Questions abound as Red Wings finally head into training camp

Ted Kulfan
 
| The Detroit News

Detroit — There’s going to be some real, actual hockey at Little Caesars Arena in the coming days.

The Red Wings will begin training camp with physicals and meetings on Thursday, then begin on-ice practices Friday in preparation for the Jan. 14 start.

It’s been a long time coming.

The COVID-19 pandemic ended the Wings’ 2019-20 season on March 10, and except for a flurry of player transactions in October by general manager Steve Yzerman, things have been pretty quiet.

The Wings, who had the worst record in the NHL last season, were one of seven teams not invited to the Return To Play over the summer.

But Yzerman was active during the draft and free agency, and coach Jeff Blashill has the opportunity to mesh all the new faces in what will be a shortened two-week training camp, leading into a shortened 56-game regular season.

There are many issues to figure out during this brisk camp. Here are 10 questions that come to mind for the Red Wings:

Are the new additions going to help?

Yzerman acquired defenseman Marc Staal in a trade and signed free-agent forwards Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov, defensemen Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher, and goaltender Thomas Greiss in the offseason, revamping the roster.

On paper, the Wings have added a significant amount of experience and talent.

This will be the first time, obviously, the Wings get to see how the additions mesh on the ice with the holdovers from last season.

It’ll be interesting to see how Blashill will use all the new pieces. There is much more flexibility and versatility, which should help the Wings considerably.

How healthy is Danny DeKeyser?

Make no mistake, the Wings badly missed the veteran defenseman, who had a herniated disc and only played eight games last season.

DeKeyser is healthy and is expected to be skating from the start.

But as Blashill said early this week, DeKeyser hasn’t played competitive hockey in over a calendar year, so it’s likely going to take time to regain timing and conditioning.

The Wings badly need DeKeyser’s veteran presence on defense.

Who will be on the taxi squad?

That might be one of the more intriguing questions regarding this camp.

During this pandemic shortened season, the NHL is letting each team have a four- to six-man taxi squad that doesn’t count against the salary cap and will practice and travel with the NHL team.

With nobody certain about whether there will be an American Hockey League season, it’ll be interesting to see how the Wings use the taxi squad and which players they’ll place.

It makes sense to have young prospects on the taxi squad. But if they’re not playing regularly, are you stalling their development?

Is there a role for Evgeny Svechnikov?

A role, or a future in this organization?

The former first-round draft pick isn’t waiver-exempt anymore, so if the Wings expose Svechnikov there’s a decent chance another team would claim him.

Knee surgery two years ago cost Svechnikov an entire season, and he wasn’t able to solidify an NHL roster spot last season.

A slew of young players are on their way in the organizational depth chart, so time is running short on Svechnikov becoming a cornerstone piece in the Wings’ rebuild.

How will Robby Fabbri be used?

At center? On the wing? If Fabbri does play center, which is where he played when drafted into the NHL, and shows he’s capable of the responsibilities after two knee surgeries, it could help balance the Wings’ lines and maybe develop a dangerous second line.

In general, just having Fabbri go through an entire training camp — albeit a short one — could be beneficial after being acquired early last season.

The Wings need Fabbri to provide consistent secondary offense after the Dylan Larkin line.

Who is Mathias Brome?

An undrafted free agent, Brome, 26, had four goals and 16 assists over 23 games for Orebro in the Swedish Elite League this autumn.

The Wings signed Brome last spring, and he has scored 17 and 15 goals, respectively, the past two seasons in the SEL.

There is likely to be a chance for Brome to crack the opening night roster, with an impressive training camp.

Is the goaltending in good hands?

On paper, Jonathan Bernier and Greiss should be a capable two-man combination.

Jimmy Howard had a miserable season and the Wings didn’t re-sign him, choosing to sign Greiss in free agency.

With the schedule as contracted and busy as it is, teams will need two goalies playing to a high level — and the Wings are no different.

Also, there’s the competition for the No. 3 goalie, who’ll be on the taxi squad, between Calvin Pickard and Kevin Boyle that will be ongoing through camp.

How do Filip Zadina and Filip Hronek look?

Both young players are big pieces going forward and both are coming off promising seasons (Zadina’s cut short by ankle injury).

The two have been playing regularly in the Czech Republic pro league and were playing well, which should give them confidence rolling into the start of this training camp.

Zadina, in particular, is going to be someone to watch in camp, as the Wings look for signs he is ready to take another step toward being a consistent and dangerous goal-scorer.

Did time in Europe help the prospects, too?

Players such as Michael Rasmussen and Gustav Lindstrom also played in Europe and should be in game shape heading into training camp.

Generally speaking, both prospects should be ahead other players who were not playing competitive hockey.

On the flip side, young players such as Dennis Cholowski, Givani Smith and Svechnikov did not play in a pro league.

How will their effectiveness be impacted? Or will it at all?

More offense after the Dylan Larkin line?

Somehow, the Wings need to generate more offense after the Larkin line, centering Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha.

There appear to be some possibilities there, with players such as Zadina, Fabbri, Namestnikov, Ryan and Sam Gagner.

Somehow, Blashill has to find combinations that are effective and can supply badly needed goal-scoring on a team that craved it last season.

Unfortunately, Blashill will only have about two weeks and exhibition games to find it.

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan