Red Wings Lalonde Says He Likes Young Players – So Why Won’t He Play Them?

Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde is insistent that he appreciates the value and qualities that young players can bring to a team’s chemistry.

“I like youth,” Lalonde said. “There’s something special about youth. There’s something special about rookies, what they bring to the group, the passion, the drive, ups and downs.”

That being the case – and we’ll take him at his word here – it leads to a pertinent question.

Why then, is he so relucatant to give young players any responsibiity within his team’s structure?

Case in point – Monday’s near fumble of Sebastian Cossa’s NHL debut.

True, it worked out in the end. Cossa came on in relief of Ville Husso, making NHL history as Detroit would rally for a 6-5 shootout win. He’s the first goalie to ever make his debut in relief and get the win in a shootout.

A history-making performance on a night when the actions of his coach set Cossa up to fail.

Night to remember, @SebastianCossa! pic.twitter.com/9RHBi9Tpej

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 10, 2024

Coming into Buffalo, the Red Wings were losers of five in a row. They were sinking toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference. A shakeup wasn’t merely in order, it was inevitable.

Yet, as he does so often, Lalonde was opting to stick with the same old, same old. He started Husso for the fourth time in seven days. Only when it was 3-2 Buffalo at the end of one period was he choosing to insert his rookie netminder for his NHL bow.

As the Sabres were jumping into a 5-3 advantage after two periods, it certainly seemed that disaster was impending. Credit Cossa for sticking with it and overcoming.

Red Wings Coach Reluctant To Rely On Rookies

On the surface, we get it. Kids are prone to make mistakes. Then again, watching the Red Wings play night after night, those same mistakes are being continually made by veterans who are run right out there the next game to miscue again.

Small moment but nice, steady play on defense by Albert Johansson in his 1st career NHL game. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/ifyjFQWlV6

— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) October 13, 2024

All Albert Johansson does whenever he gets into the lineup on the Red Wings defense is deliver steady performances. There’s nothing flashy or fancy about his game. Yet, despite solid analytics – only Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider are showing better SAT percentages among Detroit defensemen than Johansson 49.3% – he’s in and out of the lineup skating just 13:08 per game.

Johansson keeps getting shunted to the press box. Then Erik Gustafsson comes back into the mix to fail spectacularly and get the Red Wings in trouble. Gustafsson’s 6.14 giveaways per 60 minutes are second-worst on the team.

Berggren Showing Solid Underlying Numbers

Another member of the Red Wings whose analytics are strong is right-winger Jonatan Berggren. He’s in the top third of the team in scoring chances created (131) and high-danger chances created (46). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see Berggren get a shot to play with higher skill players in the top six and see what would happen?

Yet it doesn’t occur. Even when we’ve seen it work by giving other younger players more opportunity. Moving Edvinsson into the top D pairing along Seider has proven to be magical. Marco Kasper’s game elevates when he’s given more responsibility.

What’s the old saying about insansity being a case of doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different outcome? Other than goalie Cam Talbot, the veterans added this season haven’t been upgrades. And other veterans (Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, JT Compher, Andrew Copp) are displaying regression in their game.

It’s long past time that the Red Wings were giving the kids a chance to drive the bus. How much worse could it get? All these numerous underachieving veterans are doing is driving the season off a cliff.