Red Wings 2026 April Game Thread

[lordstanley]

I’m not reading too much into Soderblom’s Pittsburgh stats, that could easily level off next season, but FWIW he is 4G 4A 8Pts in 16GP for the Pens plus the fight that went viral, compared to 2G 1A 3Pts in 39GP with the Wings. 

[lordstanley]

In 10G starting March 1st, Larkin has one 5 on 5 point, an assist yesterday. Since January 1, in 29 GP, he has 3G 7A at 5 on 5. 

[gehringer_2]

49 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

There is too much of a culture of not making mistakes and not enough of a culture of playing with 100% effort on every shift.

I can see that having been the case if Yzerman pushed that view with inexperienced head coaches like Blashill and LaLonde but I have a hard time believing a coach with McLellan's experience is taking his coaching cues from a GM whose never coached, or that Yzerman would even be dumb enough try and tell McLellan how to coach. But something sure is wrong,

I come back the idea that it's just the way the FO has been constructing the team. We've said it before but there is too much preference for a type of forward who needs support from bigger stronger guys to flourish, or at least guys who are better at forechecking and chasing down pucks (like Glendenning, Bertuzzi - OK I'll forgive moving Bertuzzi, he was a head case, but they didn't replace what he was providing), but they never get those guys, or have let them go, or don't like them when they do get them (Soderblom?).  It's seem impossible to be true but I have to question whether SY actually has a concept of how to put different kinds of players together to get synergy or if he's just too stuck on chasing best available talent even when it results in a team that has glaring imbalance.

Edited 4 hours ago by gehringer_2

[gehringer_2]

11 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

In 10G starting March 1st, Larkin has one 5 on 5 point, an assist yesterday. Since January 1, in 29 GP, he has 3G 7A at 5 on 5. 

I will predict that the day after the season sends the story will come out about a sports hernia suffered at the olympics.....

[Jason_R]

4 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

I can see that having been the case if Yzerman pushed that view with inexperienced head coaches like Blashill and LaLonde but I have a hard time believing a coach with McLellan's experience is taking his coaching cues from a GM whose never coached, or that Yzerman would even be dumb enough try and tell McLellan how to coach. But something sure is wrong,

I come back the idea that it's just the way the FO has been constructing the team. We've said it before but there is too much preference for a type of forward who needs support from bigger stronger guys to flourish, or at least guys who are better at forechecking and chasing down pucks (like Glendenning, Bertuzzi)), but they never get those guys, or have let them go, or don't like them when they do get them (Soderblom?).  It's seem impossible to be true but I have to question whether SY actually has a concept of how to put different kinds of players together to get synergy or if he's just stuck on chasing best available talent even when it results in a team that has glaring imbalance.

I agree with your first paragraph but I still think something isn't adding up. McLellan has gone further than I've ever seen a head coach go in calling out his players for lack of effort and heart. But it hasn't amounted to anything. I don't know, maybe it is as simple as the young kids see veteran players who aren't producing getting pencilled into the lineup every night, so the young kids internalize that there is no room for them to "win" a job, they just have to not lose one.

I'm not sure about the roster construction. Yes, the team has relied on a lot of smaller players, but the team has some big players who just play small. Yes, Soderblom, also Rasmussen. But they have plenty of guys who are big enough to finish checks and just don't. 

There is clearly a culture issue. I'm only half joking here, but I think Mac should bring in Dan Campbell for the exit interviews because this team is missing grit. 

[gehringer_2]

59 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

But they have plenty of guys who are big enough to finish checks and just don't. 

I guess the very fact that Ras is still on the team is a reason I despair about their concept of what a team should look like. And I don't even care that much about 'finishing checks'. The game is almost too fast to spend too much effort on that. There's a place for it but too much time spent trying to line guys up for the big finish can just get you left behind trying to make a big hit when the play has already crossed the line away from you. What I do want to see is way more aggression pursuing the puck. Just to go back to Rasmussen and Solderblom  - guys skate past Ras unaccosted up the side boards constantly, it's like he's not even there when a guy rushes past him. Soderblom was miles better at least at that skill, guys could seldom just blow by him. So when I say there are skillsets they just don't seem to look for (care about?), it's that kind of thing.

