Nearly two weeks into this new season, like the other 31 clubs in the NHL, Detroit is still tinkering with its defensive pairs and line combinations. Injuries have factored into McLellan’s lineup decisions, and after Monday’s practice he shared that both Marco Kasper (upper body) and Mason Appleton (undisclosed) are “still a ways away” from returning.
An encouraging development on the Red Wings’ injury front was that J.T. Compher (undisclosed), who hasn’t played since Oct. 4, was back on the ice with his teammates — a group that didn’t include Justin Faulk and Lucas Raymond, as both took maintenance days and will suit up on Tuesday.
“He’s trending towards a return,” McLellan said of Compher. “I don’t know if it’s tomorrow, because I got to deal with the trainers and doctors likely later on today or tomorrow morning. So, not sure yet.”
In three of its first five games, Detroit has deployed a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen. The club did so most recently against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday night.
“You can’t just park one guy on the end, go with your pairs and break them up every now and then,” McLellan said. “You have to keep everybody involved, so anytime you see us with seven, you’re going to see mixing and matching just to get people some minutes and get them in the game. But we’re also trying to find, when we do go six, that comfort zone with pairs. Finding one for (Moritz Seider), Albert (Johansson) has done a real good job there but maybe there could be somebody else that could go in there also. That’s what we’re looking for, and then let everybody else settle into their spots.”
Regardless of ins and outs within their lineup, the Red Wings know they must do a better job of taking advantage of home cooking.
“I think you need to get as many wins on home ice as possible,” Alex DeBrincat said. “Obviously, we haven’t done that so far. So, to start off tomorrow with a win would be huge and kind of build off that… We got to stick with the process and the wins will come.”