Red Wings at Florida Panthers 2-4-16

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill hopes a faster-skatng team and more active defense will lead to more offense.

(AP File Photo)

TRAVERSE CITY - Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill intends to use training camp and the preseason to establish an identity for this team, and he wants a fast group with an active defense.

"We've talked about our identity being relentless and being fast, being competitive and being detailed," Blashill said. "Speed's a big factor. It's not everything, it's mentality, not just how fast the guy is skating but how fast you're playing. So we're trying to play as fast as we can in transition. I think that's our best chance to have success based on the team we have.

"When L.A. won two Cups (in 2011 and 2013) you can talk about them being big and strong, but I think you got to play to your best asset. Pittsburgh was fast this year, but that's kind of their team makeup."

With a roster that includes some of the NHL's fastest skaters in Darren Helm, Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou, Blashill believes this team is capable of picking up the pace.

"I think we got a team that if we're going north, we're going to be better and we got a D-corps that can get up in the play and skate," Blashill said. "We got a group of forwards that has some high-end speed and can make plays at high speed. So to me it's just playing to our strengths."

The Red Wings need more offense after averaging 2.55 goals per game in 2015-16, which ranked 23rd in the NHL. Blashill hopes one solution is having the defense join the rush more often.

"We're always preaching to get the fourth guy in the rush, but I think it's even more evident this year that they're really trying to push that off-side defenseman to get up in the play," Danny DeKeyser said. "That's how you create offense in today's game."

Red-White game lineup

The Red Wings will hold their first five-on-five scrimmage today when camp concludes with the Red-White game at noon.

Darren Helm will center a line with Riley Sheahan and Gustav Nyquist. They'll go up against Dylan Larkin's line, with Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha.

Luke Glendening's line, with Steve Ott and Drew Miller, will be matched up against Tomas Nosek's line, with Eric Tangradi and Mitch Callahan.

"We've got a couple matches there," Blashill said. "If you're an established player, you have to continue to earn your spot, and if you're not an established player, you got to make our team way better. You got to be way better than the guy across from you. So they'll get a chance to do that (today)."

Defense pairs in flux

The main defense pairs in camp have been DeKeyser-Brendan Smith, Jonathan Ericsson-Mike Green and Xavier Ouellet-Ryan Sproul. Niklas Kronwall (knee) continues to skate on his own. Alexey Marchenko will join the team sometime this week after his Russian team was eliminated Saturday in the World Cup.

Blashill said he'll use the preseason to determine his pairs for the start of the season.

"Smitty hasn't had a chance to play with Danny much, so let's see that (in preseason)," Blashill said. "Health of players is obviously a big part of it. I'm going to go back and watch Marchenko's shifts from (Saturday) against Canada. That's a big evaluation."