What to Watch For in the Red Wings' Preseason Opener
Tonight, Detroit's preseason journey begins in Chicago against the Blackhawks. Here are three stories to monitor
Tonight, the Detroit Red Wings will play their first game of the 2024-25 season, a preseason match-up with the Chicago Blackhawks on the road in the United Center. For the night's game, Detroit will bring a lineup mixed between presumptive NHL and AHLers for the coming season. Here's how the group lined up at this morning's pre-game skate:
When asked what he wanted to see from his group tonight in Chicago, coach Derek Lalonde replied, "Structure, some growth with our structure, keep our compete up, build on some of the things that I thought were pretty good and at least a good strart in [Traverse City]. I think you're gonna similar lineups throughout [the preseason], just the way the games are played out. I don't think you're going to see true NHL, true AHL; it's gonna be a mix of both."
Lalonde added that, as the Red Wings' campaign begins, there is "a ton" of benefit to the increased roster continuity from last year to this, with fewer newcomers allowing for faster progression. "I like where our structure is at, kind of alluded to this the other day, with where our structure was with our Red-White game. I think there's just been a lot less teaching, which is fine. It feels like a lot of the teaching right now isn't so much with the structure, which is always there, but a lot of it is the habits, puck play, just talking about some details, so there's a huge benefit to that, having some continuity, our staff returning for our third year, along with a lot of returning players."
Tonight's game will be streamable on the Red Wings' website. Here are three stories to keep an eye on:
Husso Returns to Game Action
Lalonde noted that Ville Husso will get his first NHL game action since a February groin injury in Edmonton. The plan is for Husso to get the first two periods tonight and then for Sebastian Cossa to spell him in the third.
"We think [Husso] needs some live game reps," said Lalonde. "He's healthy. I still think it looks a little fast for him at times, which is understandable. You can rehab, you can get back in shape, you can do what you can in the summer, but especially at that position, you need live reps. He'll get those tonight."
Of course, the preseason is far from the most consequential hockey of the year, and in some ways, it's an especially 'noisy' environment for goaltenders more than anyone else. However, this will be Husso's first chance to regain the trust of Detroit's coaching staff via his performance against live competition.
Johansson Looks to Make a Splash: "I Feel Like It's Time for Me"
This preseason will be an important one for 23-year-old defenseman Albert Johansson, whom Detroit selected 60th overall in 2019. He's spent the past two seasons in Grand Rapids with the Griffins, and now, no longer waiver exempt, he will be vying to be one of the defenseman on the Red Wings' roster come opening night.
"I feel like it's time for me to take the next step," Johansson said this afternoon. "Of course, my goal is to take a spot on the roster and play in Detroit this year." It's been a process to reach this point, but Johansson believes he's ready for NHL minutes. "I think since I came over here, we had a good talk, and I knew my first year that I was going to be in Grand Rapids," he recounts. "And then my second year of course, I just tried to play as best as I could and hopefully get a chance up here. Last year, the defensemen up here stayed pretty healthy, so I didn't get the chance, but I didn't think about it too much. I played a lot of minutes down there, which I think was goo for me. Now, it's a new season, and I think it's time to take the step."
There is an appropriate level of pragmatism in that response. Perhaps Johansson may well have been ready for an NHL role a year ago, but the Red Wings' NHL roster did not exactly have a place with which to afford him the chance. This time around, it won't be easy to crack the top six on D, but all indications are that Detroit will carry eight d-men into the season and Johansson will be among them. It may take an injury for the initial opportunity to come, but surely there are NHL minutes awaiting him this season.
As far as what he's hoping to get out of tonight's game, Johansson said, "First of all, it's going to be fun to play a game again. It's been a long time. I think it's just gonna be fun to get out there and get the game started. Of course, it's the first game, so hopefully it goes well and then we can take it from there." When asked about the challenge of not trying to do too much, he added, "When you put pressure on yourself, you wanna do a lot and show the coaching staff that I'm ready, but I think the most important [thing] is just to play a simple game, especially in the first one here, so try to keep it as simple as possible."
The Power Play QB Battle
One other story I'll have my eye on tonight is the way Detroit's special teams begin to take shape. I'm especially curious about where the Red Wings will land in terms of their two power play quarterbacks. The favorites for those roles have to be Erik Gustafsson and Moritz Seider (in either order), but Simon Edvinsson and Jeff Petry will also likely both be in consideration for the responsibility. Based on this morning's skate, it will be Gustafsson and Edvinsson who perform those duties tonight.
It was a slow start for the Detroit power plays in the Red & White Game up in Traverse City, but it should probably be expected that the penalty kill comes together more quickly than the man advantage.
This afternoon, Lalonde spoke to the importance of evolution for a power play unit over the course of the season in the modern NHL, so whatever we see tonight, it's worth noting that it will surely chance by season's end. "The power plays constantly evolve," Lalonde said. "You can see it last year. Our power play evolved, and huge credit to [assistant coaches] Alex Tanguay and Jay Varady. If you're gonna have success through 82 games—we finished top 10 in the league—you're gonna have to evolve throughout the year. Last year, I give the guys credit, we kinda had two units going. I think we're deep enough, talented enough to have two this year. And we have a little internal competition between those power plays and different looks. And I think that's part of the power play evolving. The league is so well scouted now...If you're going to be the same and static-y...it's not gonna be successful."