been the one with Holl. I think that pushes Maata to the 7th D spot. Barring any injuries, I don’t see a scenario where the entire top 12 F top 7 D and both goalies don’t make the opening night roster. That leaves two spots open, and I’m not sure how that will shake out. If Berggren isn’t playing in the top nine he should be in GR. I tend to think he earns a top nine spot though. I think Yzerman prefers carrying one extra F and two extra D, so someone like Newpower could make the team out of camp. That said, I wouldn’t be shocked if we keep 3 goalies to start the year if Lyon looks good in the preseason. I have a sense he wouldn’t make it through waivers.
Copp and Rasmussen played very well together before Ras got hurt, so it makes sense those two are consistently together. Larkin and DeBrincat seem like locks to play together as well. Compher and Fabbri have no preexisting chemistry but sticking them together back to back days likely means our LW depth chart is DeBrincat, Rasmussen and Fabbri. RW is completely open.
One thing that was impossible not to notice throughout the week was a couple of flare-ups between Edvinsson and Seider. The one in the Red and White game — when Seider seemed to get after Edvinsson for shooting a puck just after the horn — got some attention, but earlier in that shift the two had gone at it a bit coming up the ice, and it was not the only instance of Seider getting physical with Edvinsson throughout the week. It’s a physical game, so of course that’s to be expected, but I did find it interesting to hear Edvinsson say this after the Red and White game, about competing with players like Larkin and Seider this weekend: “They’ve been on me. I think from last year I came with a bad attitude, I didn’t compete, and I hear that. And this year, I want to compete with them. So, I see what they do, I try to learn from that, and I want to compete against them. I want to compete against everybody, it’s really good players in the roles that are on the Red Wings right now, overall. So I feel like it’s been a really good couple of days here.” It’s great that Edvinsson understands why the vets are on him and conversely it’s great the vets on staying on him.
First preseason game is tonight. Lalonde said he will start out with DeBrincat - Larkin - Raymond so that will be a reason to watch. Should be a decent mix of regulars and prospects for the home crowd.
I kinda think if you asked me today which youngster has the best shot to make the team out of Camp, it’s Danielson. I don’t think he has much of a shot but he’s playing with Berggren tonight and they are putting him on the 2nd PP with Raymond. Plus he gets nine games before we would have to send him back to the WHL. But again, I don’t think it’s very likely.
I’d say after last night that Berggren has to be really good the rest of the preseason to make the team. He wasn’t bad but he had a brutal turnover that lead to a goal and he also wasn’t on the PP. If he’s not a part of the PP I don’t see a path to him cracking the roster.
I tend to agree, but I do like Ghost operating off the right flank. I think ultimately those two get flipped but it’s a good problem to have when you consider our PP the last several years.
It looked good last night against Pittsburgh’s AHL team but I’m in the camp of overloading your PP1 and playing them 70-80% of the time. Very very few teams play with two D on their PP1.
So based on what I anticipate seeing tonight, I think the current opening day lineup would be: DeBrincat - Larkin - Raymond Rasmussen - Copp - Perron Fabbri - Compher - Sprong Kostin - Veleno - Fischer Berggren Walman - Seider Chiarot - Petry Ghost - Holl Maata Plenty of time for this all to change but I imagine that’s the current plan