from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

The trade deadline has passed, and five weeks remain in the season.

This is a good time for the Detroit Red Wings to take a closer look at some of their younger players – expand their ice time, move them up in the lineup, see what they do on special teams.

It sounds like coach Jeff Blashill is thinking along those lines.

“We got a lot of guys that are trying to prove that they can help this team and this organization start winning on a more regular basis,” Blashill said. “Through the early part of the year, we hovered around .500 and kept ourselves in the mix. And then we’ve fallen off that. So now you got 18 games left and some young guys, (due to) injuries, are needed in more prime roles. So, are you going to help us win or are you just going to go out and play? There’s a huge difference.”

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