When the Red Wings open the season Thursday night in New Jersey, they won't have a single first- or second-year player on the roster -- which feels counterintuitive for a rebuilding team. Derek Lalonde says it's a reflection of a deeper roster with higher ambitions.
After the Wings added several veterans this summer, key prospects like Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper and Jonatan Berggren will start the season in Grand Rapids.
"I do think you’re going to see plenty of those guys, but they’re not fitting what we’re trying to do right now," Lalonde said Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "Our goal is to win now, of course with the vision of improving in the future. When you say is it important for them to play? I would agree with you. Absolutely, it’s important for them to play 23 minutes in a significant game (in the AHL rather) than seven, eight minutes with us and growing on the fly with mistakes or sitting up in the press box."
The Red Wings have leaned toward the latter the last few years, said Lalonde, without gaining much ground. He pointed to Berggren, a 2018 second-round pick who debuted in Detroit last season and scored 16 goals in 67 games, and said, "No disrespect to Jonatan Berggren, but he was forced to play for us last year where with we were at."
At forward, the Red Wings have added J.T. Compher, Alex DeBrincat, Daniel Sprong, Christian Fischer and Klim Kostin, who boast 31 seasons and 1,642 games of NHL experience. On defense, they've added Jeff Petry, Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Holl, who boast 28 seasons and 1,717 games of NHL experience. That's 3,359 games all told, or about 57 full NHL seasons.
Asked about cutting Edvinsson, Berggren and 2023 ninth overall pick Nate Danielson, who impressed in exhibition games but was always destined for another season in juniors, Lalonde said, "A big part of it is the upgraded roster, and that's the reality of trying to get better."
"On this roster over the last three, four years, not only would those guys have been on the team, they would have been needed. And it’s not good enough," he said. "Not in a bad way, it’s just the reality of getting better. These guys are young. ... Their time will come, if it’s done the proper way. If you remember when the Red Wings really had it going, no one made it on the team until it felt like they were 24 or 25 and they would spend years in the AHL. I think it’s a good sign for us adding some organizational depth."
Asked specifically about Berggren, 23, Lalonde said the skilled but smallish winger wouldn't have had a suitable role on one of Detroit's bottom two lines. And he hadn't shown enough to play on one of its top two.
"Our bottom six is built a little different with the Klim Kostins and Christian Fischers of the world, just want to be a little bit heavier. And it made no sense for him to spend one game, if not two, three, four in a row in the press box," said Lalonde. "Go down, play your significant minutes, he’s an easy phone call up. He’s still raw in his development. He’s not on our team, but in today’s NHL, those three or four guys in Grand Rapids are an extension of your team."
When injuries inevitably strike, the phone will ring for Berggren, Edvinsson and others.