Red Wings Need To Let Kids Lead The Way

The Detroit Red Wings need to take a page out of the Whitney Houston songbook and add it to their playbook. It would be in the best interests of the future of the franchise.

“I believe the children are our future,” Whitney sang in her classic hit The Greatest Love of All. “Teach them well and let them lead the way.”

Okay, to be fair, we’re not referencing children here. We’re talking about the talented kids who are beginning to populate the Red Wings’ roster. It’s time to give them the reins, because she’s right. They are the future.

Someone must explain this fact of life to the people in charge of the Red Wings.

Case in point: William Wallinder. The rookie defenseman came into the lineup against the Ottawa Senators. In that game and in the following contest against the Seattle Kraken, Wallinder was nothing but the picture of steadiness. He collected a point in both games, to rave reviews.

“We’re always keeping an eye on the younger ones, but they’ve done well,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said of his kiddie corps of rearguards.

So, what’s been Wallinder’s reward for his solid play? He hasn’t played since. Two successive games in the press box as a healthy scratch. Instead, in a longstanding Red Wings tradition, what could be Wallinder’s ice time is going to journeyman veteran Andreas Englund.

Exhibit B: Danill Tarasov. Detroit’s backup goalie made his first start of the season in Montreal. He didn’t allow a goal until the sixth round of the shootout.

McLellan described it as the team’s best goaltending performance of the season.

His reward? Grab some bench. John Gibson was back between the pipes for Tuesday’s 5-4 OT loss to New Jersey. Gibson has surrendered 13 goals in his past three starts.

Red Wings Veterans Aren’t The Answer

When success and steady play aren’t rewarded, it sends a terrible message to the players, and to the long-suffering fanbase that’s watched this team rely on mediocre veterans for far too long.

Are the Red Wings really going to do this again? Are they really going to play the likes of Michael Rasmussen, JT Compher, Mason Appleton, and Andrew Copp and expect the outcome to be different than it has been in the past decade?

Now, we’re not saying that the Wings should simply hand roster spots to every kid who comes up from Grand Rapids. What we are saying is that when the kids show that they are ready to take the reins, they give them ownership of the team.

It’s worked with Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson, and Emmitt Finnie. It appears to be working with Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Anton Johansson.

We’ll never know if it would have worked with Sebastian Cossa, Amadeus Lombardi, or Antti Tuomisto. All were let go without being given a legitimate chance to show they could be NHLers.

The whole point of building through the draft is to play the kids when they’re ready. If you’re not giving them a path to the NHL, then what’s the purpose?

How much worse off would the Red Wings have been last season if they had kept Wallinder or Tuomisto on the big club instead of Travis Hamonic?

Why not go all in and play the kids over veterans who continue to prove that they aren’t going to move the needle?

What’s the worst that could happen? The Red Wings miss the playoffs again?

Wouldn’t it be better to be trying to build something with a future than to remain a team on a treadmill?

Related Headlines

• DeBrincat Re-Signs, But What About Edvinsson?
• The Daily: Finally, Some Good News; Red Wings Drop Frozen Frenzy matchup
• Red Wings Ink DeBrincat to Long-Term Deal

Read more at Detroit Hockey Now