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DETROIT >> There’s no All-Star break in the NHL this season. The current 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament is serving as a sort of road marker in the schedule, a chance for the majority of the league to take a breath for what should be an incredible sprint to the finish.
The Red Wings, except for Dylan Larkin (Team USA) and Lucas Raymond (Team Sweden), are enjoying a breather this week. And they’re enjoying it even more because of where the Red Wings sit in the current standings.
The arrival of coach Todd McLellan on Dec. 26 has completely turned around what looked to be a disappointing season. The Wings are 15-5-1 under McLellan and have taken over a wild-card playoff spot.
Nobody saw this coming.“The spirit and the belief system have gone up,” McLellan said. “They’re playing to the structure that we put in. It’s easy when you’re winning; you can get people to believe in things a lot simpler than if you’re losing.”
The Wings have become a more aggressive and confident team under McLellan. A talented group of young players have added a jolt to a lineup that looked stagnant.
Considering how last season finished, with the Wings just missing a playoff berth, many analysts expected the Wings to carry over that success into this season. The Wings lost a lot of offense during the summer, but the lineup was largely the same.
McLellan replacing Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26 ignited something that was missing.
“Ever since Todd came in, we just proved that we’re a good hockey team,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “We knew we had it in the locker room and just couldn’t find a spark. He brought that extra spark. That brought us back to life, but we still have a long way to go.
“We’re right in the picture where we want to be.”
Here’s a glance at the Wings’ season to this point, and looking ahead:
Three surprises
The turnaround: Really now, who could have seen this reversal of the season coming? The Wings looked sunk on Dec. 26 when McLellan took over. They were coming off three spiritless losses, many facets of their overall game were struggling, and they were closer to the bottom of the conference than a playoff spot. Somehow, McLellan made them believe. It’s been a stunning transformation.
Power-play dominance: It’s surprising in the respect the unit has been so dominant. The power play ranks third, at 28%, and has stayed in the top five for quite some time. Even during the dark days earlier in the season, the power play was the one clear bright spot, and keeping the Wings afloat. During a recent seven-game win streak, the unit absolutely carried the Wings. A typical power play ebbs and flows during a season, but this one has remained fairly lethal throughout.
Jonatan Berggren, Simon, Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Marco Kasper, Elmer Soderblom: It’s fair to exclude Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond from this list because of their previous NHL experience. But these five youngsters are getting their first real NHL baptism, and they are thriving. During the Wings’ most recent win streak, these were some of the team’s most consistent and productive players, not looking out of place in the lineup. Given an opportunity to carve out spots in the lineup, they’ve shown they are deserving and are capitalizing on the chance.
Three disappointments
Start of the season: The Wings lost three of their first four games and never really got on track under Lalonde. Ultimately, they dug themselves a hole that they’ve been able to climb out of currently — but they still have two months of the schedule remaining. Few things worked. The Wings struggled to score, there were defensive issues galore, and the penalty kill was an absolute mess. Coming off such an energized sprint to the end of last season, missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker, it was surprising to see the slow start.
Vladimir Tarasenko: The Wings needed to replace a ton of offense that left during unrestricted free agency last July. Tarasenko appeared to be a good fit, a veteran with a proven goal-scoring track record and a key part of two Stanley Cup champions. But to this point, it simply hasn’t worked out. Tarasenko has seven goals and 22 points in 53 games, and though his veteran savvy and influence can be seen around the locker room, the Wings could certainly use more of the offense.
Penalty kill: As of this current break in the schedule, the Wings rank 32nd — last in the league — in the NHL, at 69.7%. It has improved under McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney, a key reason being the Wings simply are taking fewer penalties and aren’t playing shorthanded as much. But the unit still isn’t inspiring overwhelming confidence and needs to show better in the final stretch of this season.
Team MVP
Lucas Raymond: At the tender age of 22, Raymond is turning into a bonafide star. Raymond earned a lucrative eight-year contract in the offseason and he’s showing he was utterly deserving of it, trending toward career highs in goals (21), assists (38) and points (59). Raymond was superb during the Wings’ late-season surge last spring, and he’s absolutely carried that elite level of play into this season.
Unsung hero
Moritz Seider: Seider doesn’t put up the monster offensive numbers that other defensemen might, so the recognition comes a little slower. But at 23, Seider has already established himself as such a vital part of this lineup. He’s averaging a career-high 25 minutes 15 seconds, is playing in every situation, faces every tough matchup and is excelling all the way around. The Wings would be sunk if something were to happen to Seider.
Three reasons to be optimistic
Mediocre Eastern Conference: There are few, if any, powerhouse teams in the NHL this season. The East, in particular, has a list of teams — all of whom have flaws and don’t have the look of being powerhouses. If the Wings are able to climb into the playoffs, and given the overall mediocrity, they could — they might be as dangerous as any other team.
Road success: The recent four-game sweep in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle boosted the Wings into a playoff spot and shows this team is capable of success away from Little Caesars Arena. The Wings are 13-10-3 on the road, and if they can keep that sort of percentage on the road during the rest of the schedule, it could get them into a playoff spot (given similar success at LCA).
Vibe: There are no numbers, statistics or rankings attached to this. You just feel it and see it. And in the Wings’ locker room, there is a starkly different feeling than in the first three months of the season. This is a much more confident team, and the recent winning has only strengthened their outlook.
Three reasons to be pessimistic
Remaining schedule: The Wings have 27 games left and the opponents on the schedule have a .587 win percentage. The Wings have the most difficult schedule remaining, of any team in the NHL. They see Carolina three times, Vegas, Minnesota and Florida twice, and Dallas, Tampa, Toronto and Boston once each. On paper, it’s pretty staggering.
Road weariness: And to make matters even more daunting, 15 of the 27 games are on the road. The recent western Canada trip, obviously, worked out just fine. The Wings will need to continue to earn points against some really good teams the rest of the way.
Sustainability: The Wings are 15-5-1 under McLellan, a win percentage comfortably over 70%, and it’s simply difficult to imagine this lineup keeping that pace for the rest of the season. The Wings had a similar run in January and February last season (16-4-2) and still couldn’t sneak into the playoffs. This will be a tough task to overcome.