In Red Wings Land

Andreas Athanasiou’s line key to Red Wings’ secondary scoring | MLive

#RedWings practice lines:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha
Glendening-Athanasiou-Hirose
Erne-Nielsen-Filppula
Ehn-de la Rose-Abdelkader (Helm rotating in)
Defense:
Nemeth-Green
DeKeyser-Hronek
Cholowski-Daley
Bowey is the extra today.
Howard (starting)
Bernier

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 4, 2019

“If you go back to the end of last year, Hirose, AA and Glendening were a good line,” Blashill said. “I don’t know if I’d call one a center over the other. We made a big deal of AA playing center, but the reality is sometimes Glenny is the center and sometimes Doubles is the center. It was a good line and I want to see that line again, so it’s definitely something I’ll consider, and we’ll see who’s healthy.”

Andreas Athanasiou is a game-time decision tonight against the Predators. I’m glad to see that if he plays he will be doing so alongside Taro Hirose. The two of them seemed to have some good chemistry at the end of last season and Jeff Blashill appears to agree.

Luke Glendening on the 2nd line though?

Fine by me.

Whether it’s Glendening or Frans Nielsen or Valtteri Filppula on that 2nd line, the play is going to run through Athanasiou and Hirose. They’re the two key components. Plus, the Red Wings probably aren’t going to be very good. Blashill should just throw some combinations out on the ice and see if he can strike gold.

Around the League

Next Gen Prospects: Quinton Byfield eyeing No. 1 pick in 2020 NHL Draft | Sportsnet

Stillman, who played in the NHL for 16 seasons with six franchises while winning two Stanley Cups, said Byfield doesn’t remind him of any player he’s ever played with.

“You have a six-foot-five, 215-pound kid who can do everything,” he said.

“He can be the full package.”

The Red Wings might begin their season today… but a year from now will we see this kid in their opening night lineup?