|
Sheahan adding offense to his repertoire |
|
|
|
|
|
The numbers are adding up lately for Riley Sheahan and that’s getting the Detroit Red Wings center more notice.
Inside the Red Wings dressing room, they noticed Sheahan’s endearing qualities long before he was putting up points.
“I’ve been really happy with Riley all season but certainly he’s had moments where he’s been great,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said.
Lately, those moments of greatness are coming with increasing frequency for Sheahan, who has three goals and three assists in his last six games.
“It’s nice to contribute on the score sheet,” Sheahan said of his offensive output. “It just gets your confidence going.
“When you’re not scoring, it kind of wears on you a little. When you can contribute on the score sheet it’s huge. I think if you can contribute on the score sheet it always helps, gets your confidence going.”
The Wings believe that Sheahan will continue to evolve offensively. Not to a level where he’s a top-six producer, but one where he’s capable of more consistent productivity.
“I think scoring for every player breeds confidence, especially if you want to be an offensive player,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “For him to get those points is important.
“He’s a guy we think can - I see him being a guy who can be between 40 and 50 points consistently and if he does that with everything else he brings – his defensive ability, his size, his ability to cycle the puck and his net presence, you’re a really, really good player in this league.
“It might not show up in 80 points but I think with everything else he brings to the table he doesn’t need that to be a real good player in the league.”
Teamed the last few games with Dylan Larkin and Brad Richards, the latter a slick playmaker, appears to be creating more scoring chances for Sheahan, who served as the defensive conscious for shooters Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist on his previous line.
“It’s definitely something I’ve got to be better at,” Sheahan said of seizing his chances to finish. “There’s definitely opportunities where I’ve given up a shot and played a little safe.”
Utilizing his strength and skating ability, Sheahan’s new linemates figure he will only continue to create offensive opportunities.
“Riley Sheahan is very good skating,” Larkin said. “I’ve been trying to talk to him that we can use our speed.
“He’s got such a big body, when he’s skating, you saw the goal in Buffalo, he went right by (Ryan) O’Reilly and there’s not too many guys who are going to outmuscle that guy. He’s such a load when he’s got that type of jump in his legs.
“I think when he’s skating there’s not many guys in the league that can stop him.”
Nosek Sent Down
The Wings returned forward Tomas Nosek to their AHL Grand Rapids farm club on Tuesday.
Nosek collected no points in six games and was minus-two.
Forwards Drew Miller (broken jaw) and Tomas Jurco (upper body injury) are both ready to return to action and one of them will play Thursday when the Wings open a four-game western swing in San Jose against the Sharks.
Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»