Despite the oddly 'meh' start to the season, our record is... shockingly not horrific given the sheer number of very good teams we've played and how dominated the Wings have looked at times.
The team has made some necessary moves, most noticeably getting Kasper up which allowed them to pair Copp and Compher together alongside Raymond/Kane and break up arguably the slowest, least defensively sound line of Off-hand Tarasenko, Compher, Kane. Additionally, Berggren has been buzzing and the obvious chemistry between him and Kasper makes this callup and line combo doubly important and beneficial.
Debrincat - Larkin - Kane
Copp - Compher - Raymond
Berggren - Kasper - Tarasenko
Motte - Veleno - Rasmussen
The only thing in that mix truthfully that seems really plausibly moveable in that mix is Tarasenko. If this doesn't click, I'm not sure what if any role he has in this group and shipping him out to a team looking for a cheap, secondary scoring option seems like the best possible path forward with him and either trying a banger like Rasmussen to clear space or maybe a callup of Mazur to complete the AHL line, unsure but the Forwards seem to be what they are at this point.
What is still a mess outside of our top pair, is our defense.
Edvinsson -Seider ...fine. Everything we want and need.
Chiarot - Petry is an utter disaster. Chiarot does not seem to be able to break his habit of making an ill-timed slapper that if he misses, the entire team is out of position and it tilts into an odd-man break OR headhunt a hit and leaves the crease unprotected and he gets backdoored. He doesn't do either all the time, but enough where you arent surprised to see how a goal against happened. Petry is just old, slow, and unable to keep up. He needs to be put in the pressbox.
The third pair I think can be manned by Johansson and Holl. Holl suffers from exactly the same problem as Chiarot but isnt' as physical or as talented: he tries to do too much and ends up creating an odd-man rush the other way, or he ends up chasing or making a ill-advised risky pass. Having a partner like Johansson will keep him covered, positionally in align as Johansson will constantly be moving to adjust where Holl isn't, and in the limited minutes of the 3rd pair, could be very effective.
That leaves Chiarot on 2nd LHD - with....nothing viable.
The Wings need to make some kind of move to shore up the 2nd Pair RHD. It just sticks out as this fairly significant hole to land a true, stay-at-home, defensively minded RHD who can carry a pair. I know there was talk in the offseason targeting Roy and the rumors of the Trouba trade, etc. and I think they tried to spot fill with a rotate cast of depth D, and honestly nothing has work to this point. This team looks WAY better when we can lessen some of the load off of Seider and Edvinsson, or if we are caught between line changes and home ice match ups. Having a Chiarot + RHD as a shutdown pair, and being able to use Johansson and Holl exclusively as a 3rd Pair, this defense looks serviceable.
Who is that guy? I'm not sure whose actually available at this point. I was on the Trouba train at high retained or a chunk of offsetting salary going back - I still think 4-5M a year 2yr Trouba on a 2nd pair RHD is a great fit. He's a captain level veteran, who is still Top 10 in blocks, hits, plays a ton, still a 30pt guy but someone you could drop in there next to Chiarot and help lead that Defense. I would be all for that. If there or other available options for that kind of player on the 2nd Pair RHD, I think that is basically the only potential option to make this team better this season. I don't think Trouba will be moved till the offseason, but there might exist the chance to grab something similar during the season, who knows.
