In Red Wings Land

With Dylan Larkin hurt, here’s how Detroit Red Wings will cope with significant injuries – Freep

“How do you absorb injuries? One, you have to be really good defensively. Because without Larks, without Fabs, without Bert, without Bobby Ryan, we’ve lost firepower upfront. I don’t think we were a super high-scoring team to begin the year with, and certainly we’ve lost a lot of firepower. Really it goes along with the themes of the season, but it’s even more essential — we have to be great defensively.”

For those of us hoping that we’d see the Wings start to open it up and trust in the kids a bit more in the waning days of the season, that’s going to be a no.

Around the League

Report: NHL’s 2021-22 season gets a target start date – RMNB

With a September 22 start date for training camp and a possible preseason, the NHL will play hockey in every month of 2021 except for August. The NHL is excpted to complete this season’s playoffs in mid-July before quickly rolling into its normal offseason activities including the entry draft, an expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken, and free agency.

I’m absolutely not joking when I say the extra time off the Wings will get could end up being a pretty decent-sized boon for them going into next season at just the right time.