Red Wings Need To Be Getting More Out Of Their Veteran Players

The Red Wings have had a hard time finding the back of the net. In five games, they have only scored 11 goals, six of which came at 5-on-5. The scoring contributions have mainly come from their young core. Eight of the eleven were scored by a player under 25-years-old. This is a good thing. It’s what we expect from our young up-and-comers.

Players like Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Dennis Cholowski have contributed greatly to the team in all areas of the ice, but they can’t carry this team on their own, which is why management keeps veterans around.

In addition to their off-ice contributions as mentors (which I cannot comment on as I do not have access to the locker room), the older players are meant to add secondary scoring and point support with their experience and playmaking ability. So far, they have failed in this regard and Jeff Blashill and his coaching staff need to be getting more out of them.

It was glaringly obvious in Saturday’s matinee against the Boston Bruins. Frans Nielsen had his worst game of the season as two of his giveaways led directly to goals in the other direction. Thomas Vanek, who has been lacking puck luck on a line with Andreas Athanasiou, looked completely disinterested against the Bruins. And then there’s Justin Abdelkader, who can’t find a comfortable spot in the lineup after dragging every line he plays with down into the mud.

Of the three, only Nielsen has made a positive contribution on the score sheet with two assists (one at 5-on-5) and eight shots. Vanek has zero points and four shots, while Abdelkader has zero points and three shots.

I’ve actually thought Nielsen has been fine until Saturday’s game against Boston. On a third line where he’s paired with Michael Rasmussen, his responsibilities have been mainly defensive. With a deployment rate of 40.32% in the defensive zone, Nielsen’s 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage is an honorable 45.59% considering the quality of his linemates and the competition that they are facing.

That being said, the team relies on him heavily as he’s also being played on the penalty kill, power play, and in empty net situations. For the amount of ice time he’s getting in all of these game states, he needs to be contributing more offensively.

Speaking of contributing more offensively, Vanek was brought in to do just that. As expected, he has the highest offensive zone deployment on the team (46.55%), yet he has the third-worst shot attempt percentage on the team (41.07%). Somehow, Vanek and his line are unable to sustain any offensive zone pressure and end up chasing the puck around their own zone.

Him and Athanasiou have looked tuned in at times, but AA is having a hard time with any kind of finish right now. He really needs a good bounce. The best Vanek has looked is when Blashill dropped Gustav Nyquist to his line, but as a thirteen year vet, he can’t be relying on other players who have different roles to play.

He was brought in to be a calm veteran presence on the ice who can contribute offensively with his playmaking abilities. Well, he’s failed on that end and has looked worse in the defensive end than he has in the past.

And that brings me to Abdelkader, our alternate captain who was rewarded with a big contract for contributions he made on a line with Pavel Datsyuk. Abdelkader hasn’t been able to find any confidence or stability this year. He’s being moved from line to line as Blashill tries to find some motivation for him.

Abdelkader’s role is not to be an elite goal scorer and that’s not what we expect of him. He is a net-front guy and a back-checker. As Datsyuk used to say, he “pulls the piano” so that the goal scorers can play music.

Well, it doesn’t look like Abby can pull a piano that well anymore. He’s got the second-worst shot attempt percentage on the team and has looked lost on the ice. To his credit, he’s taking on some veteran responsibility in the post-game scrums after a loss, but at the end of the day he’s a hockey player and his hockey playing has been plain bad.

On a positive note, some of the other veterans have been playing really well. Nyquist has been great, as have Darren Helm and Luke Glendening. I’ve thought that that fourth line, along with Christopher Ehn, has been one of the better parts of the season so far. I’d love to see them get another minute or two of ice time to see what they can do with it.

They already contributed one more goal than the Vanek line and on this team, goal scoring is at a premium. Those who do it should be rewarded. After all, you can’t win a game unless you out-score your opponent. And in today’s league, you’re going to need to score more than three goals in a game to win. That means contributions have to start to come from the vets at both ends of the ice if this team wants to make any noise this season.