Helene St. James | Detroit Free Press

Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press

In the glimpses he caught of defensemen Filip Hronek and Oliwer Kaski at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, U.S. coach Jeff Blashill saw how each could make the Detroit Red Wings better.

Hronek already has his foot in the door having played 46 games for the Wings last season. But Hronek looks poised for a bigger role after a standout performance for the Czech Republics in May at the World tournament. Hronek produced three goals and eight assists in 10 games. Fellow Wings teammate Anthony Mantha likewise had a stellar showing, as he helped Canada win silver, scoring eight goals and tying Mark Stone for a team-leading 14 points.

Martin Rose, Getty Images

The Wings signed Kaski, who helped Finland win gold, after the tournament ended to a one-year deal. He has a great shot, shoots right, and starred last season in Finland’s top hockey league for the Lahti Pelicans, where he led the team with nine goals and 51 points in 59 games. The hope is he can translate his game to the NHL. The Wings tried to boost their defense last year with Czech free-agent signee Libor Sulak, but Sulak wasn’t able to grasp how to play defense at the NHL level.

Hronek has earned himself a spot as a regular, but there is uncertainty about the defense as a whole. Injuries limited Jonathan Ericsson (back) to 52 games and Trevor Daley (foot, back) to 44 games. Both are 35. Even if they are healthy to start the 2019-20 season, the Wings cannot count on either to last. The expectation is Mike Green, 33, will be ready, but it’s unfamiliar territory having a player battle a viral infection. He was limited to 43 games last season. The Wings are awaiting word from Niklas Kronwall on whether he will return or retire.

That could create opportunity for Kaski, as well as Dennis Cholowski, the Wings’ first-round pick from 2016.

I caught up with Blashill, who enters his fifth season as Wings coach with a contract extension in hand, to chat about standout Wings at Worlds, Kaski and more.

What did you see in Mantha that he was able to have so much success?

"He had a good tournament doing the things that are important for him to be really successful. He moved his feet on a consistent basis, he was super physical - he bumped guys off the puck, made physical contact to get the puck. He was skating on a consistent basis. When he does those things, he’s an effective player. I thought he carried forward a very, very good end of the season into the World Championship. He established himself in an important role early and really took off from there. He seemed to have really good chemistry with Kyle Turris. So I think in the end it was a great, great tournament for Anthony."

I’m struck by the similarity to Dylan Larkin two years ago — he had a good finish to the NHL season and parlayed that into being an important player for your U.S. team at Worlds, then came into his own in 2017-18.

"I hope it’s a great springboard for an excellent year. I thought Anthony had moments this year where he was playing excellent for us - like right before he got injured in the fight, he was playing excellent, and then again at the end of the year. It looks like Anthony is taking those steps in his maturation process as a player. He’s 24 years old - 24 is an age that, with the exception of guys who establish themselves as stars at a very young age, 24 is an age where a lot of players really come of age. So I’m hoping certainly Worlds can be a springboard for him. He’s been a really good player for us the last couple years, I hope this means he can take a step towards becoming that great player that he wants to be and we need him to be."

Hronek had a standout tournament for the Czechs. What can that do for him?

Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports

"I didn’t get a chance to see Fil as much because they were on the other side. I thought Fil did a really good job establishing himself as an NHL defenseman last year. I think he can be a top-four defenseman in the NHL. He’s got the skill set to be able to do that, the mental makeup to do that. One way he can get there is his point production. He had real good point production for the Czechs. It’s an opportunity for him to have a great springboard.

"In both cases, they have to have great summers to make that springboard matter. But if they do that, I think they can both really capitalize on great tournaments."

You saw a bit of Kaski. How can he fit in Detroit?

"He’s going to compete for a job. He’s got real offensive ability. He’s got a real NHL shot. Knows how to get it off. Does a great job of one-timing pucks, does a great job of getting a wrister off. Most importantly has a shoot-first mentality, whether it’s on the power play or on the offensive blue line. As the tournament went along he became a little more important on that team. They had eight defensemen dressed most nights and early on he didn’t play as much. But certainly he was a factor on their power play and that to me is the one area where he can make a real statement that he can be a guy who can help us.

"You have to find a way to make yourself important on a team, you have to find a way to get a foot in the door, and the power play is an area where he can do that. And then he has to be good enough at the other end - anytime you’ve only seen a player play on a big sheet of ice, then you have to be cautious that you never know how the rest of their game is going to transfer. We’ll watch and see as he gets here how good he is at breaking the puck out under pressure, how good he is defensively, how good he is at making reads, but certainly he’s got one absolutely transferrable skill and that’s his ability on the offensive blue line to make plays and shoot the puck."

Will Kronwall retire or return?

"I haven’t had a conversation since him since the season ended, and at that point he was not sure. I just told him he was one of our top-four D most of the year, I want you back."

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.