Game Day Notebook 10.3.23

After an off day Monday, the Detroit Red Wings will begin a run of three road games in three nights this evening when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

These three games constitute a major inflection point in Red Wings camp.  Detroit needs to carry two full teams worth of players through the third leg Thursday, but from there, the Red Wings will begin the process of trimming the fat and consolidating into a single line-up.

Tonight, it's the Blackhawks.  Tomorrow, it's a trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins.  Finally, Thursday, it will be the Maple Leafs from Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.  As they have throughout the preseason, the Red Wings will fly in and fly out on game day for each of the three trips.

"Throughout, just the way this schedule came out, it made it a little bit difficult with what we're trying to do and playing three in three, and playing four in five to finish camp, so we've kind of staggered two [NHL lines] and two [AHL lines]," explained head coach Derek Lalonde after this morning's skate. "There's a little special teams in there. There's a lot that goes into the matrix. As a staff and a group, we're talking until 8 PM last night, just so many things—we wanna give this guy a look, we wanna give that guy a look, we wanna give this guy a look. Then you have the Grand Rapids guys—wanna see this, wanna see that. There's so much that goes into it, but [part] of it has been for practice purposes, for game purposes, having two plus or one-and-a-half NHL lines kind of staggered throughout the camp."

Lalonde expects that after Thursday's game in Toronto, Detroit will be able to "get into that camp split" between a Red Wing group and a Grand Rapids Griffin group on Friday or Saturday before the preseason finale at home against the Maple Leafs Saturday night. 

The most notable name among the group traveling to Chicago is that of Ben Chiarot, who will make his pre-season debut this evening.  Chiarot did not join camp until Saturday.  At the time, Lalonde mentioned that the veteran defenseman was eager to jump straight into that evening's game against the Capitals, but Red Wings brass opted to give him a bit longer runway into his first game action.

One other notable feature of the line-up at morning skate was a line of Klim Kostin, Joe Veleno, and Jonatan Berggren.  Kostin and Veleno have played together often throughout the preseason, but this is a slightly different look for Berggren.  As we've discussed before, Berggren has a point to prove this preseason, whether that's in solidifying his place on the NHL roster or earning a particular role in the line-up once he's there.  That process may well necessitate playing some fourth line minutes along the way, so getting reps beside Veleno and Kostin (two players accustomed to life playing a heavy bottom six role) will be instructive—both as a learning experience for the young Swedish winger and as an opportunity to prove that he can be effective in that capacity.  It's worth keeping an eye on how he fares in that context tonight.

Veleno & The Threshold between Youngster and Veteran

After the non-game group practiced this afternoon, Joe Veleno gave a reflective interview on his path toward personal growth and the threshold between being an up-and-comer and an established pro in the modern NHL.

When asked where he'd like to grow his own game heading into his third full season of pro hockey, Veleno responded, "It's being in better spots on the ice, being in better positions in the offensive zone, getting to those hard areas, getting a couple of those extra goals in front of the net.  And obviously, you don't want to cheat the game...I definitely want to be on the right side of the puck and strong defensively.  Being good defensively that'll transition to more touches with the puck offensively."  

It's a similar message to one David Perron offered earlier in camp as advice for young players—that despite how it might sometimes seem, defensive solidity will feed the attacking game young players so often want to play.

While he wants to improve his productivity, Veleno is adamant that taking the next step for his game is less about lighting up the score sheet and instead more based on earning a greater role through 200-foot reliability.

"I had 20 points last year and would like to increase that total for sure," Veleno said.  "I definitely want to stick to my game and stick to the strengths of my game.  I gotta take care of my own end first, being responsible defensively and kind of gaining that trust to be on the ice a lot more.  And if I'm on the ice a lot more, I'll get more chances."

That's the exact sort of trust that Perron had previously alluded to.

Another aspect of personal growth Veleno has embraced in the young season is making a deliberate effort to help the Wings' youngsters and new faces feel at home.

"It's not easy coming in, especially as a newcomer, as a younger player, to come in here and know what's going on," he said.  "Most of the older guys we'll grab one of these young guys and show them around and talk to them and make them feel more comfortable so that they just feel a lot more welcome when they come here and a lot more comfortable.  And that's essentially the main aspect of being a veteran is to kind of mentor these younger players coming in and you've got to take responsibility in that."

For Veleno, there is a certain nostalgia that comes from thinking back on his own first steps in the Red Wing organization.

"It goes by pretty quick," he observed.  "These newcomers coming in, they're getting more comfortable over the years.  You look back at it and coming to the rink when you were coming to your first development camp and then main camps, it all brings back a little bit of memories.  Sometimes I like to go back to those days and refresh on that."

From this reflection, a question begs.  At 23, Veleno is hardly what you'd picture when you imagine grizzled NHL veteran, so why does he feel that responsibility?

"I've been coming here since I was 18, so I'd like to consider myself a little bit of a veteran, and I've been here for quite some times—all these development camps and main camps and all that stuff," Veleno said.  "Kinda used to that already, so just helping out and helping these younger guys out to show them the way."

There is a maturity in this sentiment from Veleno, but it's also instructive about the state of the modern NHL.  The league today is younger, faster, and more skilled than it's ever been.  

That's great news for hockey fans when it comes to the quality of the on-ice product they're taking in, but it has practical implications for locker rooms as well.  Professional sports have a funny way of warping our collective perceptions of age, with 30 scanning as borderline ancient and 35 downright geriatric, but we don't always think of the opposite end of that spectrum.

As the game grows younger, what it means to be a veteran is changing, and younger players often need to adopt leadership roles in ways they may not have been asked to in not-so-distant history.  That Veleno is embracing that responsibility is a testament to his own willingness to pay forward the help he once received but also another way he can provide value to the Red Wings beyond his on-ice performance.  It's a pleasant development for a player whose '22-23 season ended with the disappointment of an ignominious suspension at IIHF Worlds.