The Red Wings sent a fairly strong squad to Chicago for Wednesday night’s opening preseason game. Eleven of their 20 players spent most of last season in the NHL, including a top line of Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. Detroit won the game, 4-2, with goals from Tyler Motte, Jeff Petry, Lucas Raymond and Olli Maatta.
In a preseason game, the process of getting a win says more about the team than any box score can. So let’s dive in to what we learned about Detroit in this game.
Austin Watson Shows Layers in First Game of Tryout
When he spoke in Traverse City about what Austin Watson can bring to the Red Wings, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde didn’t kid. Watson’s primary contribution is his protective role — hitting, creating space and not-so-occasionally dropping the gloves. But Lalonde also made sure not to diminish Watson’s skill.
Lalonde was quick to point out that Watson is a first round pick — 18th overall to Nashville back in 2010 — whose active stick and ability to make plays make him a true NHLer. It’s tapping into those skill layers, more so than the snarl, that Watson could use to carve out a niche on this Red Wings roster.
“We want to have a little of that element,” Lalonde said Tuesday of Watson’s toughness. “But at the same time, we need the player to help us. So there’s a lot that will go into it.”
Watson did his fair share of helping Wednesday night in Chicago, where he and the Red Wings’ presumptive fourth line moonlighted as the second line. Watson notched an assist and made a number of plays that helped his teammates.
Watson’s assist was by far his individual highlight of the night. After a little bit of zone time in the first period, Watson got the puck at the right half wall with some space. Instead of driving toward the net for some individual heroics, he saw Tyler Motte with leverage on a defenseman at the net front. Watson made a brilliant backdoor feed, and Motte hardly had to move to cash it in off a redirect for the game’s opening goal.
This goal was the kind of play — honest, hard-working — that gets coaches excited. In an audition for a fourth line role, those are two traits that every player wants to be.
Off the box score, Watson also had some impressive checking plays. On the penalty kill with Marco Kasper, Watson made a nice play to counterattack by pinning a puck-carrying Blackhawk to the boards, allowing Kasper to pick up the puck and turn a breakaway. The chance didn’t materialize too much, but it was a team-first move among many by Watson.
As for the end game here, it’s hard to say whether Watson has a chance to earn a contract. Playing like he did Wednesday makes his case strong, but the Red Wings’ 23 roster spots are all filled right now. It would take some movement to free up a spot for him. There’s an important decision — or rather, decisions — to be made about Watson, and his performance so far is going to make Detroit management think long and hard.
Ville Husso Up-and-Down in First Start Since Injury
Ville Husso stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced Wednesday, but the stat lines don’t matter here. It’s preseason hockey, as well as Husso’s first NHL action since going down with an injury in February. Playing 40 minutes against Chicago is more so meant as a warm-up for Husso, inching him closer to full recovery.
“He’s healthy, but I still think it looks a little fast for him at times, which is understandable,” Derek Lalonde said Wednesday after practice. “You can rehab, you can get back in shape, you can do what you can over the summer, but especially in that position, you need live reps.”
What’s worth looking at is the way Husso handled these live reps, and what they tell us about where his recovery is at.
Husso started the game strong, making a number of strong saves. One in particular stood out in the first period when Albert Johansson turned a puck over on a zone exit, and 13-year NHLer Craigh Smith got the puck. Husso saved the shot by Smith and didn’t give up a rebound.
The two goals Husso let in, however, weren’t so pretty, and both came from the paltry six shots he faced in the second period. One came off the rebound of a shot off the post, which Smith tucked with a long backhand just out of Husso’s reach. The second came when Teuvo Teravainen made a spinning shot in the slot that tucked just past Husso’s extending pad. Both were saves that an NHL goalie at the top of their game should make more times than not.
Still, it’s hard to take much issue with Husso’s performance considering that it is as much a step in a recovery process as it is a competitive outing. These were Husso’s first NHL minutes in 225 days. Perfection shouldn’t be expected.
But, it’s important to remember that Husso is in a position battle for starts with two other established NHL starters. He’s also, due to his injury and lack of games, on probably the weakest footing of the three. Husso will have to be a whole lot better in his next outing, but for now he’s brushed off the dust.
In the third period, Sebastian Cossa stepped in and stopped 10 of the 10 shots he faced in his first action of the preseason. He’s in line to be Grand Rapids’ starter this season, but it was an encouraging outing for his long term NHL future.
Kasper, Mazur Look the Part in Preseason Play
Wednesday after morning practices, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said that he feels a player’s NHL readiness is based on their ability to impact the whole game — not just individual areas.
“I really think a two-way game where you’re playing the right way all the time, you can make an impact in winning shifts,” Lalonde said. “To me, that’s when the player is ready.”
In that case, forward prospects Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur put together a lot of NHL ready tape against Chicago. Both players were assertive at both ends, killing plays defensively and giving extra effort to create them offensively. In their bid to force their way onto the roster — whether now or later in the season — they made outstanding cases for themselves.
Mazur in particular had a tremendous effort on Jeff Petry’s second period goal, diving after an out-of-reach puck and poking it into Petry’s wheelhouse for a seeing-eye shot. But beyond that one highlight reel play, he also consistently found his way to the net in a way where he could be useful to his teammates. Defensively, he got into battles and held his own.
Kasper, meanwhile, leaned on quick skating to dash all over the ice and control play. There were shifts when he would wreak havoc deep in the offensive zone before skating back quick enough to defend without missing a beat. He also had a nice scoring chance on the penalty kill working off Watson’s aforementioned efforts, a shift that saw him play just as well defensively in disrupting the Blackhawks’ structure and limiting their ability to even attempt shots. Overall, impressive stuff.
According to HockeyStatCards, Mazur and Kasper had the highest and third highest game scores, respectively, in the outing.
Make no mistake, though, it’s going to take a real shakeup for either player to crack the roster on opening night. Detroit’s 23 roster spots are claimed by a projected 12 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders that does not account for them. In a way, these preseason games are less so a tryout for a roster spot now than setting the tone to potentially claim a spot later in the season when injuries or other absences inevitably creep in. In any case, the Red Wings should be comfortable with these two players to perform well at the NHL level. They showed their impact Wednesday, continuing to build on their positive momentum.
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