You can list all the things you want to look at coming into the Detroit Red Wings 2015-16 season, but all eyes won’t necessarily be on the product on the ice – it’ll be on the man pulling the strings. For the first time since 2005, the Red Wings will have a new head coach. Jeff Blashill takes the reins from Mike Babcock, who took the Toronto job in the summer.
Blashill takes over a team in transition. The roster is a mix of aging stars with mixed injury history and promising young talent waiting to break through. 
Fortunately for that talent, they’ll have a coach that knows them well after coaching many of them with the AHL team in Grand Rapids. He also has the trust of the team’s leadership. Henrik Zetterberg told Bob Duff that a new coach could be good for the team.
“There’s a lot of guys in here who’ve been through the same stuff for many years,” Zetterberg said. “I think now with the new additions of (defenseman Mike) Green and (center Brad) Richards, and the new coach, it’s given us a little fresh start. Obviously it’s going to be a different voice behind the bench and sometimes you need that.”
Here are non-coach related items to keep an eye on as the Red Wings aim for their 25th consecutive playoff berth.
2. The Larkin Conundrum
Dylan Larkin was drafted 15th in 2014 and it was just the start of his rise. After scoring 47 points in 35 games in for the University of Michigan, he was picked to go to the World Championships by Team USA, signed a pro contract and went right into the Grand Rapids lineup for the playoffs, where he promptly put up 5 points in six games. But what do you do with him this year? He’s centering the second line in the Red Wings exhibition opener and is arguably the fourth best center on the roster behind Zetterberg, Brad Richards and Riley Sheahan (assuming Luke Glendenning stays on the wing where he’s currently slotted). As much as most fans want to see him in Detroit this season, if he’s not centering your third line, he should be in Grand Rapids to start the season.
3. The Kids Not Named Larkin
Most of the younger forwards the Red Wings have in the system aren’t starting the year with the team, but the pipeline of talented players will be ready soon — and certainly more than able fill-ins in the event of injury. With Pavel Datsyuk missing the start of the season while recovering from ankle surgery, Darren Helm coming back from, a concussion suffered on the first day of camp and Johan Franzen coming back from missing a lot of last season due to concussion, who earns a spot in Detroit to start the season will be something worth watching.
Anthony Mantha (1st round, 2013) spent last year learning the ins and outs of the pro game in Grand Rapids, although his start was delayed due to a broken leg in training camp. While one senior member in the Red Wings organization called his rookie season “disappointing,” Mantha has had a strong camp and is scheduled to open the preseason against Chicago on Larkin’s left wing.
Teemu Pulkkinen (4th round, 2010), who’s set to be the third forward with Larkin and Mantha in the preseason, could be the player who benefits the most from Blashill. At better than a point-per-game in Grand Rapids, he was buried on the fourth line in Detroit without the benefit of regular ice time. Put on a line with Sheahan and Gustav Nyquist, for example, and that could be a potent unit.
Andreas Athanasiou (4th round, 2012) could prove to be another of the Red Wings mid-round steals. He had 16 points in his first 25 games last year in Grand Rapids before breaking his jaw. He ended with 32 points in 55 games and another 9 points in the playoffs. His speed and two-way skill have him ticketed for a top-six forward role down the road. He’s centering the fourth line in the exhibition opener between Tyler Bertuzzi and Evgeny Svechnikov, the first round pick in 2015.
Tomas Nosek was an undrafted free agent signing in 2014, and made an impact in Grand Rapids as the team’s plus/minus leader. He’s drawn rave reviews in camp and can have an impact centering one of the bottom two lines — potentially as early as this year.
On the blue line, Alexey Marchenko brings the luxury of a rare right-handed shot and comes with experience after playing 13 regular season games and three playoff games last year. He’s ready, but may be blocked for another year. Xavier Ouellet and Ryan Sproul are two others who are close.
4. Who’s Playing Goal?
Jimmy Howard started strong last year, earned an All-Star berth and got hurt. He came back too soon from the groin injury and wasn’t the same goalie as the first half of the season. Petr Mrazek came up from Grand Rapids and made the job his own, getting starts in all
seven games of the first round loss to Tampa Bay.
The problem is Howard’s cap hit is a robust $5.29 million for the next four seasons. Not a bad number if he plays up to the level he did at the start of last year. If not, Blashill will have an expensive backup, or GM Ken Holland will have to find a trade partner.
5. Will The Streak Continue?
Detroit is looking to extend their playoff streak to an even quarter century, but for the third straight year, it will not be a given. The last two years in the new post-season format, Detroit scraped by, getting in as the Wild Card in 2014 and as the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic last season. Montreal and Tampa Bay remain, arguably, the top two teams in the division. The Red Wings are in the mix with Ottawa, Boston and Florida for the last guaranteed spot, so a 25th celebration is not guaranteed.
Whether the playoffs happen or not, the team is set up well to succeed by 2017 when their new arena opens to replace the outdated Joe Louis Arena.
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