Not only has Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan made several changes to their line combinations, but he also pulled no punches when it came to the recent performances of a handful of players.
The line combinations for the Detroit Red Wings during Sunday's practice in the wake of their listless 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins the previous day were considerably different, and it was head coach Todd McLellan's way of putting more than a few players on notice.
The Red Wings elevated both Marco Kasper and Elmer Soderblom to the top line alongside Dylan Larkin, while traditional first liner Lucas Raymond was dropped to the third line.
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Rookie Emmitt Finnie has been moved to Detroit's fourth line, while fellow rookie Nate Danielson will be a healthy scratch for Monday evening's tilt against the Ottawa Senators.
The only line combination that remained intact was Andrew Copp skating with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane.
Additionally, the Red Wings recalled forward John Leonard from the Grand Rapids Griffins for his second stint with the team. He led the AHL in scoring with 19 goals in 20 games at the time of his first call-up and performed well with Detroit before being sent back down, a move McLellan said was an extremely difficult decision.
Following Sunday's practice, McLellan put the team on notice by declaring that they have no set combinations for the time being, while also specifically pointing to the lack of five-on-five scoring.
"I think Copper’s (Copp's line) our first line right now, but I couldn’t tell you who our second, third, and fourth lines are right now," he said. "Razar and Larks, it hasn't worked real well, and Emmit, it's the one line that hasn't had a lot going for them at even strength. They're great players, and we're going to need them to win, but it just hasn't gone well lately."
McLellan then noted the recent struggles to produce offense by Raymond without the man-advantage, as his most recent goal at even strength came in late November.
"It's been a while since they've produced, I don’t think Razor has an even strength goal since November, which is a long time now," McLellan said. "And as I mentioned earlier, just getting them away from each other, it's very easy for us to go back to it; we feel good about that. But they've got to find their games, and maybe separating them for a bit will help them."
While Raymond leads the team in overall scoring, it's a surprising reality that his production at even strength hasn't matched what the club needs it to be.
McLellan also stated plainly that Danielson, who has scored two goals and added five assists in 28 games played, needs to step up his offensive game.
The Red Wings will get their first crack at game action with the new-look line combinations on Monday evening.
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