With just four games left before the Olympic break, Todd McLellan is shifting gears - and he’s not easing off the throttle. The Detroit Red Wings head coach is treating this final stretch like a mini playoff series, leaning heavily on his core group and tightening his bench as the team pushes toward the break.
“We can run the engine dry for 20 players,” McLellan said. “And I think pushing them to the limit is a good thing for us right now.”
That mindset was on full display during Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. McLellan shortened his bench significantly in the second half of the game, especially on the blue line. Veteran Travis Hamonic didn’t touch the ice for the final 7:20 of the second period, and rookie Axel Sandin-Pellikka logged just a three-second shift during a power play in the last 6:34 of the frame.
It’s the kind of move you typically see in the postseason - a coach riding his top guys when the stakes are high. But with a 22-day break looming, McLellan has the luxury of going all-in now, knowing rest is just around the corner.
The approach isn’t changing anytime soon. Detroit hosts the Washington Capitals on Thursday, then faces a home-and-home series with the Colorado Avalanche before wrapping up this stretch with a road tilt in Utah.
After that? No games until February 26, when they visit Ottawa.
That extended downtime gives McLellan the green light to lean on his top lines more aggressively. Expect to see more of Dylan Larkin’s and Andrew Copp’s units in key faceoff situations - even back-to-back - as the Red Wings look to maximize possession and control the pace of play.
“We can probably start out Copp’s line or Larkin’s line a little bit more faceoff-wise back to back, maybe one after another more than I have in the past,” McLellan said. “So we can do that, and we likely will.”
For most of the roster, the Olympic break will be a much-needed window to rest, recover, and reset. Outside of Larkin (USA), Lucas Raymond (Sweden), and Moritz Seider (Germany) - who are heading to the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina - the rest of the team will have time to heal up and recharge.
McLellan wants his players to empty the tank before that final buzzer sounds in Utah. The message is clear: leave it all on the ice now, because the recovery window is more than long enough.
“When that last buzzer goes off in wherever we are, Utah, they should feel exhausted, that they’ve given everything they absolutely have,” McLellan said. “They’re going to get it all back.”
As for the Olympians, McLellan knows they’ll be in a different rhythm when they return. The concern isn’t about how they’ll leave for international duty, but how they’ll re-integrate into the team once they’re back.
That’s a challenge for later. Right now, the focus is on maximizing every shift, every minute, and every opportunity before the break.
Detroit’s playoff push isn’t officially underway - but you wouldn’t know it by the way McLellan is managing his bench. And with time to rest on the horizon, the Red Wings are going full throttle into February.