Difference in Success for Berggren, Edvinsson Shows that Less is More for Prospects
Both Jonatan Berggren and Simon Edvinsson bring upside to the Red Wings' roster. The difference in their success in recent call-ups shows that making fewer mistakes is valued more for rookies.
Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports - Difference in Success for Berggren, Edvinsson Shows that Less is More for ProspectsA little over two weeks ago, forward Jonatan Berggren earned a call-up to the Red Wings roster. Three games, one point and five healthy scratches later, he’s back in Grand Rapids.
Meanwhile, a true rookie has emerged with a much larger role. Defenseman Simon Edvinsson earned a call-up last Tuesday, and his usage has only blossomed since then with about 19 minutes of ice time a night including penalty kill time.
So what, positions aside, is the difference between Berggren and Edvinsson? Whereas Berggren brings offense but poses risks defensively, Edvinsson thus far in his callup has made fewer mistakes. Hunting a playoff spot for the first time in eight years, the Red Wings care more about avoiding costly errors than chasing the reward of offense.
“Obviously both (Daniel Sprong) and Berggren can produce some offense,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “But just the rhythm of our lines right now, I just (think) we’ve played some really good team hockey right now. So I think it’s more about what the group’s doing. Let’s keep it together.”
Keeping risk-mitigating hockey as an emphasis matters as the postseason nears, when teams come together with tighter checking. During the Red Wings’ recent skid in which they dropped eight of nine games, their opponents exploited their mistakes ranging from blue-line turnovers to players jumping up too far in the rush. In response, Lalonde and general manager Steve Yzerman opted for a calmer lineup concoction. Detroit called up veteran center Austin Czarnik on March 14, and they’ve stuck with him ever since because he avoids a lot of those mistakes.
“We went through a stretch with playing (Christian) Fischer out of position — that just creates some chaos throughout our lineup,” Lalonde said. “(Czarnik has) given us reliable minutes. And I talk about his team game of late, how we’re limiting chances, how we look a little more less chaotic throughout our entire lineup. I think he’s helped that with just giving us quality minutes down the middle.”
Czarnik doesn’t bring the offensive punch of Berggren. He can turn plays in transition, but he doesn’t have all the elusive self-creation that Berggren brings inside the offensive zone. But at this point, with a deep lineup of scorers, the Red Wings don’t really need him to. They need calm; they need a risk manager in a game of chaos.
In Edvinsson, they’ve found a similar presence for the blue line. With Jake Walman injured and the rest of the defense corps overstretched, Edvinsson earned his third career call-up and has become a reliable defender since. His reach and puck protection is high-end, a product of his 6-foot-6 frame that gives him so many physical tools to choose from. And most of all — in contrast to his previous call-ups where errors frustrated coaches — Edvinsson has tempered his game. He isn’t perfect — nobody is — but he avoids risks to the level his coaches want to see.
“Even the other night (against Nashville), we asked a lot of him and (he made) a couple mistakes which are just gonna happen, some growth,” Lalonde said. “He kind of followed a turnover there north that put us in a bad spot. Little things like that they’re such teachable things. But what he's doing out of our zone, how he’s defending is really positive for him. We talked about our team game improving of late and he’s been a big part of it.”
Edvinsson makes mistakes, and he works with coaches to resolve them. Lalonde said that for a young prospect like Edvinsson, his growth comes from spending time studying shift tape, one-on-one coaching sessions with defense coach Bob Boughner. That role is shared among coaches for the forward corps, who it's fair to assume worked with Berggren.
The difference between Edvinsson’s expanded role and Berggren’s lack of a roster spot comes down to minimizing mistakes, even those relative to their young careers. Where exactly the line for such mistakes falls depends on external factors such as the way the roster is gelling and the way other teammates are playing. It also seems that for a raw rookie like Edvinsson, there might be more leniency in the hopes that he figures things out quickly compared to Berggren who played almost all of last season. Edvinsson’s growth thus far suggests his game is growing over time.
“Less egregious mistakes are finding him,” Lalonde said. “The jumping up in the rush, giving the odd man back, the sloppy turnover, turning a puck over and then attacking the rush giving up an odd-man, having too much poise and patience with it instead of just making that first play, the simple play that’s available now. He’s starting to grow in all those areas, hence his team game coming around.”
That team game — that risk-mitigating game — has kept Edvinsson in the lineup. For Berggren, that didn’t come as easy. Such a situation raises the question of what Detroit might do with Berggren if it doesn’t have room for him in the lineup and his risk-level holds him back from replacing anyone. For Edvinsson, the ability to thrive right now bodes well for his long-term role in Detroit.
Players and prospects all have upsides, but for a lot of players, their ability to manage the downside matters more. Especially when games get tighter and mean a whole lot more in the standings, those risks are why players like Edvinsson stick and players like Berggren get sent down.