GDT: Game 48: Red Wings vs habs 7:00 pm et 1/23/25

[Ulysses31]

under McLellan Berggren looking like that depth playmaking 20ish goal scorer most of us hope for/thought he could be

The last thing we need is a desperate yzerman and our horrible pro scouting going fishing.

 

[datsyukfan]

Jo needs to stay in when Petry is back. Holl should def be the odd man out he’s terrible.

 

[Euro Twins]

The last thing we need is a desperate yzerman and our horrible pro scouting going fishing.

Well so far "desperate" Yzerman is 1 for 1. He hired Todd and fired newsey. Calm composed Steve signed Copp compher, holl, and gus. Maybe "desperate" Yzerman swings a trade for a top center or a #3 D without hurting the core?

 

[Crunchy]

Loved seeing Soderblom step in for Larkin during that scrum, dude's huge and looking like a player.

 

[14ari13]

I keep hearing people talk about “fixing” 5 on 5. How? We effectively have 1 top 9 center on this team. We have like 3.5 top 9 wingers in our best games. There is so much talentless bloat up front that heads should be rolling in the pro scouting department. Copp, Compher, Rasmussen, Veleno, and Tank create zero offense on their own and Tank is the only one who can occasionally finish. Kasper is still a work in progress. There is no internal fix to be had.

I believe they 17 to 4 in shots at one point tonight. 44 shots total? 1 PP, 1 SH, 2 ES goals.

What can they improve?
1. Our odd man rushes are brutal. Have we scored any odd man rushes goal this season? This would be a big help for 5 on 5. And it should not be difficult to fix
2. Deflections. They have to score those kind of goals, specially when the opponents goalie is hot.

I believe I mentioned this 10ish games ago.

Jets use Namestikov as their #2. He's not better than Copp and Compher.
We have Raymond who has emerged this season as a top 20 forward in the league.
Do we have 2 sh goals since Mclellan took over?
Our PK was 2nd worst in the league, and the worst by far on the home ice, despite our goaltending being solid or even good. Bougener and Lalonde did a terrible job on PK.

We'll see if Mclellan can improve this a lot. He already has, but it was so terrible that he was destined to improve it.

 

[14ari13]

If they lose this game, I think that's the season. I have a bad feeling already, but I have a bad feeling every game

I just think we're gonna get out worked and out skated, and the bounces won't go out way again

Always great to beat the Habs, especially in such a convincing fashion, should have had 2 more goals.

But i wonder how realistic a play-off push really is.

Blue Jackets look legit, they're loaded on defense and their young guns are looking very good.
The Rangers are back and will hold a wild-card spot. It's not a team i see Wings beating.
Ottawa look poised to battle for the wild-card spot until the end.
Boston is also a team that they would have to beat.

Then there's always a chance that one of Islanders, Philly, Montreal or Pens go on a hot streak to challenge for a spot aswell.

It's just not looking realistic with such a tough schedule.

The injuries will play a big part rest of the way for all teams.

If only we had McClellan for those 2 back to back games in December. I think the outcomes might have been different. That's where we really fell behind the stupid Habs.

We would be in the 7th spot

Jo needs to stay in when Petry is back. Holl should def be the odd man out he’s terrible.

Yes. Holl can play 1-2 games and then he loses the focus. But all in all he has been far better than earlier this season and last one.


We finally win the big game. They looked good and controlled the game for 1st 30 min. I am glad PP didn't win them the game. Soderblom has to stay in the lineup.

 

[newfy]

Also, once all the forwards are healthy, one of Fischer or Motte has to get waived, because Elmer needs to stay up. Or trade someone from the loser group of Veleno, Ras, Compher, Copp or Tarasenko.

Yeah and Soderblom isnt young at this point. Hes an RFA after the year and loses waiver eligibility. Time for him to play. They can trade someone or hope theres still injuries I guess but he needs to stay in the lineup and play NHL hockey.

If they make a trade they also have depth in GR that could come up. Mazur is back, Danielson has some pro hockey under his belt now and you still have Watson who can come take a shift.

Johansson is starting to look like a real NHL D, and his obvious familiarity playing with Edvinsson is paying off. The less they shelter him the more comfortable he looks.

I like what I'm seeing from Soderblom too. If he's capable of processing the game at full NHL speed, which is looking a lot more plausible, they ought to be able to make a terrifying Evgeny Artyukhin style crash and bang winger out of him at the very least (and probably more given his skill set).

Artyukhin is such a random, throwback name but he was awesome for a couple years. Soderblom doesnt have the natural mean streak but it wouldnt be a bad thing if he turned out similar, with hopefully a little more offence

 

[Sadekuuro]

I couldn't think of a better example of a 4th liner who was absolutely huge and skated so well. He would just run guys through the glass and before long nobody wanted to get forechecked by him. He had some skill too, but it was the wrecking ball approach I really liked.

