I've said this before but Perron is too good of a player to be playing 3rd line. It's been too long since the Red Wings had a legit top 6. Now that we have one do we really want to risk Zadina bringing it down?

I understand wanting to get Zadina going. I also understand he does have some chemistry with Vrana. But Zadina needs to learn how to be able to produce no matter where he's placed.

Remember when Franzen started as a 4C and worked his way up the lines to be a top 6 winger? A player has to earn his spot. Not have it given to him. Hope is not a plan and I'm not interested in punishing Perron and promoting Zadina. Because Zadina isn't better than Perron. He just isn't.

I agree with this 100%

First off, this never happened. Second, Zadina had great chemistry with Vrana, and that is what we want. The designation of line is completely meaningless.

Agreed. As nice as it sounds to have the luxury of having Perron on the 3rd line, creating a very formidable top 9, it would likely take something special from Zadina in the pre-season for that scenario to unfold.

Perron was likely brought in with the expectation of playing top 6 minutes and the power play. Needless to say, based on this essentially new regime, however the roster shakes out will be indicative of who performs best in whatever role they’re in.

I could def see this lineup if, and only if Zadina steps up majorly. I don’t really see that happening but, it could.

As far as the defense goes, I liked what I saw early on in the WJC from Edvinsson but as the tournament progressed he started to look rather pedestrian. I saw that he got food poisoning or something and had an injury as well but, I came away with tempered expectations of him in regards to making the Wings out of camp. He should probably start the year with the Griffins.

Hagg or Oesterle on the left side of the 3rd pairing is whatever. I’d probably prefer Hagg there.

I favor Ned but the goalie tandem will probably be very close to a 50/50 split.

Yeah Edvinsson was just ok in the WJC. But it's a small sample size. He'll get his opportunity in training camp. He wasn't the only highly regarded prospect who didn't really impress. Cooley for example. I didn't notice him too much for Team Canada.

I really do hope Zadina succeeds but I see him improving a bit but not much. I'd love to be wrong. Hopefully our new head coach doesn't juggle lines as much as Blender Blashill did. It would be nice to have some continuity.

Cooley def flashed some skill but kinda looked a bit overzealous at times and it’s easy to be overshadowed on a Canada roster like that. I was disappointed Kasper didn’t suit up for Austria.

Zadina is a bit of an enigma. He’s praised and/or touted as having this elite or above average shot but, I have yet to see it. He does have a decent shot though, nothing to write home about. The thing I notice with him and his shot is what I’ve come to see from shooters that are lacking confidence. His shots routinely are direct hits onto the goalie. The goalies never really have to move to make the save on his shots.

The “blistering” shots I’ve seen from him that have hit top corner have usually been deflections off of the defender’s stick and it just appears to be a goal scorer’s goal but it wasn’t.

Idk, I think he’s kinda been holding the bat a little too tight and has looked scared to mess up or something. His issues def appear to be 100% in his own head so, hopefully Lalonde has a good therapist on his staff.

Zadina is a logo hunter like Mikael Samuelsson was. Lots of pucks hitting the goalie's chest. Every once in awhile Zadina will score a nice goal from a beautiful shot. And I'll wonder why he can't do this more often? He's definitely pressing because he knows what's expected of him.

I'm still cheering for Zadina because he's clearly trying. And his game away from the puck has really improved. But maybe he's just a 3rd liner? Can Stevie live with that?

GM's usually favour the players they draft. They get more rope so to speak. Look at his son, Adam Erne. I just don't know how much rope Zadina has in Detroit. Stevie did give him a 3 year deal so perhaps he thinks more of Zadina than I do.

Lalonde is definitely going to be like a breath of fresh air for all Red Wings players. 😁 Unfortunately, he seems to love using the word "process" too. ☹️

Assuming he improves marginally over the life of that contract, and gets 15 goals this year, 17 next and 19 in the 3rd year; $1.825m isn’t bad for that kind of production. On the 3rd line tho.

I'd be fine with that production. I just don't want to see another 10 goals in 82 games including 3 empty netters.

Lol...

If you swap Zadina for Perron and Oesterle for Hägg you have the most likely roster on opening night and much of the season until the TDL.

Perron scores more than twice as much as Zadina does and there's no way that Filip will push him to the 3rd line.

Oesterle was the worst defender on the team last year bar Stecher in all metrics, even DDK was better. Unless further injuries happen, Oesterle is firmly fixed to the #7 spot.

Zadina with Suter & Vrana: GF/60 4.97 GA/60 .91 (topped only by Larkin/Raymond/Z)
Zadina with Suter and Fabbri: GF/60 1.16 GA/60 2.06 (most TOI together)

Perron with Saad & O'Reilly GF/60 2.17 GA/60 1.36. (most TOI together)

So it seems to me that if you put Zadina with higher quality players, you get higher output.

In addition to the Perron - Zadina comments above, I also wouldn't be surprised if Erne starts on the wing with Ras centering the line and Veleno playing in GR. Depends how well his training camp goes, but with the depth they have now, they can give him more time in the AHL to develop his offensive game rather than give him low minutes on the 4th line.

Also for special teams, Copp will 100% be on the pk. He is one of the best pk'ers in the league. I also wouldn't be surprised if Bertuzzi and/or Suter play on the PK instead of Larkin/Sun/Veleno. Also, there is a good chance Perron is PP1, but not sure who gets knocked down to PP2.

Yeah, I can see Velano being in GR just because of his waiver status and thus Copp on the PK and Erne on the wing.

Plus, the possible depth on the PP is awesome...for the first time in years.