from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,
In grading the 2023-24 Detroit Red Wings, nearly everyone aced their finals — but the body of work over the whole season wasn't quite as stellar.
D Ben Chiarot: B
.. The buzz: Plays a heavy game, always ready to stick up for a teammate, was a solid, dependable partner for Moritz Seider down the stretch.
F Andrew Copp: C+
... The buzz: Asked to play in a defensive role, and didn't see much power-play time, which impacted his production. Given the expectations, the team needed to see more of a push to demand a top-six role.
F Alex DeBrincat: B-
... The buzz: Scored just 10 goals the second half of the season, going quiet at a crucial time (seven points in 19 games from Feb. 29-April 10) before erupting with seven points the final four games. Many a scorer is streaky, but scoring is DeBrincat's bread-and-butter, and it's disappointing the two-time 40-goal scorer didn't even reach 30 his first year with the Wings.
Coach Derek Lalonde and staff: B-
Derek Lalonde and associate coaches Alex Tanguay (offense, power play) and Bob Boughner (defense, penalty kill) kept the Wings determined through some turbulent stretches, and calm during an intense finish to the season. But the defensive structure was an issue all season, and slow starts marred the team especially in the second half. Losing Larkin shouldn't have impacted the team to the devastation that it did, and that's partly on the staff to do a better job managing the roster and forging lineups that deal better with missing one player. It's on Lalonde to show he's the right guy to take the next step, which is coaching the Wings into the playoffs.
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