 

[KJoe88]

Short thoughts here.

Sodersaurus is completely different - I don’t believe it. He wasn’t horrible the last time up, but this version is great/he legitimately could’ve had a hatty tonight.

And AlJo is completely a new hockey player. He’s been terrific.

Again. This team is frustratingly inconsistent.

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

I believe they 17 to 4 in shots at one point tonight. 44 shots total? 1 PP, 1 SH, 2 ES goals.

What can they improve?
1. Our odd man rushes are brutal. Have we scored any odd man rushes goal this season? This would be a big help for 5 on 5. And it should not be difficult to fix
2. Deflections. They have to score those kind of goals, specially when the opponents goalie is hot.

I believe I mentioned this 10ish games ago.

Jets use Namestikov as their #2. He's not better than Copp and Compher.
We have Raymond who has emerged this season as a top 20 forward in the league.
Do we have 2 sh goals since Mclellan took over?
Our PK was 2nd worst in the league, and the worst by far on the home ice, despite our goaltending being solid or even good. Bougener and Lalonde did a terrible job on PK.

We'll see if Mclellan can improve this a lot. He already has, but it was so terrible that he was destined to improve it.

Our odd man rushes are horrible. We are one of the worst in the league, it stems but us having quite a bit of slow/mediocre skaters.

 

[Snuggs]

Larkin came to play this game; not sure Red Wings win without him on the team last night.

Talbot was solid early when it was needed to keep the game tight.

 

[Oddbob]

We win, but man it is frustrating that we aren't making up any ground at all really.

Larkin had a great shift on the Berggren goal.
Soderblom looks good to me so far, I think the only thing I notice is that he seems to stay out longer than his linemates and maybe extend his shifts a bit too long which may not be great long term. He has such great puck skill for a big guy and the reach is great. Glad to see him engaging physically. He doesn't even need to hammer guys, just be in their kitchen and it will cause issues. Can't be the only one hoping he becomes more than just a good 4th liner.
Thought Compher had a pretty solid game and looked way more engaged than he has lately.

Holl is so yuck to watch. Every game he makes such stupid plays. Please Steve make a trade so he is scratched until his contract is over.
Veleno looked so good at one point last year, and then disappeared. Even when he was on the 1st line there this season he wasn't doing all that much. I am fine if we move on from him and Ras at this point.
Tank shoots the puck lately like a non goal scorer that gets a chance in close and just puts it right at the goalie in a hurry rather than picking a spot. Kind of like Copp who is Darren Helm-esque in shooting right into the goalie.

 

[iago]

If only we had McClellan for those 2 back to back games in December. I think the outcomes might have been different. That's where we really fell behind the stupid Habs.

I'd go even further - I wanted Uncle Fester (Lalonde) gone after last year. The improvements we saw over the previous 2 seasons were due to better talent - 100%, and nothing due to better coaching. Imagine what could have been if McLellan had the reigns since July, with a full training camp.

I love the fact that we are looking better with all the rookies in the lineup.

 

[JediOrderPizza]

Raymond getting better every game, he's only 22 and we signed him for 8 years. Only 2 points away for Swede scoring lead.

 

[PelagicJoe]

Keep Soderblom on the team. Fischer or Motte can sit in the press box. Keep Johansson on also. Petry can be the scratch once he heals up and go in once Holl shits the bed/ice enough.

 

[LongTimeDRWF]

I'm not so sure about that. I wouldn't be surprised to see the wings as buyers. Unless we really start tanking. But I also get the feeling there's a bit of pressure on Steve right now. He seemed more agitated than usual during his press conference after he fired Lalonde. He also fired Lalonde on boxing day. I don't want to say it was a desperation move, but that coaching change doesn't just happen on that unfortunate (for newsey and his family) timeline. I would be surprised if we don't upgrade our #2c by the deadline, and Joey v could very well be part of a package.

I would be very shocked that the wings become anything in the way of buyers at the TDL unless a deal so good for the team the next few years comes along. Even if they go on a tear, I don't see where SY will overpay for a 2C at this stage of the rebuild at the TDL. Next summer at the draft, maybe....if he thinks he really needs to.

There may be some internal pressure on SY to make the playoffs, but that would only be because of almost making it last year. The real squeeze for SY will come at the end of 2026/27 if they don't make it the to the show, as his early draft classes really take hold of the team by then and we'll more of less know what we have for a young upcoming team.

I still think in my humble opinion, the most likely case being SY will once again stand pat at the TDL, unless some team wants to overpay for surplus, expiring vets, then maybe a package makes sense. A rebuild is essentially considered over once the team stops selling off veterans for draft picks, like last year, if SY has a fires sale on vets at this point, he is raising a white flag.

