DETROIT – Youth can energize a team. The Detroit Red Wings saw it the second half of last season when Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson and Simon Edvinsson elevated their play.
They have seen it a quarter of the way through this season in the spark provided by rookies Emmitt Finnie, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and more recently, Nate Danielson.
The veterans appreciate what these kids have brought.
“You need that youth to come in nowadays, especially with the salary cap,” Patrick Kane said. “They come in they produce and they bring energy, and that’s kind of what these guys have been doing. There’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season, but I think for the most part, throughout the season, they’ve been very consistent. … It seems like there’s some great players up here that are pretty young that are going to be able to produce for a long time.”
The Red Wings (12-7-1) host the New York Islanders tonight (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network), two nights after a 4-2 victory over Seattle in which they got four points from rookies, including goals by Danielson and Finnie.
“They were rolling and skating and using their legs and in a season like this where we play a lot of games in a short amount of time, it’s going to be hard on them, but when they find their legs like that in games, it’s going to be huge for our team,” Dylan Larkin said.
Finnie’s goal on Tuesday ended his 10-game points drought. Danielson added an assist and had a highlight-reel goal disallowed due to a coach’s challenge that showed the play was offside. Sandin-Pellikka has manned the point on the top power-play unit the past two games.
“The three of them and four, because we’ve got to include (Michael Brandsegg-Nygard), he was here for some of it, have done a really good job,” coach Todd McLellan said. “We’re constantly encouraging them to expand their game a little bit, but we’re also pushing them. … They have to provide that energy, and they’re doing a good job of it.”
Multiple rookies arriving at the same time has helped in their transition to the NHL.
“You don’t know what you don’t know until you know,” McLellan said. “The kids coming in here, they can watch the NHL, they can hear about it, they can ask players that have played in the NHL. But until they actually feel it and live it and understand the pace of practice, the intensity of meetings, the preparedness that goes on, you don’t know until you know. And they’re still learning all of that.
“And as bumps show up in the road, we have to be there to stabilize them and help them push through. If they continue to do that, they’re completely ready to play here. If they don’t, well, then they may have to do other things. But right now, they’ve proven they have.”
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