The Detroit Red Wings have played two games since the All-Star break, both against Philly. The Wings came away with a 6-3 win in Philadelphia and a 4-2 win in Detroit. With a two-win week wrapped up, let’s head to the Red Wings Stock Exchange to asses the player’s performances.
Trending Up
Filip Zadina
The Filip Zadina stock is shooting up after this weekend. For the first half of the year, Zadina seemed to lack confidence and an ability to finish. However, in the past month, the puck-luck has started to turn in his favor. After a solid stretch of play, coach Jeff Blashill promoted Zadina to the top line alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. He’s played twice on Detroit’s top unit, and so far, the experiment seems to be working. He didn’t collected any points in the Wings first game against Philly, but he notched an impressive snipe in game two. Zadina is finally playing with some confidence, and he doesn’t look out of place with some of the best forwards on the team. Could this be the start of his breakout?
Moritz Seider
I mean, what is there to say. Seider had a Calder week against the Flyers. He killed off a penalty essentially by himself, he scored a goal and he tacked on two assists. Moritz Seider is Detroit’s best defenseman and he’s the league’s best rookie defenseman. Seider may not score Tik Tok worthy goals that the league can overpromote for months on end, but he is the best rookie in the NHL. Buy stock in Seider before he wins the Calder.
Trending Down
Nick Leddy
Unfortunately, Leddy missed Saturday’s game due to an upper body injury. It’s not his fault, but the veteran defenseman is going to have some low stock until he’s back.
Holding Steady
The Guelph Line
The Guelph Line is firing on all cylinders. Over the two game stretch, each member of Detroit’s second line put up some impressive numbers : Robby Fabbri had a goal and two assists, Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist and Pius Suter had a goal and two assists. With the Guelph Line playing like they are, the Red Wings have two legitimate scoring lines. The trio is playing some of their best hockey of the year, and they don’t seem to be slowing down.
The bottom-six
The Red Wings bottom six also had a nice week. Givani Smith, Vladislav Namestnikov (back on the third line) and Michael Rasmussen all netted a goal. Depth scoring has not been a strength for the Red Wings at all this season, but things are looking up for the team’s bottom-six.