I can Lyon being a big interest to someone, like maybe the Devils is Markstrom is out any length of time, so a package of JV and Lyon to the Devils for Nemec as something I could see SY doing if the Devils really need a tender to get them through the rest of the season and SY sees an opportunity to add a good young prospect that the Devils may part with with as they have a window to win.

I could be wrong, but let's see if T-Mc moves Kasper to 2C for the road trip next week and Elmer to 1LW assuming Kane is back and functioning, as it is time for another shuffle for evaluation.

Based on what the brass has said to date, after the coach change, I think they are treating at the rest of this season, or at least to the TDL as an evaluation exercise. (Expect cups of coffee for for several different yutes when opportunities arise).

SY had no choice but to replace Lalonde, he lost the team and they were not responding to him and SY had to do what he had to do.

 

[LongTimeDRWF]

Loved seeing Soderblom step in for Larkin during that scrum, dude's huge and looking like a player.

Yeah, he had a real calming effect on the Habs... I guess they saw his fight clip, I hope they try him as 1LW on the next shuffle.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Short thoughts here.

Sodersaurus is completely different - I don’t believe it. He wasn’t horrible the last time up, but this version is great/he legitimately could’ve had a hatty tonight.

And AlJo is completely a new hockey player. He’s been terrific.

Again. This team is frustratingly inconsistent.

Soderblom is realizing that to make it he’s gotta play to his size. He can make it as a skill guy in Sweden, but in the NHL he’s gotta play with more jam. I’m glad to see that he’s figuring this out.

Now we just need Ras and Veleno to figure out they also need to play with more jam if they want to stay in Detroit. I can see both being traded if this keeps up.

 

[raymond23]

Soderblom is realizing that to make it he’s gotta play to his size. He can make it as a skill guy in Sweden, but in the NHL he’s gotta play with more jam. I’m glad to see that he’s figuring this out.

Now we just need Ras and Veleno to figure out they also need to play with more jam if they want to stay in Detroit. I can see both being traded if this keeps up.

I think that’s half the solution for Elmer. The other half is that he’s gotten so much better at is keeping his feet moving. For a big guy, he’s very coordinated and has surprisingly quick feet. He’s a pretty unique combination of menacing and agile

Watching Ras - he’ll get up to speed but then stops moving his feet. Every single time. Guy takes like 10 crossovers total a game. Veleno has 20ish games a year where he’ll use his skating and then 60 where you barely notice him.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Soderblom is realizing that to make it he’s gotta play to his size. He can make it as a skill guy in Sweden, but in the NHL he’s gotta play with more jam. I’m glad to see that he’s figuring this out.

Now we just need Ras and Veleno to figure out they also need to play with more jam if they want to stay in Detroit. I can see both being traded if this keeps up.

It's like once Ras got a spot in the NHL by being solid defensively (because he plays nearly every shift like he's on the PK) he stopped working on his game.

 

[14ari13]

I couldn't think of a better example of a 4th liner who was absolutely huge and skated so well. He would just run guys through the glass and before long nobody wanted to get forechecked by him. He had some skill too, but it was the wrecking ball approach I really liked.

Who?

Our odd man rushes are horrible. We are one of the worst in the league, it stems but us having quite a bit of slow/mediocre skaters.

Odd man rushes are a big offensive weapon, but a huge defensive help too. Our opponents can establish their game in our zone as they don't have to worry about our odd man rushes as we never score and in addition we don't get a shot on goal or a good scoring chance. It burdens our defence. Odd man rushes are as bad as our PK was.

Larkin came to play this game; not sure Red Wings win without him on the team last night.

Talbot was solid early when it was needed to keep the game tight.

He did. So did Raymond. They wanted to win this game because they have lost all those big games in the past.

I'd go even further - I wanted Uncle Fester (Lalonde) gone after last year. The improvements we saw over the previous 2 seasons were due to better talent - 100%, and nothing due to better coaching. Imagine what could have been if McLellan had the reigns since July, with a full training camp.

I love the fact that we are looking better with all the rookies in the lineup.

It was obvious last season, but red hot Lyon carried him to the last playoff spot.

Raymond getting better every game, he's only 22 and we signed him for 8 years. Only 2 points away for Swede scoring lead.

He can carry his line. His improvement has been amazing this season.

 

[The Zermanator]

Raymond getting better every game, he's only 22 and we signed him for 8 years. Only 2 points away for Swede scoring lead.

He's already worth the cap hit in year 1, that contract is going to be one of the best in the league in a few years. I was confident he'd be an 80, maybe 90 point player. Now I'm wondering whether he's got 100+ in him in his prime.