As much as coaches and general managers like to say the best player will earn the roster spot in any preseason competition, they know that is not the case.
Several factors go into the decision, including waiver status, ice time, role on the team, and what is best for the player’s development.
The Detroit Red Wings wrap up the preseason Saturday in Buffalo (3 p.m.) before making their final cuts and setting their 23-man roster for the season-opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday at Little Caesars Arena.
“I’d like to say you don’t necessarily want to look at someone’s birth certificate. I don’t think that’s always true,” Blashill said. “I think what’s best for guys’ development matters. So, if a young guy is going to play fourth-line minutes for us and not be on any special teams and he can be on both specialty teams and play way more in (Grand Rapids), I think those decisions are generally pretty easy. And it also gives you more depth for when you have injuries.
“My message to players that want to grab spots is don’t be just as good as somebody, be way better. There is always room for guys that look like they’re great players right now, that they can really help you right now. There was room my first year with Dylan Larkin.”
General manager Steve Yzerman said before training camp that the team would carry eight defensemen, and nothing happened in the preseason to change that group (Danny DeKeyser, Filip Hronek, Nick Leddy, Gustav Lindstrom, Jordan Oesterle, Moritz Seider, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher).
Thomas Greiss and Alex Nedeljkovic are the goaltenders.
At least nine forward spots are spoken for: Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Dylan Larkin, Vladislav Namestnikov, Michael Rasmussen, Pius Suter and Filip Zadina.
There are a couple of decisions pending at forward.
“Ultimately, the message is generally the same from the general managers – we’re not going to have a young guy come in here and play eight minutes. It doesn’t make sense,” Blashill said. “There’s always a lot that go into those decisions. It’s never as simple as one guy is tad bit better. You got to worry about your depth, you got to worry about the development of everybody, you got to worry about what’s going to put your best team together for the opener against Tampa.
“It should be readily apparent to everybody out there from the impact they have on the game that they’re going to be able to help the hockey team to be a way better team. If you just see a flash here, or ‘he’s a good skater,’ that’s not good enough. The impact on the game is what matters most. Are they thriving or are they kind of surviving? Obviously, no decisions are as easy as that. There’s a gray area in between.”
Here is where forwards on the bubble stand:
Lucas Raymond: The fourth overall pick in 2020 excelled out of the gate with his offensive ability, making crafty seam passes on the power play, displaying a wicked wrist shot and collecting two points in each of his first three preseason games. He cooled off the past two games (no points).
This 19-year-old only makes the team if he is playing significant minutes, including the power play, in a top-six role. The club isn’t likely to keep him around just as a temporary injury replacement. When he makes the roster, they would want it to be permanent.
Chances are, he’ll start the season in Grand Rapids, logging a lot of ice time in all situations and continuing his development before being recalled at some point this season.
Bobby Ryan: The veteran winger in camp on a tryout has played well enough to earn a contract. He could slot into the second-line spot created by Jakub Vrana’s injury (out four months due to shoulder surgery), playing with Suter and Fabbri.
Ryan, 34, gives the team possibly its lone right-handed shooting forward in the top six, a much-needed element on the power play, too. He also is a good team leader and mentor for younger players. With two goals and two assists in five preseason games, Ryan has showed no ill effects from triceps surgery that ended his 2021 season.
Joe Veleno: He has played well in the preseason, after a solid five-game stint with the Red Wings at the end of last season. But being waiver-exempt gives the Red Wings the option of starting him in Grand Rapids, where he can be the top-line center, logging a lot of ice time in all situations, as opposed to being the fourth-line center playing a limited role in Detroit.
Givani Smith: Big, rugged winger hasn’t had an impact in the preseason (one assist in four games) and is dealing with a minor injury. When he is on his game, he provides a different dimension with his physicality, abrasiveness, net presence and willingness to fight.
The Red Wings, after protecting Smith in the expansion draft, aren’t likely to risk losing him on waivers before the season, so he will probably make the team. But he needs to step up his play to avoid being a healthy scratch.
Mitchell Stephens: He isn’t really on the bubble. He appears a lock to make the team. The Red Wings acquired Stephens, 24, from Tampa Bay for a sixth-round pick expecting him to fill the fourth-line center spot vacated by Luke Glendening, who signed with Dallas. He also fills a need as a right-shooting center.
Carter Rowney: He could fill the role as 13th forward, someone who can come in and out of the lineup, who unlike a younger player doesn’t need to play regularly for his development. The 32-year-old NHL veteran can play center or wing and provides another right-shooting option.
Taro Hirose: Skilled, young winger played well in the preseason and fit in well on the power play. But there isn’t likely to be a spot for him among the top nine. He has flourished in Grand Rapids the past two seasons (55 points in 64 games) and the Red Wings would like to keep him in the organization. But he needs to clear waivers to be sent down and might draw interest.
If everyone (except Vrana) is healthy, this is what the Red Wings’ lineup might look like for the season-opener:
Forward lines:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Zadina
Fabbri-Suter-Ryan
Erne-Rasmussen-Namestnikov
Smith-Stephens-Gagner
Rowney (extra)
Defense pairs:
DeKeyser-Hronek
Leddy-Seider
Staal-Stecher
Oesterle, Lindstrom (extras)
Goaltenders: Greiss, Nedeljkovic
More: Crowded roster at forward might not favor Joe Veleno in pursuit for NHL job
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