Red Wings 2026 April Game Thread

[1984Echoes]

7 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

...  Along the same lines, they also need to develop some type of checking line that is tough for another teams top lines.  The kind of guys that make them think twice when going in the corner for the puck.  

They also need better presence in front of the net.   They need more size and toughness and a little less skill.

 

Yes.

And yes.

[gehringer_2]

13 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

I think they need a change of philosophy.  

They need to get back to a dump-chase-cycle system.  They are too reliant on trying to use speed and skill to get in the zone.   It can also reward effort and it’s easier to acquire effort players to fill you bottom 6 than it does skilled guys that can bring it in the zone themselves. 

Along the same lines, they also need to develop some type of checking line that is tough for another teams top lines.  The kind of guys that make them think twice when going in the corner for the puck.  They also need better presence in front of the net.   They need more size and toughness and a little less skill.

 

beyond 3 players they don't have the skill or the speed the play the skill game either.

[1984Echoes]

Just now, gehringer_2 said:

beyond 3 players they don't have the skill or the speed the play the skill game either.

So...

Play harder.

Dump soft players... add grit.

SY... go have a conversation with DC and Holmes if you need to "get the message".

[Jason_R]

Faulk was back the other night, and scored a majestic goal splitting the defenders and finishing a breakaway. Edvinsson had a brilliant move to set up a goal last week. ASP can drive offensive play. Seider is offensively skilled. Even Johansson has flashed some offensive flair. If you don’t have the forwards to drive offense at 5v5, you need to allow your defense to drive offense, and you need a system that has your defensively responsible but offensively limited forwards to cover for them. 

[buddha]

its not the system, the players just arent good enough.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

I didn't do a good enough job explaining myself (my bad) so let me try again...

I'm calling this: "What I WANTS" (think... BECK!!!):

1) I WANT SY to go ALL OUT and sign Alex Tuch this offseason. Pay him what he wants. Overpay him. I WANTS a top-line of Larkin-Raymond-Tuch. And if Raymond wilts in the back half of the season again... I am perfectly fine with a Kasper-Larkin-Tuch top line. IMO.

2) The second line would be Copp-Cat-Finnie, unless SY and Kane want him back here for another season. I am OK with either way. He's still got it... but what I WANTS, is for our 3rd line (Kasper-Danielson-MBN) to PUSH HIGHER and become our 2nd line. Even giving our top line a run for the money. But that's up to them, and McLellan to GET them there. They have to get THEMSELVES there... and I'm OK if they only show themselves to be a good 2nd line and that's it. They haven't even shown that yet, however.

But I'm running them together and pushing them hard the entire year. IMO.

3) SY can find a couple checking BANGERS with little to no (or possibly even "some") offense; simply to take on 1st lines and hound them. To add some "grit" on this team. Appleton can center them until someone better pops up on their radar screen. Maybe next trade deadline SY can find someone to better the team either by pushing Copp down here or a guy who adds offense as well as grit to the 4th line. A lot of "To be determined" on this line... but that's OK.

4) 1st pair is Mo-Edvinsson, that's easy... And I think Simon has a lot of room to grow. What I WANTS, is for Buium to earn, and take over, 2nd pairing with Faulk next year. I think Buium benefits hugely from having Faulk as his 1st NHL partner. And vice verse. Chiarot looked like a bad fit with Faulk. Buium needs to step up, IMO.

5) That pushes Chiarot to 3rd pair. Perfect. He was a good match for ASP. But ASP needs to grow on defense. Too much a sieve. Too bad we can't squish JBD (bigger, more responsible defensively, little-to-no-offense) and ASP (LITERALLY, the opposite of JBD) into one player. McLellan may even be forced to dress 7 defensemen and protect ASP by using him on PP's and offensive zone whilst swapping him out for JBD for defensive zone play. So I WANTS ASP to improve significantly on defense; although we just might not get that and be stuck with a JBD-ASP matchup game.

6) I WANTS Wallinder and Cossa on the Red Wings roster the entire year. They either figure out the NHL, or not. If Wallinder is responsible enough defensively, maybe he can take some 3rd pair games away from Chiarot on back-to-backs. If McLellan could convince him to play harder/ (tougher)... maybe he could get more playing time than that. But if all he turns into is a 7th defenseman, we'll just have to live with that. And I am perfectly fine with that. Let him sit in the press box. If he wants to earn soem NHL ice time, PLAY TOUGHER!!! As for Cossa, I do NOT need him to be amazing, I just want him to be NHL-blooded, for a full season. To be a good 1B to Gibson's 1A. I WANTS Cossa to take over the 1A from Gibson... but I can be patient on that end... at least for a little while.

 

So my big SY moves this offseason are: Clearing roster space. Signing Tuch (OVERPAY if you MUST Stevie!!!). And putting it all on the kids... to sink or swim.

But that's just me.

It's "What I WANT"...!

 

 

if you want that many rookies, you are looking at another tank.  look at finnie, danielson, kasper, and asp this year.

finnie started strong when he was playing with healthy larkin/raymond but fell off dramatically.  every other rookie was bad to borderline unplayable.

To the point jason makes, its possible that yzerman always saw this season as another bridge year.  blood some rookies and they'll be ready for larger roles next season and the year after.

i question whether that's true and the real reason the rookies havent been brought up is because theyre injured (mazur, buium) or not developing fast enough to make a difference now (danielson, asp), or blocked (cossa).

[Jason_R]

Of course the roster isn’t good enough but you play with who you have and you have to maximize their effectiveness. When you are talking about needing incremental improvements to make the playoffs, you can’t afford to under-utilize talent. It should raise questions when we see players leave for other teams and suddenly flourish elsewhere. 

The roster not being good enough is why ASP made his NHL debut at age 20 weighing probably 165 pounds. Nobody thought when camp started that he would make the NHL roster; everyone thought he needed time in GR to acclimate to NA play and bulk up to grown man weight. The roster was thin enough that they called him up and put him in a role he wasn’t ready for. Now that Faulk is here to anchor the second unit, is ASP ready for sheltered minutes on the third pair and on PP2?

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

its not the system, the players just arent good enough.

100% agree the players aren’t good enough but I think it would quicker and easier to get back to  respectability with a different system.  

Edited 3 hours ago by Hongbit

[buddha]

56 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

100% agree the players aren’t good enough but I think it would quicker and easier to get back to  respectability with a different system.  

you could be right, i dont know enough about hockey to know.  

 

[gehringer_2]

2 hours ago, Jason_R said:

Faulk was back the other night, and scored a majestic goal splitting the defenders and finishing a breakaway. Edvinsson had a brilliant move to set up a goal last week. ASP can drive offensive play. Seider is offensively skilled. Even Johansson has flashed some offensive flair. If you don’t have the forwards to drive offense at 5v5, you need to allow your defense to drive offense, and you need a system that has your defensively responsible but offensively limited forwards to cover for them. 

i’ve thought they needed to let the skilled Dmen do more also, but if the forwards can’t or won’t rotate back that can’t work either. 

[Jason_R]

Yes and what do I know, I last played hockey when I was eight. But it seems like this season has revealed some untapped offensive potential in the defensive corps.

And it makes me wonder when I see guy like Faulk coming in from a different system, streaking up the ice as a defenseman, creating a passing lane for a breakout pass from a forward, then burying a breakaway chance… what have the Wings been coaching their defensemen to do previously. Has this kind of selective aggressiveness by defensemen been encouraged or discouraged? Either way I like it and hope to see more of it.