Lalonde also said Lyon in net tomorrow.

----Aston-Reece called up instead of Kasper due to experience

---Well, experience served us well lately.....

If only Kasper could have played earlier in the season to get said experience....

I don't really have much of a problem not bringing Kasper up to participate in this shit show, but to say we don't need a center, especially one that can produce, is laughable.

This team has managed to strip itself of offensive results in order to maintain some kind of defensive structure. I figure it's because our veteran defense isn't capable of stopping opponents without the forwards abandoning their opportunities to cover for them.  For instance, the Wings have the least amount of goals scored since 01 Mar 2024 (5 on 5).  That's right, they're #32, while before that they were 3rd in the league.  They are still 8th worst in giving up goals (before and after 5 on 5) and their GF% only beats San Jose (they were 15th before March).

So, what's up?  There were only two shutouts against us before March (33-21-6 record) and four shutouts (almost five) in the 18 games since, with a 5-11-2 record.  This new defense first priority isn't working well as we've fallen off a cliff offensively and our defense is still pitiful.  In fact, at 5 on 5 we are scoring significantly less than expected (about 25% less) and giving up more than expected (about 13% more).  We were scoring 2.30 goals/g (at 5 on 5) before and are now scoring 1.39 goals/g.  We can thank our PP and PK for helping us to where we are (in all situations), as we're 9th and 14th in the league (not shabby).

It looks like we could have used some of our prospects and some better coaching if this is how the Wings return to the mean.  It the players are all in and "competing" hard than one could only conclude our coaching is what is lacking, along with talent.

It just doesn't look like this kind of plan (relying on grizzled and change-of-scenery veterans) is working in the long term as our draft picks after the first round aren't making it to the NHL yet and aren't, therefore, learning from "meaningful" games.  It will be interesting how GMY works this out over the next couple of years.

But...LGRW.  :-)