How Detroit Changed Their Identity Over the Weekend

Pushovers. I say that with love, but this team was a bunch of pushovers. It was pretty common to see Detroit play games at half speed or just coast through certain nights. A lot of Detroit’s players, especially their depth this season, have been doing straight cardio every single night.

Rasmussen, Compher, and Appleton have combined for 10 points in the past 20 games for each of them. Patrick Kane looks like he’s giving little to no effort out there pretty much every single game now, and Andrew Copp seems to be returning to form after a bad stretch. Axel Sandin-Pellikka has been getting bullied as of late, and Jacob Bernard-Docker clearly wasn’t prepared for the top-four minutes.

So the trade deadline had a lot to accomplish for Steve Yzerman and his brass; not only did they need to make a splash at the top of the lineup to add some actual talent to the team, but they also needed to improve the depth somehow.

It’s not every day I commend Yzerman for his roster building, but this weekend alone, he took Detroit from a soft team to one that I could easily see making an impact in the playoffs with just three moves.

Far More Physical Play

I didn’t think that they could transform this lineup into one that had so many bodies that could do some real physical damage. Despite having nobody below the 6’0″ mark in the bottom six or top four, Detroit was by far one of the least physical teams in the league. They currently sit at 29th in the league in hits given and 10th in the league at hits taken. But three shrewd moves should help fix that for the most part.

The least talked about, and biggest hitter of the additions, is the return of Michael Brandsegg-Nygård to the lineup. He still has his reckless turnovers, but his 4 hits in his return performance against the Devils was tied for the lead with Justin Faulk. Detroit’s third line of Mason Appleton, J.T. Compher, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård had 5 of Detroit’s 17 hits, meaning even if they’re not creating offence, they’re still impacting the game.

Speaking of Faulk, he also logged 4 hits, as well as handling play along the boards really well. You could feel his presence on the second pair. When Sandin-Pellikka or Bernard-Docker would get rocked along the boards for a turnover, Faulk held his own and helped transition the puck out. Faulk also put his body on the line in terms of blocks, logging 3 and leading the defence group in the stats.

This is all while David Perron remains on the injured list for just over another week. Red Wings fans will be familiar with just how physical Perron can get, and in 49 games this season, he has 64 hits. Perron will give Detroit another body in the bottom six who has no problem dishing out hits, but also making the right play more often than not.

Suddenly, Detroit’s depth chart has a handful of players who have no problem roughing it up and playing with some real pace. Detroit’s bottom nine went from a group of nothing to a versatile depth group. Kasper, JVR, and Perron give them some gritty offence. MBN and Finnie provide some sniping. Compher and Copp give some defensive versatility. As mentioned, Shine and the rest of the group have also given Detroit a physical edge they’ve severely lacked.

As for the defence core, all six guys (five if Sandin-Pellikka is in for Bernard-Docker) can play legitimate minutes without needing to be sheltered and provide some offence from the backend.

Some Offensive Juice

I’m not going to sit here and pretend this is a Robert Thomas level add to the offence, but it is something. I know I’ve been pretty high on some players on this team before (I had Marco Kasper for 60 points and Sandin-Pellikka for over 50, oops). But this time, each of the additions that have been brought into this offensive are proven commodities a lot more than some of the other options in the past have been.

Let’s start with Perron. He’s been the definition of consistent over his career. He’s pretty much always been a 40-50 point threat, even at the late stages of his career. However, the reason Red Wings fans can be so sure of Perron is that he’s played with almost everyone in this lineup just a few years ago. Perron knows the team, and the team knows his strengths. It wouldn’t surprise me if Perron gave Detroit a good 10 points down the stretch of these final games and had a good playoffs if they make it.

As for Brandsegg-Nygård, he hasn’t really gotten a fair shot in the top six, but I think his time is coming. As I mentioned, Patrick Kane has been struggling a lot in the past few weeks. Despite New Jersey being his best offensive game in a while, the woes were still there. I think the chemistry between Raymond and DeBrincat is starting to get undeniable, too. Even with Andrew Copp at center for them briefly, they looked great. I think Larkin and MBN may get a look together as Kane slides down to a line with Perron and Compher in a smaller role. When MBN does get a solid look, expect him to do some real damage, like he’s shown he can in Grand Rapids.

Finally, Faulk is already 6th on the team in points, so saying he’s going to help out a lot with this offence is an understatement. It’s been mentioned by both Mo Seider and Todd McClellan that the shot on Faulk is pretty wicked. But his playmaking and skating to join the rush is not to be undersold either. It’s unconventional, but Faulk should help this team start to produce from the blue line, where they really struggled.

So you have Perron, a dirty area scorer, who you lacked for a while. MBN, who has one of the hardest shots on the team, and an offensive defenceman in Justin Faulk, to help one of the worst even-strength offences get points. For just three moves, sign me up.

Takeaways

I won’t act like Detroit is cup favourites now. I still don’t think there is a single first round matchup that they have the edge in if I’m being completely honest. But, I don’t think that it’ll be the same bruising they might have taken if they didn’t make these moves.

You suddenly have a forward group that can do everything you need from a playoff forward group, even if it’s not at an elite level, and they have the best defensive group they’ve had since 2013. As long as Larkin, Raymond, and Gibson can shake off any damage, there is a lot to look forward to.

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