The start of NHL training camps is now, mercifully, just one month away.
Of course, the Detroit Red Wings still have some important business to handle before they take the ice on Sept. 19, with contracts still needed for Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Jonatan Berggren. But the final-month home stretch is a good time to start looking ahead to the coming season. And for a team starting to emerge from a long rebuild, among the most interesting
The Detroit Red Wings aggressively added talent to their roster during the offseason. It signaled one of their biggest pivots since general manager Steve Yzerman took over. Though no one is going to make any guarantees or promises as to how the team will fare, it’s likely that this will be Detroit’s first real shot at a playoff spot.
DETROIT — Todd McLellan has had countless interactions with his players since being named the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings last Thursday. And for McLellan, building off-ice relationships with those players is just as important as knowing their on-ice skills and tendencies.
“It’s amazing where [saying good morning] will take you,” McLellan said. “My wife and I are looking for somewhere to live, so, ‘Hey, have you used a real estate agent? Where do you live?’ And all of a sudden, it comes out.
“Andrew Copp was telling me today, ‘When you were here last time, I think you came out and coached my eight-year-old team that I was on.’ I’m going, ‘Holy (explicit), am I ever old.’ So, [former Red Wings assistant coach] Paul MacLean, myself and Babs [former Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock] apparently went out to Plymouth…So that was [Copp] trying to connect with me too, and it’s not always me going there. They find ways to connect. We don’t always have to talk about hockey. We can talk about their families. Seeing their little ones run around is important.”
