Red Wings Reveal New Line Combinations

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

The Detroit Red Wings’ even strength scoring is broken, and head coach Derek Lalonde mixed up the lines to fix that.

First, one line remains untouched from Lalonde. The trio of Michael Rasmussen, Andrew Copp, and Christian Fischer is intact. That line had the second most five-on-five minutes of all the lines last game. They were together on the ice for 10 minutes of the overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks.

The rest of the forward lines saw some shuffling.

Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond are kept together, with Vladimir Tarasenko joining them on the top line. Marco Kasper, Patrick Kane, and Alex DeBrincat create the team’s second line.

Finally, Joe Veleno is out, with Tyler Motte coming into the lineup. Motte was on a line with J.T. Compher and Jonatan Berggren. The Veleno, Compher, and Berggren trio were badly out-matched against the Sharks despite playing most of any line (11:01 at even strength).

These new lines could be a breath of fresh air for the forwards. The trio of Kane, Kasper, and DeBrincat is certainly one to watch closely. Kasper can get to the dirty areas for puck retrievals; Kane is a supremely underrated playmaker and a skillful goal scorer, while DeBrincat can shoot the puck better than most.

Unfortunately, Red Wings fans must wait another day to see if these lines stick. And if they do, they will see how they gel together.

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