The NHL playing season is still quite a ways away, though, for Red Wings fans, the anticipation for next year probably isn\u2019t quite what it was when the team first made their exit interviews. Then, they were looking like they\u2019d be needing to add one top-six forward to the core to compete for a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
Instead, Dylan Larkin<\/a> requested a trade and has created two additional roster holes, as it appears Patrick Kane doesn\u2019t want to re-sign in Detroit, with the team\u2019s captain wanting out of town. The small bit of good news for the moment, at least, is that the only forward in that top-six group to eclipse 80 points for now appears content to play through his contract.<\/p>\n Growing pains<\/p>\n Alex DeBrincat is, for the moment, signed with the Red Wings through the next year, unlike linemate and former Blackhawks teammate Kane. For the past three years, DeBrincat and Kane have been a staple of the Red Wings\u2019 second line and have been key to generating the team\u2019s 5v5 offense.<\/p>\n It helps that the two had rapport with one another<\/a> from their time together on another team. However, in some ways, that may have also been limiting the Red Wings. DeBrincat has been one of the team\u2019s most productive players in his tenure here in Detroit, and became the first player in a decade and a half to get over the 40-goal mark<\/a> for the team.<\/p>\n DeBrincat averages 18 minutes a night as compared to the 20ish minutes the Red Wings\u2019 top-line players do. For a minute in March, with injuries affecting the lineup, he, Kane, and JT Compher were the Red Wings\u2019 top group.<\/p>\n Throughout the season, DeBrincat\u2019s expected goal scoring percentage was higher than that of any member of the team\u2019s usual top line.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old Farmington Hills-born forward is known for his speed and ability to shoot the puck from just about any point of the ice, but one wonders if he has been somewhat limited by having to stay on the second line.<\/p>\n With 37-year-old Kane likely not returning to the roster,<\/a> the Red Wings have no reason not to put their best goal-scorer with their best center and best winger on the other side, Lucas Raymond.<\/p>\n One answer for multiple problems<\/p>\n Not only would putting DeBrincat on the top line likely help to drive the Red Wings\u2019 offense, but it would also help to alleviate pressure on some of the Red Wings\u2019 younger players. Marco Kasper<\/a> and Emmitt Finnie spent most of their rookie campaigns on the top line wing. The jury is still out for what Finnie\u2019s sophomore season will look like, but Kasper seemed to take a major step back this last season and bounced around the lineup.<\/p>\n