Detroit Red Wings scrimmage takeaways: Alex DeBrincat's moves, Simon Edvinsson's attitude
TRAVERSE CITY — The Detroit Red Wings took advantage of a chance to judge themselves in a variety of situations as they finalized preparations for exhibition season.
Their Sunday scrimmage at Centre Ice Arena, celebrated by the red squad after outscoring the white squad, 6-4, was the highlight of the five-day training camp.
"I thought it was productive," coach Derek Lalonde said. "We worked on a lot of things. I saw some pretty good things. I loved the pace."
Ville Husso and Michael Hutchinson split duties for the white squad, and Alex Lyon and James Reimer for the red side. Shots after three periods favored the reds, 30-15.
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Minor leaguer Matt Luff left in the first period with what Lalonde called an upper-body injury (appeared to be right arm/shoulder), emphasizing it was not a head injury. There's no timetable for Luff's return.
Dynamic addition
Even in a scrimmage, newcomer Alex DeBrincat stood out for what a whirling dervish he can be down low, buzzing around the net. Lalonde went with David Perron on the line with DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, after giving Lucas Raymond a look with the two earlier in in camp. DeBrincat and Larkin play with a lot of speed and look like they can pair up to be a headache for opponents, either with Perron or Raymond. Lalonde has said he isn't yet sure if the Wings will stay with DeBrincat and Larkin as linemates, but they have looked good during camp, and project to get plenty of looks together in exhibition season.
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Opportunistic format
Lalonde went with a different format in the scrimmage, using the first period for five-on-five play, the second period for special teams, and the third for situational play (three-on-three, four-on-four). Team Red dominated the first period, carrying play in their offensive end and banking goals from newcomer Daniel Sprong (from Joe Veleno and Elmer Söderblom) and minor-league Tim Gettinger (from tryout candidate Artem Anisimov).
The second period was divided up into four, one-minute power plays per team, done twice. Moritz Seider ran one unit with Larkin, DeBrincat, Perron and Shayne Gostisbehere, while the other red unit featured Jake Walman with Sprong, Jonatan Berggren, Veleno and Söderblom. Team white's power plays had Jeff Petry with Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Robby Fabbri and Sprong; and Simon Edvinsson with Michael Rasmussen, Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper and Austin Czarnik. Those units, of course, will change during exhibition season.
"There were a lot of chances, which I liked," Lalonde said. "The power play went 0-for, probably a little credit to some penalty kill, credit to some good goaltending. But all the power plays got a ton of looks and chances. If we went through a dry stretch like that during the regular season, we'd be happy knowing as long as you're getting those looks on the power play, it's going to go in. Guys looked comfortable in their spots."
Simon says
Edvinsson scored a pretty shootout goal. He spent the five-on-five period playing with Petry, who already is serving as a kind of mentor to the 20-year-old. Edvinsson will get plenty of looks in exhibition season (Ben Chiarot, excused for personal reasons, is expected back sometime during exhibition season, which begins Tuesday and runs through Oct. 7.)
"Last year I think we played him six times," Lalonde said. "We'd love to see him a lot, similar to last year." Edvinsson underwent surgery on his left shoulder in May, severely restricting the amount of training he could do over the summer. Edvinsson had two goals in nine games with the Wings last season, at times showing how much he still needs to learn about positional play.
"I feel like last year was a really good year for me, I learned a lot," Edvinsson said. "Stuff that I take with me into this year in competing for a spot. It's going to be a fun time now, a lot of fun exhibition games. I want to get into the lineup and compete with them," he said. "I want to be a player that is not just up in the NHL, I want to be someone that helps the team win and puts in the work every time."
Edvinsson said being around players such as Larkin, Raymond and Seider has been a good awakening.
"They've been on me," Edvinsson said. "I think from last year, I came with a bad attitude. I didn't compete. I hear that and this year, I want to compete with them. I see what they do and I try to learn from that."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon,Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings spend Sunday's scrimmage scoreless on power plays
