DETROIT – Dylan Larkin’s season began with the excitement of being named just the third Detroit Red Wings’ captain in the past 35 years. It ended in the hospital with a painful neck injury that caused him to miss the final eight games.
In between, he didn’t experience the season he wanted, or one the team expected, producing only nine goals and 23 points in 44 games.
Larkin’s lack of production, Tyler Bertuzzi’s back injury and a dreadful power play were the main reasons the Red Wings struggled offensively. They improved (from an NHL-worst 39 points in 71 games to a tie for 27th overall with 48 points in 56 games) due to solid goaltending and better team defense.
The Red Wings head into the 2021-22 season feeling confident in their goaltending and with as deep a defense as they have had in some time. Whether they can take another step in a rebuild that has seen them miss the playoffs the past five seasons could depend on whether they are more potent offensively.
That task was made more difficult with Jakub Vrana’s shoulder injury, which will idle him at least four months.
But Larkin returning close to his form from 2018-19, when he tallied 32 goals and 73 points, would be a significant boost.
“I’d love to have a bounce-back year,” Larkin said. “With that, I think it’s going to be great having Bert back. I want to continue to be better on the power play, better on the penalty kill, if there’s a role there, face-offs, just a better all-around game. Not trying to do too much … but really help this team win hockey games.”
Jeff Blashill, entering his seventh season as head coach, said he doesn’t judge Larkin’s performance by statistics.
“Certainly, production matters … but I don’t go on a night by night basis or in a 10-game segment and say, ‘Your points are low, so you’re not playing well,’ " Blashill said. “I judge him on a lot more things than that, even things like scoring chances.
“I think when Dylan’s at his best he’s skating, No. 1. Everybody knows how much he’s on the ice because of how much he’s skating, he’s attacking the game, he’s winning puck battles with his body. He’s coming back and doing a good job defensively, able to play against anybody he faces, including the best players in the world. I would add one more element, that he along with a whole bunch of guys have to be better on the power play.”
The Red Wings hope new assistant coach Alex Tanguay can devise ways to boost a power play that ranked second-from-last in the league at 11.9 percent.
The unit will include Lucas Raymond, the fourth overall pick in 2020, who made the season-opening roster and will start on the top line with Larkin and Bertuzzi. Free-agent center Pius Suter should boost a second line that features Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina, who must produce more than last season (six goals, 19 points in 49 games).
“We need scoring. Everybody needs to contribute across the board,” Blashill said. “One of the ways is if your power play goes at a better rate. One of the ways is that you find ways to create open looks in that net-front area. And then maybe in transition on the rush.
“And you better check well, because if you check well, you don’t need to score four, maybe you can score three on a regular basis and win. For us to have success we’re going to have to be a great checking team, have good specialty teams, and we need a collective group of 12, 13, 14 forwards to score.”
Moritz Seider, the No. 6 pick in 2019, and free agent Nick Leddy join a defense that goes eight deep (with Danny DeKeyser, Filip Hronek, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle and Gustav Lindstrom).
“There’s zero doubt this is as deep of a D corps we’ve had probably since I’ve been the head coach,” Blashill said. “We’ve got eight defensemen who have either proved it on a regular basis or in the case of Seider and maybe Lindstrom, we totally believe are NHL defensemen. Some guys have been top four or have potential to be top four.”
In veteran Thomas Greiss and young Alex Nedeljkovic, a Calder Trophy finalist as rookie of the year in Carolina, Blashill believes their goaltending can be as strong as last season.
But even if they progress, the Red Wings will be hard-pressed to reach the playoffs in a strong division that features two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay and Cup Final runner-up Montreal, as well as strong clubs Florida, Boston and Toronto.
“I think we’re headed in the right direction,” Blashill said. “How much better will we be? How quickly? I can’t answer that. It’s up really to the development of players or just as much the execution of players.”
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