Edited 3 hours ago by gehringer_2

[buddha]

he's been drafting all work ethic players since kasper.

kasper, mbn, bear, genborg.  they OVERDRAFT that "type" of player.

bringing in chairot was to get that type of player.  edvinsson and seider are huge and both are physical.  faulk is huge.

he has been trying to accumulate big physical players.  i'm not sure that's the ultimate problem.  extending ras seemed like a decent idea at the time because he was ao cheap and coming off the best two months of his career.  didnt work out.  copp males sense as line 2/3c.  compher makes no sense and never did.

at the end of the day, line one has to be better.  raymond, larkin, debrincat, and to a lesser extent kane are your offensive skill players and they have let the team down in march/april two years in a row (except debrincat).  and the fact that they need to rely on kane so much just tells you how desperate they are for high end offensive talent.

kasper, asp, and danielson were drafted to be those types of players and provide that offense and they havent done it yet.  raymond and larkin are paid to be those players and they havent done **** down the stretch.  look at those two for the reason the team cant score in a whorehouse with a thousand dollar bill tied to their faces.

[buddha]

bottom line is that having six picks in round 2 in 2019 and 2020 have netted you almost nothing.  that should be the foundation of depth for this squad or dealt to provide depth.  

the time for blaming kenny is running out.

[Shinzaki]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I will predict that the day after the season sends the story will come out about a sports hernia suffered at the olympics.....

He's essentially playing on one leg right now...  Raymond..OTOH..may have an undisclosed injury.  Heard Stoney on 97.1 Saturday morning.  He said Raymond may be working through a pec tear.  He also said they offered Danielson in trades at the deadline but the interest was weak

[gehringer_2]

46 minutes ago, buddha said:

bringing in chairot was to get that type of player.  edvinsson and seider are huge and both are physical.  faulk is huge.

he has been trying to accumulate big physical players

Size is important, in Dmen who have to physically clear the crease and control the corners, but size is only important in a forward if the player knows how to use it to take and protect possession. To a large extent speed, especially quickness, and good stick can get you there too, which is why DeBrincat is a way more useful player than Rasmussen even at the aspects you'd expect size to help with.

[buddha]

5 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

He's essentially playing on one leg right now...  Raymond..OTOH..may have an undisclosed injury.  Heard Stoney on 97.1 Saturday morning.  He said Raymond may be working through a pec tear.  He also said they offered Danielson in trades at the deadline but the interest was weak

them being injured makes more sense.  but then that is a problem because its two years in a row they've both been hurt at the end of the year.  bad luck?  or too small?

who would stoney have gotten that info from?  yzerman is notoriously tight lipped.  if its true, it tells you everyone else sees him as a 3C just like a lot of draft experts did when he came out.

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, buddha said:

them being injured makes more sense.  but then that is a problem because its two years in a row they've both been hurt at the end of the year.  bad luck?  or too small?

and/or driving themselves too hard because there is no other help?

Hockey is a game that can be played at an unsustainable level but only for so long. That true of both teams and individuals.

Edited 1 hour ago by gehringer_2

[buddha]

4 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

and/or driving themselves too hard because there is no other help?

Hockey is a game that can be played at an unsustainable level but only for so long. That true of both teams and individuals.

raymond is small and young.  larkin is old and has been injured quite a bit in his career.

it could just be bad luck and not because yzerman doesnt know what he's doing.

[lordstanley]

Hmm, quite a take by Keith Gave. I agree with the final 3 sentences, but I'm skeptical about sentence #2, "the coach ran his ...". Does anyone here who tracks these things know whether Larkin, Raymond, DeBrincat and Seider were given an inordinate amount of ice time the first 2/3 of the season to compensate for lack of depth?

 

 

 

[lordstanley]

 

 

[buddha]

keith gave coming out strong!

[buddha]

normally i would assume keith gave is supporting mcclellan because mclellan is giving him information, but gave is retired, right?  maybe larkin talks to him still.

he's right to call out yzerman.  its just the same stuff we've all been saying for the last couple of years, but some of us (me) gave yzerman a long leash until this year's collapse finally pushed everyone over rhe edge.

what did we say last year: why is rasmussen still on this team?  kane was "fine", but is he a guy busting his ass every night?  compher is everyone's whipping boy.  copp has disappeared.  jvr and appleton are depth passengers.

they have been very conservative.