Todd McLellan Rips Red Wings Veterans After Embarrassing Camp Finale
· Yahoo Sports
Todd McLellan did not mince words after the Detroit Red Wings wrapped up training camp Sunday.
The coach liked what he saw from the young players. The veterans? Not so much.
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McLellan’s blunt assessment came after a final camp session in which Detroit’s kids outworked, out-executed and outplayed the more established group. With preseason games looming, it was a message the Red Wings’ veterans needed to hear.
McLellan Was Not Happy With Detroit’s Day
“I wasn’t happy with our day today at all,” McLellan said. “I was happy with the kids, but I wasn’t happy with our day.
“So we’ve got to take it back up here after their off days and get going and not waste a day.”
That is not a coach nitpicking a sloppy drill or one bad shift. McLellan’s concern was the standard Detroit set on the final day of camp, and the urgency is understandable.
The Red Wings have spent too many recent seasons watching promising stretches dissolve when the games tightened. Andrew Copp recently said the club cannot accept anything less than the playoffs, while Moritz Seider has stressed that Detroit cannot waste this season.
McLellan’s point Sunday was simple: that expectation has to show up in practice before it can show up in the standings.
The Kids Outplayed the Veterans
“The kids were really good,” McLellan said. “They worked their butts off, they made plays, they executed better than the veteran players—it wasn’t even close.
“So that’s a really good sign for our organization. Or maybe it isn’t, it depends how you look at it.”
There is the dry McLellan twist. Detroit’s prospect group providing energy and execution is encouraging, particularly after interim GM Shawn Horcoff identified Carter Mazur, William Wallinder and Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard as players positioned to advance.
But it becomes a problem when the established players fail to match that standard.
McLellan did not identify specific veterans, and it would be unfair to turn his broad critique into a claim about any one player. Still, “it wasn’t even close” is about as direct as a coach can be in September.
Detroit Cannot Afford to Waste Time
McLellan added that the organization’s challenge is the limited time available to make meaningful evaluations before the season begins.
“The problem that we have is the amount of time we have to truly evaluate,” he said.
That puts the pressure on everyone. Veterans must show they are ready to lead, while younger players have a clear opening to force their way into larger roles. Detroit’s roster can be found on the official Red Wings roster page, but the depth chart is not set in stone simply because camp is ending.
The Red Wings have talked about being harder to play against, more structured defensively and more urgent in key moments. Sunday’s camp finale suggests McLellan believes some of his veterans are still talking about that identity more than they are demonstrating it.
After the off days, the reset begins.