Red Wings training camp Day 2

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill wants to see how the team's younger players fare matched up against NHL players in the preseason.

(AP File Photo)

DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings are prepared for a training camp unlike any they have experienced, missing seven players due to the World Cup and a few others with injuries.

It will afford them a better opportunity to evaluate younger players.

"The challenge that you have when evaluating a young player is making sure they end up playing against guys that are going to be NHLers," coach Jeff Blashill said. "So certain guys, as we get into the preseason, we're going to have to do a good job making sure they're matched up against NHL players because everybody's rosters will be a little bit depleted of NHL players. While a lot of the young guys are going to get four and five scrimmages, let's make sure it's on a line-by-line basis against some of the best players on the other team."

After physicals and off-ice testing Thursday, players will start three days of practices and scrimmages Friday at Centre I.C.E. in Traverse City. Camp concludes Monday with a Red and White game. The preseason opener is Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Joe Louis Arena.

Camp structure will be slightly different due to the absences.

"We'll have two full teams and a third group rather than three full teams," Blashill said. "We'll do some different things in terms of scrimmages; we won't just have pure scrimmages, the first couple of days we'll do some specialty team scrimmages and a three-on-three and four-on-four scrimmage. Leave the main scrimmage for the Red-White game."

Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin, Petr Mrazek, Alexey Marchenko, Tomas Tatar and newcomers Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek will get five days off after their teams are finished at the World Cup. All will miss camp and several won't be available for the first couple of exhibition games.

Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall are dealing with knee issues that are likely to prevent them from taking part in camp scrimmages and perhaps part of the preseason. Tomas Jurco (back surgery in August) is more than a month away from returning and Teemu Pulkkinen (shoulder surgery in June), though cleared for contact at the start of camp, might be limited in the preseason.

When all hands are on deck (which is rare), the Red Wings roster is overcrowded. Injuries should create more competition for spots that, at least temporarily, are open.

Xavier Ouellet, based on his experience and defensive ability, appears to have the inside track on the seventh spot on defense ahead of the more offensively minded Ryan Sproul. Blashill said Nick Jensen and Robbie Russo, the only one of the group who is exempt from waivers, are in the mix, too.

At forward, Anthony Mantha will try to show he deserves to be on the season-opening roster, but is battling numbers. If he's not playing in the top nine, he'll be starting the season with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Speedy Andreas Athanasiou proved last season that he belongs in the NHL, but the club has the option of starting him in the AHL if it's facing a roster crunch and doesn't want to waive a veteran.

Martin Frk, the club's top pick in 2012, isn't waiver-exempt any longer, so a decision on his future with the organization is looming.

"There are some spots open and I think we want to see the younger guys take steps and kind of take minutes from the older guys," Zetterberg said. "That's part of the transition. I went through it when I came in, when I was 25, 26, 27, when I started playing more and we had the older guys start taking a step down. But you have to earn it. You can't just give them the minutes."

General manager Ken Holland said in the off-season the plan was to move Larkin to center permanently. In that case, Zetterberg would play on the wing. Blashill was not prepared to commit to the change right away.

"I'll answer that the first week of the regular season," Blashill said. "I don't know for sure what we're going to do 21/2 weeks from now. Lots of things happen. Are there injuries? Who's healthy?

"Larks and I have talked lots about the fact that I'd like him to ultimately be a centerman this coming season. I think organizationally we'd like to see him be a center. Starting on Day 1, we'll see."

Mrazek enters the season as the No. 1 goaltender, but Blashill indicated they will rely heavily on Jimmy Howard as well.

"If you look around the league, you need two guys that are going to help you win games at different points," Blashill said. "I don't know anybody that plays 76 games or 70 games, even. Most teams have a guy that plays between 50 and 70 and the other guy will play up to 30.

"We'll see how that all shakes out for us, but I know both guys will have an impact on our success."

Camp and the preseason also is a time for the coaching staff to develop cohesion. The Red Wings have two new bench assistants in John Torchetti, who'll work with the forwards and the power play, and Doug Houda, who'll handle the defensemen and the penalty kill.

"We've been here on a fairly regular basis since mid-August," Blashill said. "We've been able to watch World Cup games, which is great because we can gather the next day and go through clips and any changes we might make systematically.

"I've really liked our chemistry so far, but I really look forward to training camp to build that."

Red Wings training camp

When: Friday through Monday.

Where: Centre I.C.E. in Traverse City.

Schedule: Practices and scrimmages from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday; Red and White game noon Monday.

Tickets: $10 for standing room, $15 for reserved and $20 for mezzanine for practices and scrimmages; Red and White game tickets are $20 for standing room, $25 for reserved and $30 for mezzanine. Tickets available at www.centreice.org. Call (231) 933-7465 for more information.

Preseason opener: Tuesday vs. Pittsburgh at Joe Louis Arena, 7:30 p.m.