How Do Red Wings Find Right Balance in Forward Lines?
As Detroit seeks its identity, one area to focus on is balancing the scoring and checking elements of the forward corps
10 games into the season, the Detroit Red Wings are still looking for their identity. This isn't an editorialization on my part; it comes straight from the mouth of captain Dylan Larkin. "We need to figure out what we are as a team and start to gain some traction and play to an identity," he said after Detroit's 6-2 home defeat to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday evening.
One area where this dynamic has manifested throughout the Red Wings lineup—one which is at least on some level a carry over from last season—is a stark divide between the scoring components of the forward group and the heavier checking players. That's not entirely unique to Detroit around the league, but it does seem more acute.
Coach Derek Lalonde will often refer to the sense that the Red Wings' "DNA" in the top six features a number of smaller, lighter players with a penchant for run and gun hockey (think Patrick Kane or Alex DeBrincat). The bottom six has more traditional grinding forecheckers (think Christian Fischer or Michael Rasmussen), but those players have occasionally wound up defending too much because they haven't always thrived in puck retention.
In the featured video above, I discussed the Red Wings' path to balancing those contingents within the forward corps as a means of discovering the identity Larkin notes presently eludes Detroit.
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