Weekend Takeaways: DeBrincat, Larkin making Red Wings a compelling team early

For an off-season or two, it felt like two things were true of the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings; the team was improving, but also unlikely to overtake anybody in the Atlantic Division.

It might be time to further interrogate that second notion.

‘Statement win’ is probably an over-eager way to describe Detroit’s 5-2 victory in Ottawa Saturday afternoon, but there’s no denying it was a big ‘W’ versus a division foe many placed ahead of the Wings in terms of rebuild trajectory. And when you throw in a 6-2 win 24 hours later at home against the Calgary Flames, this definitely feels like a statement start for Detroit.

Naturally, nobody should be losing their mind over the Wings’ strong debut the way we used to freak out when Pavel Datsyuk would juke somebody inside-out — then outside in, just for fun — back when Detroit was a perennial contender.

But there’s sure a lot to like about this showing from the Wings, starting with the obvious fact that the acquisition of Michigan boy Alex DeBrincat from the Senators looks like a fifth-deck dinger right now. The 25-year-old netted his fifth career hat trick on Sunday to help bury Calgary and woke up Monday morning as the NHL’s leading scorer with eight goals and 12 points through a half-dozen games.

No. 2 on the scoring list? DeBrincat’s linemate and fellow Michigander Dylan Larkin.

Nobody is better positioned than Larkin to speak about how tough the past handful of years have been in Detroit. The Wings captain made the playoffs as a 19-year-old rookie and hasn’t been back since. And, don’t forget, for a while last year there was never a guarantee he’d be back himself this fall, as he played out the final year of his contract last season.

Even one day after he inked his eight-year extension last March, Larkin was tearing up in front of the media — not because of how happy he was to stay — but because it destroyed him to see longtime friend and teammate Tyler Bertuzzi shipped out the door at the trade deadline as part of another lost campaign.

Detroit finished the year looking up at everyone except Montreal in the Atlantic and, with fellow non-playoff teams Ottawa and Buffalo bringing more high-end talent to the table, it seemed like seventh place might still be the ceiling for a Wings squad scrapping it out in a tough division.

DeBrincat, though, appears to be a serious game-changer and even beyond the crackling chemistry he and Larkin have shown, things are looking good for a Detroit club that’s won five in a row since dropping its season-opener to the New Jersey Devils.

Lucas Raymond, the third member of the top line, turned in a three-assist performance versus Calgary; Moritz Seider — who had a tough first half last season — has five points out of the gate and is one of eight guys beyond Larking and DeBrincat to have at least four points this season on a Wings squad averaging a league-best five goals-per-game.

Sure, we can pump the brakes with an “it’s early” here and by acknowledging Detroit is a middle-of-the-pack squad in terms of expected goals and is presently leading the NHL with a crooked team shooting percentage of 16 percent.

That’s about all the parade-raining we’re inclined to do just now, though. Wings fans should be ecstatic about the fact two guys from the home state are making this October more fun than any in recent memory. And every win they post this month increases the odds this team will still be compelling in April, too.

Other Takeaways

• It’s easy to wonder if Larkin — who registered a career-high 79 points last year — is on the verge of his biggest season ever. And one of the most fun things to do two weeks into a campaign is look around and muse about who’s breaking into another tier, be it from good to elite or elite to “And the nominees for this year’s Hart Trophy are…”

Jack Hughes went crazy on Friday night with a 2-2-4 showing — including the OT winner — versus the Islanders. Yeah, there’s a reason everybody who didn’t pick Connor McDavid for the MVP had Hughes down. Elias Pettersson hit 102 points last year and — with two more points in Vancouver’s 5-3 win over Florida on Saturday — has the look of a guy who could push even beyond that this season.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi isn’t keeping company with Hughes or Pettersson, but does appear to be making a meaningful jump. The Finn — now in his third year in Carolina — had a goal and a helper in the Canes’ 6-4 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday. That gives the 23-year-old and third-overall selection in 2018 seven points in six outings this year, on the heels of finishing with 26 in his final 33 games last season. Top-line centre Sebastian Aho is out with an injury right now, but if Kotkaniemi can maintain production like that when Aho returns, the Canes will have a great 1-2 punch down the middle.

• Colorado’s win over Kotkaniemi’s Canes kept the Avalanche’s record at an unblemished 5-0-0 this year. The Vegas Golden Knights survived Connor Bedard’s first NHL goal in Chicago on Saturday to keep their record perfect at 6-0-0. But it’s the league’s third undefeated team, the Boston Bruins, we want to recognize here. The B’s picked up two W’s on the weekend, besting the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Saturday before heading south to beat the Ducks 3-1 on Sunday. You can quibble with Boston’s strength of opponent — of the five teams it has faced, only L.A. made the playoffs last year — but the B’s have already won three games on a California road swing and to start the season like this after seeing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci hang ‘em up is pretty impressive.

Standing ovation for Arizona defenceman Travis Dermott, who wrapped some Pride Tape on his stick for the Coyotes home-opener on Saturday night. Before the season, the NHL announced it was banning special sweaters and other signs of support — like Pride Tape — for different causes. Dermott immediately went out and ordered rolls of Pride Tape and it’s heartening to see him put it to use.

1. Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2-0) Joseph Woll — who didn’t allow a goal after coming in for Ilya Samsonov in Saturday’s 4-3 comeback win in Tampa Bay — sports a .935 save percentage in the nine games he’s played for Toronto between this season and last.

2. Ottawa Senators (3-2-0) Rookie Ridly Greig got his first of the year — and third of his fledgling career — on Saturday. The 2020 first-rounder quietly has four points in five outings this year.

3. Vancouver Canucks (3-2-0) What a nice start for J.T. Miller, who played more than any Vancouver forward (22:44) in Saturday’s win in Florida and potted two assists to give him eight points through five outings.

4. Edmonton Oilers (1-3-1) There’s lots of time for this not to be the season from hell for the Oilers, but it’s certainly the start from hell with the news Connor McDavid — who did not play in overtime during Saturday’s 3-2 fourth-period loss to Winnipeg — will be out for a week or two with an upper-body injury.

5. Montreal Canadiens (2-1-1) Cole Caufield scored the extra-time winner versus the Capitals on Saturday and got to five career overtime goals faster than any player in, basically, 100 years.

6. Winnipeg Jets (2-3-0) Sending all the love and positivity possible to the Bowness family after we learned Monday morning that coach Rick Bowness will step away from the team to be with his wife, Judy, who suffered a seizure on Sunday night and remains in hospital.

7. Calgary Flames (2-3-1) Between the four-game suspension Rasmus Andersson was sentenced to for his hit on Patrik Laine in the dying seconds of Friday’s loss in Columbus to the drubbing Calgary took 48 hours later in Detroit, it was an awful weekend for the Flames.

• Craig Anderson had a .914 save percentage in 435 games with the Ottawa Senators and a sparkling .928 mark in 40 playoff outings with the Sens. On Tuesday, when Ottawa hosts the Buffalo Sabres squad Anderson spent the past two years with, the 42-year-old is expected to ink a one-day contract to officially retire as a Senator before joining Buffalo’s front office for his next act.

That same night features all 32 teams in action — with staggered start times in 15-minute intervals, no less! — in one of two times this season the NHL will have a full slate of 16 games.

• Ryan O’Reilly is slated to play career game No. 999 on Saturday night versus one of his former teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

• They’ve been battling for 40 years and now, they’re finally taking it outside. The Edmonton Oilers — without McDavid, presumably — and Calgary Flames clash in the Heritage Classic at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday evening.