Yzerman, McLellan, Share Concerns About Red Wings Leadership Group

Discussing whether he thinks his team has the right leadership group in the dressing room to carry the Detroit Red Wings to greater heights going forward, the answer GM Steve Yzerman offers is extremely disconcerting.

“I’m not sure,” Yzerman frankly admits.

“I would say you cannot have too much leadership. You know, like we need more.”

Coach Todd McLellan isn’t disputing that sentiment.

“I agree with Steve,” McLellan said.

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Both were quick to point out that this isn’t a condemnation of captain Dylan Larkin.

“I don’t, I’m not going to put it all on Dylan Larkin because he’s the C,” Yzerman said. “We need more. I’m counting on more leadership. Dylan Larkin can use more leadership.

“Just because you wear the C, or you don’t wear the C doesn’t mean you’re not a leader on the team.”

Again, McLellan is in lockstep with his GM in this notion.

“Dylan’s obviously the focal point because he is the captain and wears the C,” McLellan said. “There’s a lot of others in there that need to answer for their performances or our performances.”

Lacking Leadership Evident When Red Wings Floundered

When things are going well and all is right with the good ship Red Wings, leadership isn’t all that vital. It’s those moments when the ship begins to list that the club needs all hands on deck to bail the team out. And quite frankly, the evidence the past two seasons is that this type of leadership has been found wanting among those wearing the winged wheel on their jersey.

“We have a lot of leaders when it’s going good,” McLellan said, “but the ones when we’re taking on water, we need more.”

McLellan believes there are players in the Detroit room capable of becoming that type of leader, or showing the character necessary to prevent the team from going off the rails so easily.

“They’re in there,” he insists.

Younger Red Wings May Step Into Leadership Roles

It could be younger players like Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond taking on greater roles beyond delivering their high-end on-ice skills. Marco Kasper is another young Detroit player who looks to be the type that could grow into a significant leadership role.

“We’ll have to get it out of them,” McLellan said. “Part of that, our job is to develop them and I hope there’s some young guys in there. If you ask them that question, they would say they’re working with us on some of those skills.”

Then again, it might be someone the team brings in during the offseason who provides that type of leadership push. That was certainly the case when David Perron arrived in Detroit. Players frequently spoke of his quiet leadership within the ranks.

David Perron (@DP_57) details how veteran leadership and a commitment to team structure has built a better, more resilient Ottawa Senators team.

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Perron had his finger on the pulse of the team. He seemed to possess an innate ability to know when someone needed a positive pick me up, or perhaps a kick in the seat of their pants. Quite simply, he displayed a knack for being able to get players to feel better about themselves and thus to contribute more to the cause of the team.

Wherever it comes from, for the Wings to go further next season, the club clearly needs a stronger leadership core to evolve.

“We don’t need cheerleaders, we don’t need rah rah guys in the locker room,” McLellan said. “We need stabilizers when it’s time to have stabilizers. And we need deflectors, guys that can deal with pressure and deal with the stress of things not going right.”