The Detroit Red Wings certainly pay forwards Andrew Copp and JT Compher like they are difference makers. Now they would like it if both players would begin to perform consistently like difference makers.

Copp, 31, has two more years on a five-year pact that is paying him an AAV of $5.625 million. Compher, 30, is entering Year 3 of a five-year deal with an AAV of $5.1 million.

That’s a lot of Little Caesars pizza dough going to two guys who, let’s face it, have been inconsistent at best during their Red Wings tenures.

Detroit coach Todd McLellan believes that both players have much more to offer.

“You don’t get many 180-foot breakaways in the NHL.”@DetroitRedWings‘ Andrew Copp breaks down his shorthanded game-winning goal vs the Canadiens last night!

🎧: https://t.co/f1Ph9OQk8p pic.twitter.com/a2FPBLeQ1O

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) January 25, 2025

“I think (Copp) and JT could be different difference makers this year,” McLellan said.

At the same time, he’s witnessed two players in action who are far too often all about inaction.

“In JT and in Copper, I saw two different players,” McLellan said. “I saw somebody that wasn’t getting after it.

“They were a little reserved, holding back, kind of (getting there) second to different scenarios. And then when they got after it and they went after it, they were way better.

“They have to decide which one of those they want to be. And if they want to be ahead of things and using their hockey sense and getting after it, then they’re going to be really good players.

“If they want to be reserved and playing in the middle of the rink all the time and calculated well, we’ll have to figure that part out.”

Where Do Copp And Compher Fit With Red Wings?

McLellan could see both players as possibilities to play on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, although that seems unlikely as a long-term solution.

In camp, Copp has been skating in a third-line combo between Michael Rasmussen and newcomer Mason Appleton.

“There’s two centers there, Copp and Rasmussen, for faceoff situations,” McLellan said. “They can trade off. One gets caught low, the other’s high.

JT Compher STUNS in new tik tok pic.twitter.com/QEOpYo1tUh

— riley (@moreitscider) September 10, 2025

“They’ve experienced life down there in the D zone as a center their whole careers. And Mason’s obviously very responsible defensively, a good penalty killer, and he does have some size and nastiness to his game.”

Where Compher fits is a question without an easy answer.

Is he the fourth-line center? The fact of the matter is that if one of the club’s younger prospects makes a successful to earn a place on the team, Compher could be the odd man out.

It’s up to him to make sure that doesn’t happen.