This year could be vastly different.
Here's five observations so far.
1. Already with Fabbri, Bertuzzi, and Vrana on the shelf for an extended period, this year's team has the depth to make do. Still with two solid scoring units, and the 'tree line' that has been a force down low, even when they're not scoring.
The depth is the key takeaway. Last year, the first line did all the work in the scoring department. When they weren't scoring, they weren't winning. There are more people scoring this year. Forwards David Perron and Dominik Kubalik are looking like shrewd signings, as is Olli Maatta on the back end. Given Andrew Copp missed all of camp, it's only matter of time until he starts to join them. His timing is clearly off, as can be expected, and there's no greater indicator of that perhaps, than his 33.73% faceoff percentage, which is nearly 18% below his career rate of 51.4%. The past few years, he has been near or above 53%, with one small outlier being after his trade last year to the Rangers where he was just under 50% in 16 games. Perron has been as-advertised, both in production and leadership, and Kubalik has been the surprise scoring leader to this point. His 8 points in five games are the most to start a Red Wings tenure since Paul Coffey had 10 points in five games. Add it all up, and that's a whole additional scoring line this year.
The 'tree line' has been a force in the offensive zone. Oskar Sundqvist is the small man at 6'3" and has been showing some offensive ability so far. Michael Rasmussen has shown further improved skating, and some decent speed in open ice. In the Anaheim game, he won a foot race against swift-skating defenseman John Klingberg, only to have John Gibson poke-check him on the scoring opportunity. While Elmer Soderblom has been dazzling with his hands and hockey sense, his skating still needs to be polished. No doubt, at this point, he still looks like an NHLer, and hasn't really looked out of place.
2. Special teams have been really good for the Wings. The penalty kill remains one of three in the NHL not to have yielded a goal to the opposing team's power play (STL-3gms, NYI-6gms). And while the power play was slow to get in a rhythm, they have really started to click. I remember the first few games, that one-timer from Perron was off every time. Three to four times on a single opportunity, it was just out of his wheelhouse. Clearly, having a dynamic player over there who can get that shot off regularly is an advantage. It finally started to click against Anaheim, and the ones that didn't go in were still creating havoc on the rebounds.
Interesting to note, Moritz Seider is not currently on the top power play unit. Filip Hronek is getting those reps, and their offensive statistics have reflected that. Seider, in general, has not been moving the puck as he did last year. His defensive game has still been rock-solid, but something to watch going forward.
3. Strength of schedule is something to remember here. Their only opponent so far that made the playoffs last season, was Los Angeles. Currently, only L.A. and Chicago are in playoff positions (both wild cards in the West), and Chicago isn't expected to be close this year. So taking that into account, there is reason to temper expectations, but there is good reason to be optimistic, as they are still looking like a better defensive team this season.
4. Physicality has been evident thus far. The fourth line has been hitting a lot, with even Pius Suter finishing checks. It's not something we've seen the past few years.
5. Young guns haven't hit their stride yet. Filip Zadina had a solid camp, and he's been engaged in the play, but still hasn't translated it into offensive production. His second power play unit against Anaheim struggled to get much going, so that will be something to watch. While Zadina's struggles are well documented, Lucas Raymond's are not. Raymond, like Zadina, has been engaged, but just not getting the same great chances he has last season. He has also seen a lot of his power play time on the second unit, so they will need to find some consistency there to really start finding the scoresheet.
