DETROIT – After putting on weight to gain strength last summer, Joe Veleno shed some pounds this offseason to get quicker.
The better he skates, the better his chances of making the Detroit Red Wings season-opening roster, he believes.
“I think the game now has just gotten a lot faster,” Veleno said. “I thought I was a little bit too heavy last year. I feel really good at the weight I’m at now. You got to be able to skate and make plays at a high level. Just working on that over the summer helped a lot.”
He played at 210 last season, even heavier some days. Now he’s at 203.
“I thought it affected a bit of my speed,” Veleno said. “I was still pretty fast, but I just thought it was some weight that I didn’t really need.”
Veleno will make his preseason debut tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center (8:30, NHL Network), after missing a few days with a groin injury.
These exhibitions are vital for the 22-year-old center. Veleno played 66 games with the Red Wings last season (eight goals, seven assists) because of their rash of injuries. That doesn’t assure him of a roster spot this season.
The Red Wings have a logjam of third- and fourth-line forwards, including a pair of centers in Pius Suter and Michael Rasmussen who are ahead of Veleno on the depth chart. Wingers in the mix include Dominik Kubalik, Filip Zadina, Adam Erne, Oskar Sundqvist and Givani Smith.
Veleno, the 30th overall pick in 2018, is the only waiver-exempt player among the group, which allows the Red Wings to send him back to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins without the risk of losing him.
Veleno said he had a couple of fruitful conversations with new coach Derek Lalonde over the summer.
“He told me to play my game and play with confidence,” Veleno said. “It was really nice to kind of exchange some words with him, the other coaches as well. I’m looking forward to working with them.”
Lalonde said Veleno probably has a better skill set than he anticipated.
“He does make some plays in tight ice,” Lalonde said. “He thinks it very well. I think he has a good feel for things.
“I just think it’s being harder. He would allow some extended O-zone time (last season). He was in the right spot, on the defensive side of the puck, playing maybe a little more cautious but playing on the right layer of the puck, but was allowing extended zone time. We’d like to see him harder and get more kills in the D-zone.”
Veleno said he wants to be a complete centerman.
“I want to able to do penalty kill, power play, and be responsible five-on-five,” he said. “I think I can improve on a lot of things. I’m still a young player. I still need to learn. The experience is going to come as I play more games.”
Veleno will skate on a line with Jakub Vrana and Lucas Raymond tonight.
“I’d like to see them a little more connected within our structure,” Lalonde said. “Sometimes those guys – Vrana, a little bit, he gets a little loose outside of our structure. I’d like to see more connected. Joe, I’d like what we’re trying to be as a team -- more stops in our D-zone. That’s something that needs to evolve in his game. And I think that happens to a lot of guys, especially playing center. For a younger center in this league, it’s hard to get stops and he’s got to improve in that.”
Bertuzzi getting closer
Lalonde had hoped to have Tyler Bertuzzi in the lineup tonight but now is aiming for Monday’s home game against Pittsburgh.
“Very close,” Lalonde said. “Regular season game, we’d probably see him tonight.”
Tonight’s lineup
Here are the lines they skated with this morning:
David Perron-Dylan Larkin-Dominik Kubalik
Lucas Raymond-Joe Veleno-Jakub Vrana
Cross Hanas-Pontus Andreasson-Jonatan Berggren
Matt Luff-Kyle Criscuolo-Givani Smith
Olli Maatta-Moritz Seider
Jordan Oesterle-Wyatt Newpower
Albert Johansson-Eemil Viro
Alex Nedeljkovic will start in goal and be replaced by Sebastian Cossa midway through the second period.
“A little blender, different looks,” Lalonde said. “Bert not being available changed that and we want to give different guys a look with different players, so we kind of mixed around our top six to see how it looks.”
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