One of the most frustrating refrains for the Detroit Red Wings over the past three seasons is that their record in the month of March played a major role in ultimately sinking their chances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs - especially in the past two campaigns when they were in a postseason position at the end of February.
Perhaps not so coincidently with their slide in March this past season was the timing of the season-ending injury to forward Andrew Copp.
While Copp's offensive numbers haven't been the greatest since he signed with the Red Wings in the 2022 offseason, he carved out a key role for himself not only in the faceoff circle but on Detroit's penalty killing unit.
Copp would admit that the timing of his ailment, a pectoral injury that ultimately required surgery to correct and sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign, was nothing short of "brutal".
“With how we were playing, how my line (with Alex DeBrincat and Vladimir Tarasenko) was playing, how I felt individually I was playing … pretty brutal timing,” Copp said via MLive shortly after the season for Detroit ended.
Copp's absence was not only noticeable in the lineup, but also to coach Todd McLellan, who led the Red Wings to separate seven-game winning streaks shortly after his hire in late December that vaulted them back into the postseason picture for a time.
“We missed him for faceoffs, we missed him for defensive zone coverage, we missed him a little bit for poise and just to calm things down,” McLellan said.
The Red Wings complied a record of 15-5-2 with Copp available to them following McLellan's hiring, but went 11-13-2 after his season-ending injury.
While the difference in Detroit's play when Copp went down was noticeable, their difference in play shortly after McLellan took over from the fired Derek Lalonde was also noticeable.
“He had a really nice presence to him in terms of getting us going, holding us accountable, but at the same time empowering the players, empowering the leadership and trusting us to instinctually play,” Copp said of McLellan.
Copp is expected to be healthy for the beginning of Training Camp in mid-September, and will likely be centering Detroit's third or fourth forward unit.
If the Red Wings are to find themselves back in the postseason picture heading into the month of March this upcoming season and to avoid another prolonged losing streak, they'll need Copp not only healthy but to continue his checking role and chip in with timely offense.
