Detroit AHL coach Brian Lashoff believes Red Wings have tools to fix defensive woes from last season.
The Red Wings enter next season with multiple areas of their game that they would like to improve upon with one of them being their defence. Detroit finished bottom 12 in goals against average last season with no improvement since bringing on a defensive minded coach like Todd McLellan in late December. During that span, the Red Wings were still bottom 13 in goals against average and signaled that a change needed to be made.
The Hockey News recently caught up with Brian Lashoff, Assistant Head Coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s AHL affiliate, who shared compelling insights into the system and scheme adjustments being introduced ahead of next season by the Red Wings coaching staff. According to Lashoff, it's important for a team that struggled in a particular area the previous year to reset and establish a new “standard” for their style of play moving forward.
“You see the structure they're putting in place, the details that they're focusing on, and I think those types of things are going to give them success in the long run,” Lashoff explained “I think the start of the season is going to be the biggest thing and I think that's a great thing about their staff, and is setting a standard right away, and then holding the team to that standard.”
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Lashoff is no stranger to the Red Wings organization, having played 136 NHL games over seven seasons with Detroit, including a notable NHL debut in which he scored his first career goal from the blueline. However, the bulk of his career was spent in the AHL, where he logged 629 games over 14 seasons with the Griffins, serving as team captain in his final years. In 2023, he transitioned from player to coach, joining the Griffins’ coaching staff. While the shift came with its challenges, Lashoff credited the strong support from the staff around him for making the adjustment much smoother.
“From the start, I've felt like things have gone well, I've been given responsibility right off the bat, I think that's been huge for me to kind of learn and learn from Dan Watson and Steph Julian, two guys that I really respect who have had success as coaches,” Lashoff claimed “I've learned a ton from them, they helped me get my feet wet and get going right away my first year, and then last year continue to roll through things being a coach.”
Lashoff has played with several of the Red Wings current blueliners during his time with the Griffins like Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson and more meaning he can truly speak to the talent of the players after seeing it every day. He firmly believes with the new adjustments and some of the younger defencemen taking a step forward that their blueline can make a step forward this season despite making no significant changes.
“I think defensively, it's a team that I think has the potential to be a strength of them, So we're excited to see everything kind of get to work in September,” Lashoff said.
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Detroit’s most intriguing addition on the blue line is former first-round pick Jacob Bernard-Docker, a bit of a lottery ticket with untapped potential. However, the most impactful move on the back end is undoubtedly the blockbuster trade for All-Star goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. Gibson immediately becomes the Red Wings’ best goaltender in over a decade, and with a new defensive system being tailored to support him, there’s real potential for the team to rally around him and take a meaningful step forward defensively.
Having the full summer to evaluate what worked and what didn’t will be a major asset for head coach Todd McLellan, who has a strong track record of transforming defensive play. In San Jose, he helped elevate the Sharks to a top six defence in the NHL, and in Los Angeles, he led the Kings to a top nine ranking. Replicating that kind of improvement in Detroit is well within reach. The only real question is how much the defensive metrics will climb and whether they’ll rise high enough to justify Lashoff’s belief that defence could become a true strength of this team.
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