Five improvements driving the Red Wings' surge under coach Todd McLellan

Its been a month now since Todd McLellan was brought in as the new head coach of the Red Wings , and Detroit is flying high under its new coach.

In 16 games since McLellan took over, the Red Wings are 11-4-1, riding a three-game win streak as they prepare to head to western Canada on Wednesday.

Its not unusual to see a midseason coaching bring better results in the NHL , but now more than 30 days in, the Red Wings surge has lasted longer than a simple adrenaline rush.

Advertisement So, whats driving their success? Heres a look at five key improvements that have played a big part in their run.

1.

Marco Kasper breaking out on top line This has been arguably the biggest development the Red Wings have had over the last month.

When McLellan first took over, one of his first moves was actually to drop Kasper in the lineup going from playing 14 or 15 minutes most nights at the end of Derek Lalondes tenure down to about 10 at first.

But three weeks ago, the new coach decided to experiment with putting Kasper a natural center, and still a player Detroit views as a center long-term on the wing next to the teams two best forwards, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond .

The decision made good sense hockey-wise, with Kasper a heavy player with good pace who could both complement Larkin and Raymond by doing some dirty work and benefit from playing with them.

And the results have been rapid.

Over the last 10 games, Kasper has seven goals and 11 points, and leads the team with a 54 percent five-on-five expected goals share in that span, according to Evolving Hockey.

Hes playing against the top players on a nightly basis, McLellan said.

Whether were on the road or at home, teams are matching against Larks line, so it forces him to have a real sharp game night after night.

To that end, that line has given up some quality chances too, and will likely need to dial in a bit more defensively as the season progresses.

But for now, theyre still getting the better end of things and driving a large part of the Red Wings offense in doing so.

Kaspers been able to benefit from some of Larkin and Raymonds offensive creativity and finishing, to be sure, but hes also setting them up for success with his ability to win battles and play at the net.

As McLellan said, Somebody has to go in and loosen it up and forecheck and create.

His assist to Raymond Monday night was a great example, winning a battle in the slot to kick the puck out to Raymond for a goal.

Lucas Raymond nets our first goal of the night in our @xfinity game-changing moment! pic.twitter.com/2Q2moAdUIJ Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 28, 2025 Producing like he has should only continue to build his confidence, and while the Red Wings still want to move him back to the middle eventually, theres no imminent need to do so.

The current arrangement is looking like a win for all involved, also allowing Alex DeBrincat to bring his finishing ability to the second line and Andrew Copp to play top-six minutes.

Advertisement With how much success Detroit is having, it certainly looks like a formula worth sticking to for a while.

2.

Raymond leveling up again Lets stick with Detroits top line here for a minute, because after Raymond took a big step forward last season, he appears to have taken another one.

Thats been true all season, really, with Raymond scoring 33 points in Detroits first 34 games but its gone to another level over the last month.

Raymond has 23 points in the Red Wings 16 games under McLellan, tied with Leon Draisaitl and Nikita Kucherov for the second most in the league in that span.

Thats elite company by any definition.

This one strikes me as continued development more so than any particular coaching difference but whatever it is, its a game-changer for the Red Wings.

I think that he can take games over by himself, Moritz Seider said Tuesday.

Him and Dylan are the motors of our up-front lineup right now, and theyre driving, and obviously that makes it really hard for the other team to defend them.

They kind of buzz around everywhere.

They arent afraid to go in the corners, win battles, and then obviously if you have a power play thats clicking right now, that helps a lot too, and hes a big part of that.

The power play could really have been its own bullet point here, as it has been lethal over the last month at 37.7 percent But while power plays can fluctuate, Raymonds impact has been the model of consistency for Detroit.

And perhaps the biggest compliment to him came from McLellan, who said Raymond reminds him of Henrik Zetterberg.

And while the scoring is certainly a big part of that, the Zetterberg comparison speaks to what differentiates Raymond from other skilled scoring wingers in the league.

Hes a complete player, McLellan said.

He plays all three zones.

He plays them equally hard.

He values each of the three as importantly as the stat sheet, if you will.

...

I dont want to say its hard to find players like that, but when you do, you treasure them.

Advertisement Beyond Raymonds obvious skill and creativity, the key to that comparison is his competitiveness and his hockey sense.

Hes not a big body, but he shows no fear on the forecheck, anticipates at a high level, and often forces turnovers and keeps possessions alive as a result.

Add in the processing, the vision, and Raymonds poise in big moments at least, in the limited sample we have and its not hard to see what McLellan is getting at in likening him to Zetterberg.

I think theyre both winners, McLellan said.

The difference is that Hank, right now, has the jewelry to prove it, and it takes a team to do that.

So I would say a winner with Hank, but I think you could win with Raymond for sure: competitive, two-way, high hockey IQ.

Leader.

I can go on and on.

3.

A more balanced D corps One of Detroits clear issues at the time of the coaching change and one that, frankly, I didnt think could be solved just internally was how reliant Detroit was on its top defense pair of Seider and Simon Edvinsson .

The two were playing huge minutes, taking the toughest matchups, and doing it well which is obviously a positive.

But the problem was, Detroit wasnt getting enough from its next two pairings.

It left a tough decision: Do you keep them together and hope the veterans down the lineup figure it out? Or try to balance things differently, even if it means splitting up the one pair getting the best results in the toughest minutes? McLellan pretty quickly decided on the latter, and the results have been clear.

Albert Johansson has held his own next to Edvinsson after being in and out of the lineup most of the season (including being healthy scratched for McLellans first four games) and is giving Detroit good second-pair minutes.

Meanwhile, Seider and Ben Chiarot are tackling their minutes better than the pair had in the past.

Its still not a perfect blue line, and Detroit still ranks in the bottom 10 of expected goals against per 60 minutes at five-on-five under McLellan though the forwards certainly bear that responsibility too.

But the more balanced look is serving the Red Wings well.

Advertisement 4.

A higher-volume shooting approach McLellan hasnt really overhauled Detroits systems, aside from the penalty kill, but the most notable difference in their play night-to-night other than a higher tempo and energy level has to be how much more the Red Wings are shooting.

Through Christmas, Detroit ranked 31st in the NHL with 51.53 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five.

Since McLellan was hired on Dec.

26 that number is up to 56.66 more than five shots per 60 minutes.

Thats still only 24th in the league in that span, but its a marked improvement.

Theres a good debate to be had about shot quantity versus quality, and theres no one correct answer.

But this approach seems to be working for the Red Wings, who in the process of adding all those shots have upped their five-on-five expected goals per 60 from 2.08 to 2.32 under McLellan.

And part of that is getting more traffic to the net along with the puck whether that means cleaning up rebounds or screening the goalie to take away his eyes.

Obviously you want to have chaos in front of the net, Seider said.

You just dont want to pump the goalie just because.

And I think lately weve been doing a better job.

Even though we lost in Tampa, we still had (39) shots but we just didnt get in front of his eyes.

And obviously then you make it pretty easy on a real good goaltender.

As of late, I think were doing a way better job of that.

5.

The energy This is the point that underpins everything else, and theres no real way to quantify it, but its been clear both watching and interacting with the Red Wings that theres a renewed energy over the last month.

At first, it was easy to chalk that up to just having a new coach around and even now, a good chunk of it can likely be attributed to winning and the good feelings that come with that.

But even when Detroit came back from a tough 1-2-1 road trip, that energy was present.

You can see it in their game pace, and in practices.

Its going to be a tall task to keep that energy level up for another 32 games especially with so many of those (19) on the road.

But if the Red Wings can do that, they may just make the stretch run interesting once again.

(Photo: Tim Fuller / Imagn Images).

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