Yahoo Sports What Do the Red Wings Need for Christmas?
Today being Christmas Eve, it's the season for last minute shopping, so it's a good time to consider what the Detroit Red Wings might want for the holiday.
Brian Bradshaw Sevald, Imagn Images
As it stands, the Red Wings are not the tricky to shop for gift recipient on your holiday checklist. They aren't the aloof father without hobbies or interests who buys himself what he pleases. They are more like a friend whose house recently burned down and would appreciate and benefit from almost anything you could get them. I came up with three items the Red Wings could use this year for Christmas:
First up, it's a penalty kill that is somewhere between average and bad, instead of an unqualified disaster. While there have been moments of competence from the Detroit PK this year, it has spent the season beneath a 70% success rate and has only compounded the Red Wings' troubles with producing offense at five-on-five. Turning this struggling unit into a stalwart might be too much even for Santa Clause and his elves, but if Detroit could just get decent or even slightly substandard work from its PK, that would be a marked improvement.
Second, the Red Wings need health on the blue line. This Detroit team certainly doesn't have depth to spare in that department, so missing Simon Edvinsson AND Ben Chiarot feels insurmountable. Edvinsson's absence is particularly painful, given just how good he has been next to Moritz Seider since the early days of the season. For the Red Wings to find any sort of post-holiday success, a fully fit and healthy Edvinsson would go a long way.
Third, Detroit could use a sizzling run of form from captain Dylan Larkin. It's not that Larkin has been bad by any means to open the season, but he hasn't been at the peak of his productivity. As the Red Wings look to find some rhythm after the holiday break, the best of 71's form would go a long way toward finding traction, and it would be a nice benefit for Larkin as he prepares to represent Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.
In the featured video above, I discussed these gift selections in greater detail. Please suggest your own in the comments!
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