Opening Night Line-Up Takes Shape
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It looks like with preseason wrapping up and the 23- man roster announced there is now some clarity with what the Detroit Red Wings line-up could look like on this Thursday October 14th vs Tampa Bay.
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Here are the line combinations from today:
Notably not on the ice was Bobby Ryan who was let go from his PTO or professional try-out agreement. To me this is a bit of a shock as I thought he out played the likes of Carter Rowney and Givani Smith. Hopefully Bobby will be able to get an NHL contract for another team in the next 24 hours.
Here is what the 23-man roster is for the start of the season for the Detroit Red Wings.
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With this announcement, it looks like the youth is going to be moving into the forward spots highlighted by Lucas Raymond on the first line with Larkin and Bertuzzi. Raymond had a really great start to camp scoring 6 points in 3 games, but cooled off towards the end. Where Raymond really impressed was on Larkin’s wing and the 1st power-play unit. I think Raymond on that top line could really open up Larkin’s offense and bring him back closer to that point per game pace he had in the 18-19' season.
A surprise here would be Joe Veleno on the 4th line as he’s more of a skill player, but Max Bultman pointed out that the bottom 6 spots were rotating 8 guys in. The 23-man roster was announced and Veleno was sent down to Grand Rapids, this could be more of a paper move as Veleno is not eligible for waivers so he can be sent down with no risk of being claimed. Coach Blashill today said that both Givani Smith and Adam Erne are fighting injuries which could result on being placed on Injured Reserve (IR), so it is very possible that he gets called back up for Thursday's game versus Tampa Bay. Veleno played great in preseason and if he plays opening night, I think it’s more likely he’ll be up on the third line.