from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
Rookies Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond were rays of hope for a brighter future during another dreary season for a Detroit Red Wings team that finished 26 points out of a playoff spot.
If they need insight on how challenging your second season can be, their captain can provide it.
“I struggled my second year. I played on the fourth line for the majority of that year and kind of lost my spot to some veteran players,” Larkin said. “I think they’re more talented and skilled than I was at that age. I talked to them at the end of last year to come in prepared -- especially Lucas, to come in and really solidify that not only is he a top player on our team, but he’s taking a step to be a top player in this league.
“They have more of an idea of what an 82-game season is like and what you have to do to prepare. With experience, with them getting stronger, they’re just going to get better. The league maybe knows them more, but they’re continuing to improve on their individual games.”
It's statements like this that really impress me about Lalonde: I understand the excitement with both those players, but theyre both still growing and have a long way to go.
He's tempering the expectations of the players themselves while pushing them to get better at the "little" things. His comment about Raymond turning his back on plays really stuck out to me. And calling Mo out for having his "fingerprints" all over a 2 on 0 break in a preseason game is an example of holding everyone accountable.
I'm not sure what to expect from either Mo or Raymond except that they're going to play harder and smarter this year. Lalonde won't accept anything less than that.
I feel like Blash had a bit of a leash on Mo last year (not that that's necessarily a bad thing, for a rookie to get the D side of the game down before pinching or joining rushes a lot), and Derek will undoubtedly tap in to some of that. There were one or two preseason games where Mo shot the puck more than I remember him doing last year.
And like OTC, I'm super impressed with Derek's job so far. Sounds like he's a lot tougher on the team in general than Blash was, and we won't be seeing many blowouts at the hands of the Yotes this year.
So far also very impressed with Lalonde.
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