Credit: Detroit Red Wings
While the team owner told us not to believe our eyes regarding his failed offseason, and the interim general manager and former captain used a lot of words to say little of value, the head coach took to the media table and told us what we should expect from this upcoming season.
McLellan was at his best when was asked about how the team has been close, and what it would take to push them team over the threshold to playoff hockey?
Now we’re getting to the good cultural references
McLellan immediately cut off talk of being close, saying I’ve heard a few things — in January we were this — it doesn’t matter. We have to spend less time in our zone, and more time in the offensive zone….We have to break pucks out better, we need to be heavier on the forecheck, we need to get harder on the puck…be harder in front of the goal.
Legendary Detroit Pistons Basketball coach Chuck Daley once said he wasn’t a pessimist, but rather an optimist with experience, and that more or less fits the bill when it comes to the Red Wings’ bench boss.
Todd McLellan has seen some shit.
The head coach drove this point home about how he wants his team to play this upcoming season when discussing players like Marco Kasper, Michael-Brandsegg Nygård and two newly acquired players: Viktor Arvidsson and Keegan Kolesar.
McLellan flashed a shit eating grin at the mere mention of Kasper, before highlighting how unsustainable Marco’s shooting percentage was over the back half of the 2024-25 campaign. This past season saw Kasper hit one of the lowest possible shooting percentages, and the coach said Kasper will certainly land somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.
When highlighting the Austrian forward’s strengths, the head coach mentioned he led the team in physicality last season, that he can turn pucks over, and is a quality penalty killer. He finished his comments by saying it was the coaching staff’s job to help him perform at his highest level this season.
It’s also clear the coaching staff expects Michael-Bradsegg Nygård to make the roster, as McLellan said MBN’s game will make the team harder. This was in the context of discussing Arvidsson — whom McLellan coached in Los Angeles:
Arvi is super competitive, he’s going to drag people in. Kolesar is going to make us heavier.
-Todd McLellan on the impact of Detroit’s two players who will be added to the lineup
While he wasn’t mentioned, I could certainly see Carter Bear making the team given he’s a perfect fit for how McLellan highlighted what he is looking for in this upcoming season.
The head coach briefly touched on Emmitt Finnie, MBN and Axel Sandin Pellikka starting the season in Detroit last year, and commented that he didn’t know the rookie players well enough at the start of training camp, before indicating they played their way into the opening night lineup.
I do think Carter Bear can be the next one.
The Elephant in the Room
McLellan was asked about the March swoon, where for the past 4 seasons the team has fallen apart just as teams begin jockeying for playoff position. He acknowledged that you could tell the locker room this past season was waiting for March to happen. He said you could feel that negative energy and the team waiting for it to happen, which became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The coach indicated they will address March, but not at this time. For the start of the abbreviated training camp, they are focused on winning each day. In his meeting with the players, the emphasis was on having a sense of urgency with the shorter pre-season.
If there’s one benefit to the start of training camp, it’s that we’ll hear more from Todd McLellan and less from Dylan Larkin, Shawn Horcoff and Chris Ilitch.