Red Wings Must Adopt Panthers’ Culture of Toughness

When you have an entire team buying into a culture of “work and attack”, guess what that team is going to do? As we’ve seen over the last few years, now only does this team work and attack, but they are relentless in doing it. The best teams in the NHL come at their opponents in waves; in the Panthers’ case, those waves are choppy and mighty.

If you do have the upper hand on them, the Panthers still look to sink their teeth in before the game is over. They’re a team that wants to leave with a ‘W’ and/or a pound of flesh by the end of the game, and they almost always do.

All of this and more is why the Panthers are the most successful team in the NHL since 2023. If the Red Wings are ever going to unseat them atop the Atlantic Division, Detroit will need to be able to beat Florida at their own game.

Internal Help in Detroit

Make no mistake, the Red Wings have some players within their system that should help push them in that direction.

Marco Kasper (eighth overall, 2022) lived up to that billing this season, showing his blend of skill and tenacity whether he was centering the second line or playing left wing on the top line. One of the best prospect reports on Nate Danielson (ninth overall, 2023) came from Connor Bedard, the top pick in the 2023 draft, name-dropping Danielson as one of the toughest players he played against that season.

Carter Mazur (70th overall, 2021) should compete for an NHL roster spot next season, and he plays a hard-nosed brand of hockey too. Sebastian Cossa should be in the mix for NHL minutes next season as the Red Wings’ top goalie prospect, and he brings a bit of attitude to the crease. Detroit should also have the opportunity to build towards a new identity in this year’s draft, specifically with the 13th overall selection.

Much has been made of Detroit’s almost single-minded focus on targeting “two-way, highly competitive” players in the draft. Kasper, Danielson and last year’s top pick, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, were all characterized as “hard to play against” with their skill level being “underrated”. While it can be boring to see your favorite team pick the same type of players year after year, especially when more exciting names are still on the board, the characteristics the Red Wings are focusing on are the same ones that make the Panthers the juggernaut they are.

Waiting for prospects to develop is a practice in patience – Red Wings fans are well aware of that at this point in the team’s rebuild. However, if their prospects can still be as difficult to play against in the NHL as they have been in other leagues, the Red Wings are well on their way to becoming one of the most frustrating teams in the NHL.

Poaching Some Panthers in Free Agency

Aside from the draft, the Red Wings have the opportunity to use free agency as a way to add some of the Panthers’ culture. Two notable members of the Panthers, forward Sam Bennett and defenseman Aaron Ekblad, are slated to become free agents when the market opens up in July. The Red Wings have some restricted and unrestricted free agents of their own they need to take care of, but they should still have anywhere from $15-19 million to work with after taking care of things in-house.

In Bennett, the Red Wings would be adding a middle six forward known for thriving in the postseason. He hits, he agitates, and isn’t afraid to be in the middle of a scrum after the whistle blows. He set a career-high in points this season with 51 in 76 games, and he has positive possession numbers in all but three of his 11 NHL seasons.

Bennett would be an option down the middle for the Red Wings, but his best fit would probably be as the left wing on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. His scrappy style would mesh well with Larkin and Raymond much like Tyler Bertuzzi’s did years ago.

If the Red Wings were to sign Ekblad, he would be the most notable free agent to sign with Detroit since Stephen Weiss and Daniel Alfredsson signed in July of 2013. Ekblad was selected first overall by the Panthers in the 2014 draft, and 11 seasons later he remains a big part of their defense.

Ekblad has never averaged less than 20 minutes a night in ice-time (his lowest average was 20:52, set last season), and he has positive possession numbers in nine of his 11 seasons. He averages a little over 40 points a season, would add more size to Detroit’s blue line (he stands at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds), and he has been known to throw a questionable hit from time to time, especially come playoff time. He grew up in Windsor, just across the Ambassador Bridge, and would give Detroit another reliable right-handed defender aside from Moritz Seider.

Bennett and/or Ekblad would bring Stanley Cup experience into the Red Wings’ locker room as well as, perhaps more importantly, a piece of the culture of toughness that has made the Panthers the team they are today. That they both fill glaring needs in the lineup is just an added bonus.

If the Red Wings are serious about being a tougher team, both physically and mentally, they can’t just wait for it to happen – they have to take action. There is a unique opportunity for the Red Wings to try to adopt some of the key features of the team that has essentially run the NHL over the last three years. It also just so happens that the characteristics that have made the Panthers so successful are the same characteristics that the Red Wings lack.

There is no guarantee Bennett or Ekblad will become free agents. If they don’t, Detroit will still need to find a way to become tougher to play against. If they do, however, the Red Wings should have the funds to pursue both players – provided price tags don’t get way out of control this summer. If they can give the Red Wings the culture shock they desperately need, it will be worth every penny spent.