Potential rift erupting in Detroit as Todd McLellan calls out a longtime NHL veteran for his poor play
Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan called out forward JT Compher, who has been seen struggling during training camp.
Head Coach Todd McLellan of the Detroit Red Wings didn't hesitate to call out veteran forward JT Compher in the media recently.
According to McLellan, the forward had been playing it safe on the ice instead of being aggressive and showing them, he's the forechecker the team needs.
We've seen examples of his inconsistency; last season, he went 51 days without a point.
«J.T. is leading on the ice, leading the charges rather than blending into them, or coming from behind,» McLellan said. «He'll know exactly what that means. If he's sometimes first on the forecheck or he's aggressive and leading the zone and joining the rush, he can't let everything go by him and then join. I call that just playing in the middle of the rink all the time, and you're generally safe there, but we need him to be assertive.»
McLellan needs the middle-six forward to step up and be an impact player for the Red Wings. Instead, he has allegedly let his foot off the gas. His struggles have kept the team out of the postseason.
But we've seen him do better, in 2022-23, scoring 52 points with the Avalanche.
«I thought later in the year, he started to do those things,» McLellan said. «Can't ride the brake all the time, and J.T., when he got on the gas, he was a pretty good player.»
For McLellan, he is actively picking apart his team in the media and using his bully pulpit to establish weaknesses in the lineup.
Compher will have to take the comments constructively, and become the forward the Red Wings pay him to be. That is an aggressive puck-hound, pinning his opponents in their zone and being an absolute terror to deal with.
Former 2022 Stanley Cup Champion JT Compher's Disappointing Season in Detroit
Compher was a former 2022 Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche and leveraged that into a new contract with the Red Wings.
The 200-foot forward is in year 3 of his 5-year, $5.1 million AAV deal with the Red Wings. Last season, it's arguable that he didn't play up to that cap hit, scoring 32 points (11-21) in 76 games.
McLellan wants to see him play a shutdown style, being defensively responsible instead of focusing on offense alone.
With a great season from Compher, he can utilize his hard-nosed style of play to find himself and the Red Wings back on the scoreboard, controlling the ice every night.
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