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No clear front runner in battle for open spot on defense |
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With less than a week until the start of the NHL regular season, none of the Detroit Red Wings young defensemen seems to have a lock on the available spot along the team’s blue line.
“We’ve got a D spot open and I’m waiting for somebody to grab that D spot,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “That D spot won’t be given to anybody.
“I want to see who grabs it.”
The battle to fill the place vacated by Kyle Quincey was supposed to be between Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul and Nick Jensen but Blashill insists it’s much more wide open than that.
“I would include (Brian) Lashoff and I would include (Robbie) Russo and for that matter, I’d include (Dan) Renouf,” Blashill said. “So we’ve got a decision to make Saturday night.”
If any among the group has taken a significant step forward, Blashill isn’t about to tip his hand.
“I’ll keep that to myself,” he said.
For the time being, rookie pro Renouf is out of the running, suffering an upper-body injury in Wednesday’s preseason game at Pittsburgh, meaning once he’s healthy, he’ll be assigned to AHL Grand Rapids. But while he may be gone, Renouf won’t be forgotten.
“Renouf’s out for a little bit so he’ll start in GR because of that,” Blashill said. “He’s somebody who has put his name out there to say I should be a guy who should be a call-up guy, I should be a guy who looks like he can play in the NHL.
“I’m not trying to rush him. It might be all year where he doesn’t get it, it might be two years, I don’t know. But he made a good impression in camp because he skates well, he’s smart, he’s rangy with his stick and he’s got pretty good poise.”
Russo, signed as a free agent last summer, led all Grand Rapids defenders with 39 points and a plus-40 rating.
“He manages the puck well,” Blashill said. “The biggest thing Russo has to get better at is his gap control. Every level you move up it gets harder to give people space and he’s got to just continue to learn to trust his feet and gap up as much as he can and take away a little more time and space.
“As he gets better at that I think it puts him in better position to be an NHL player.”
Ouellet, Sproul, Jensen and Lashoff all must clear NHL waivers to be assigned to the minor leagues but that doesn’t mean Russo won’t be given every chance to grab a spot.
“We want to find out regardless of contract, who’s the best player,” Blashill said. “Obviously contracts (whether the player is waiver exempt) always play a role but not if one guy is much better than another guy.
“That’s where if you can create enough separation, then contracts no longer matter in terms of whether you’re waiver-exempt or not, so his job is to show he’s by far the best defenseman to be that other defenseman on our team.”
That other defenseman could still prove to be two defensemen. Niklas Kronwall (knee ailment) is slowly getting back up to speed but may not be ready for the Oct. 13 season opener at Tampa Bay.
“We may keep eight defensemen,” Blashill confirmed. “There’s a chance that (Kronwall) may not start the year, without question. He’s getting to practice a little bit but there’s definitely a chance he may not start the season ready.”
More Moves
Two more players were shipped out of Detroit’s camp. Left-winger Dylan Sadowy was assigned to AHL Grand Rapids. Defenseman Connor Allen was released from a pro tryout and also reported to Grand Rapids.
The Wings are now down to 45 players.
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