The Detroit Red Wings last qualified for the playoffs during the 2015-16 season. Their quest to end that drought begins Thursday with a home game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Detroit made a coaching change during the holidays last season and put itself in position for a playoff berth, but a six-game slide spanning late February and early March led to its undoing.
Todd McLellan had a full training camp to put in his system and choose the players he wanted on the opening night roster.
He decided on an infusion of youth, with forwards Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Emmitt Finnie and defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka making the cut.
“I’m really happy with all three of the kids,” McLellan said. “We may as well bundle them all up and put them in a package. They’ve all competed from Day 1 until now. They’ve all improved. Their confidence level has gone up. The group has been very accepting of them. They believe that the three of them can help the group, which is always a good sign. They’ve opened up some eyes.”
The Red Wings return all of their top players from last season, including captain Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and defenseman Moritz Seider. Future Hall of Fame inductee Patrick Kane also signed up for another season.
The biggest addition was a trade with Anaheim for John Gibson, whom the Red Wings hope will end their search for a true No. 1 goaltender. Gibson fell out of favor with the Ducks but sports a career .910 save percentage.
“We’re obviously excited about having him here,” McLellan said. “He wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think that. It’s not a trade that we went out and had to make that deal.”
The Wings made a few other changes to the roster but the most significant additions could come from within, via the rookies and the continued development of second-year center Marco Kasper.
“It shows youth is knocking on the door,” McLellan said.
The Canadiens began their season on Wednesday with a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The game was much closer than the final score would indicate.
The Maple Leafs broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and scored a pair of empty-net goals to secure the win.
Montreal had a 31-27 advantage in shots on goal.
“I felt we spent a lot of time in the offensive zone tonight,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “I think we could have had more of a shooting mentality a little more, but we have been so focused on the defensive side of things throughout camp. We have started diving in on the offensive side of things, but I think we have to have more of a shooting mentality. But overall I liked what I saw. We had good intentions.”
Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson lost his stick during the sequence that led to Toronto’s go-ahead goal.
“We had enough chances,” Hutson said. “It would have been nice to execute on a couple of chances and maybe get more shots on (goal). The guys played good and I’ve definitely got to be better.”
