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Red Wings Still Holding Casting Call For Top Line

Two Plus One Doesn’t Always Add Up To An Ideal Trio

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Marco Kasper, Red Wings prospect
Marco Kasper is the latest player to get a chance to play on the Red Wings' top line, but he likely won't be the last.

This season, the Detroit Red Wings are discovering what a lot of people learn the hard way. Threesomes may look good on paper, but often, the dream doesn’t equal the reality.

We’re talking about the club’s top forward unit here. Why, what were you thinking?

“Razor and Dylan are probably going to be a pair that play together for a long, long time,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan assessed of Lucas Raymond and captain Dylan Larkin, who compose two-third of the club’s No. 1 forward line.

As to who completes this trio, that is still a work in progress . . . and may continue to be for quite some time.

In Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators, Joe Veleno started out with the unit. By game’s end, rookie Marco Kasper was skating with Raymond and Larkin.

“Joey and Marco, just a quick change,” McLellan explained. “Sometimes it’s not about whether the players are playing well or poor. Sometimes when a coach does that, it just wakes people up.

“Not those two individuals. Everybody.”

Red Wings Two-Thirds Approach Common In NHL Line Combinations

Long gone are the days of the six-team NHL and line combinations that stayed together for so long they acquired nicknames like the Production Line, Punch Line, or GAG Line.

Expansion would ultimately change that aspect of the game as more and more teams coming into existence further diluted the talent pool across numerous rosters.

“I like to keep lines in pairs and then rotate different individuals through,” McLellan said, a trait that’s commonplace on NHL teams.

Who makes it a threesome isn’t so much about chemistry as it is about circumstances.

“Well, there’s different elements that are needed on different nights,” McLellan said. “(Tuesday) we were trying to play Dylan’s line against (Ottawa’s Tim) Stutzle, so that’s a little more speed and pace. And if (Ottawa captain Brady) Tkachuk was there, then maybe you need somebody bigger and more size.

“That could be Ras (Michael Rasmussen) or whoever else.”

Rasmussen, Veleno, Kasper, Alex DeBrincat and Vladimir Tarasenko have all taken shifts lined up alongside Larkin and Raymond this season. Each brings a unique element to the trio.

“Joey Veleno’s provided a tremendous amount of speed,” McLellan said. “I thought Marco, when he went up there, he provided speed and tempo and had some scoring chances.

“But we may play them against another team where the size and the heaviness is needed.  So I can’t paint that line into a pure box. It could change all the time.

“They’re our best players. They’re going to play the most, so they need somebody that will complement them.”

Figuring out who best completes the trio is going to be an ongoing and oft-changing process.

Hey, but as Meat Loaf once warbled in song, two out of three ain’t bad.

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Mike Babcock

Scotty Bowman used to have pairs for lines all the time and mix and match as needed.

Not exactly a new concept.

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Ken

Keep two together. Just like Scotty did.

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RWHockey13

I really liked seeing Kasper with Larkin and Raymond. Was fun.

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Steve B

Haha, when I saw Kasper on that line I immediately thought of your post from the other day and I knew you’d be happy. I like how McLellan thinks and you finally got to see Kasper with the big boys.

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RWHockey13

Thanks. One step at a time I guess, eh? I think he would benefit the most also in his development playing with those guys. Still only 20 years old (21 in early April). As a side note, I do think Nate Danielson playing at the NHL level will excel (when he is ready and arrives). Actually, I think Nate Danielson will surpass Kasper in different ways. Skating is a little bit better and IQ is higher. Can slow down the play as well. The young man has some awesome talent (i.e. stick handling).

Last edited 10 days ago by RWHockey13
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Steve B

Yep I’m looking forward to seeing Danielson too, it’s funny because I keep running into online conversations where people are complaining that we need to draft a 2nd line center but in my view Danielson is that guy so I dont know why people even have that complaint. Maybe they are complaining about needs for right now but I can be patient, Danielson’s going to be perfect for that role. I’m also rooting for Mazur but I’m less certain as to how he’s going to pan out – seems to get hurt a fair bit.

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