Todd McLellan knows the feeling of a brutal camp cut, and he’s not pretending otherwise.
The Red Wings coach went back to his own playing days while talking through Detroit’s roster puzzle, remembering how bitter it felt to think he had done everything right and still come up short. He also understood, with a little more perspective now, why the decision had gone the other way.
“I think back to when I played, and that’s a really bad thing for a coach ever to say, but I remember having that camp, and I was bitter because I thought I had a really good camp,” McLellan said. “But now that I look back on it, that other guy over there had a great camp, like a really good camp. And if I was picking the team, I would have picked it the way the management team did back then, too.
“I didn’t like it because I thought I played as well as I could. So maybe we’ll have some of those guys in that situation.”
Maybe. But not necessarily right away.
Detroit could be sitting on a pretty simple opening-night roster if a few unresolved situations stay unresolved over the next day. Dylan Larkin is dealing with an upper-body injury, Jacob Bernard-Docker has the same issue, and Simon Edvinsson is still unsigned as a restricted free agent.
If Larkin and Bernard-Docker aren’t ready for Friday’s opener against the New York Rangers, they’d go on injured reserve. If Edvinsson still doesn’t have a deal, he can’t play.
If all three are out of the mix for now, the math gets clean fast. Detroit would have 13 forwards without Larkin, eight other defensemen if Edvinsson and Bernard-Docker aren’t available, and then John Gibson and Daniil Tarasov in goal. That adds up to a 23-player roster.
One name that appears to be safe regardless is Andreas Englund. The Red Wings claimed the 6-foot-4, 200-pound defenseman off waivers from the Calgary Flames on Saturday, and McLellan already knows exactly what he brings. The two worked together with the Los Angeles Kings.
“He will fit our room really well,” McLellan said. “He’s fit, he works hard at his game, he has played in the system that we’re trying to put in, and he’s physical, and he’s tough, and he shepherds the group. So we like all those attributes that he’ll bring in.
“When he’s in the lineup, he’ll give you everything he has, and when he’s not in the lineup, he’ll give you everything he can from the outside.”
Even with Monday’s roster deadline, nothing is truly locked in stone. The Wings have until Friday to open the season, which leaves enough time for the kind of quick-turn moves teams use to maneuver around injuries, waivers, or other roster business.
“What I can tell you is that on Monday, the roster will go out and you’ll see names or whatever,” McLellan said. “That could change real quick.
“There can be paper moves; there could be moves made for waiver reasons; there could be something in the hopper somewhere else where you have to buy time.”
There are still a few dominoes left to fall. Larkin and Bernard-Docker might still be ready by Friday, and Edvinsson could sign before then as well.
If Larkin returns, somebody has to come out, and the most likely candidate is Nate Danielson. Detroit could slide Andrew Copp into Danielson’s spot while Larkin takes over as the top-line center.
That approach would also let the Wings avoid exposing Carter Mazur to waivers, since Danielson can be sent down without having to clear them.
The same kind of thinking applies on defense. If Edvinsson and Bernard-Docker are back, two defensemen would need to go. Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Anton Johansson can be reassigned without waivers, while William Wallinder and Englund would have to clear.
Johansson, in particular, has made an impression this preseason, but Saturday’s game against a full Columbus Blue Jackets lineup showed how steep the next step can be. McLellan said the game sped up on him.
“You could see how for Anton, the game changed a little bit,” McLellan said. “There are some bigger, faster, more experienced or intelligent players.
“They know angles better; they know when to jump and when to strip, and so he’ll have to get used to that.”
So the Red Wings are still waiting on a few answers, and that means the roster picture is still soft around the edges. Monday matters, but it may not be the last word.
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For the Red Wings, the more interesting part is what this means for the group below the surface, where Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Anton Johansson are still trying to carve out room in a system that has made prospect development a real priority. With Simon Edvinsson's contract situation still unresolved, Detroit suddenly has a more complicated decision in front of it, and the next few steps on defense may say as much about timing as talent. [Read more 🡒]
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Larkin has said he is trying to stay professional and win back the trust of his teammates, while also acknowledging the frustration on both sides with how this has played out. The list of teams he would accept a deal to has grown, which only adds to the sense that his time in Detroit is becoming harder to picture, even if the final step still hasnt happened. [Read more 🡒]