Detroit Red Wings: 5 Aspects of the Game They'll Need to Improve in Camp

The Detroit Red Wings opened up training camp this week, and that means the regular season is just around the corner.

But before the season gets underway, Detroit has some significant work to do in training camp.

Detroit's second-round exit against the San Jose Sharks last year still stings in the minds of many Wings fans.

But with a little bit of work this training camp and a little bit of tweaking on some minor details, Detroit can realistically be playing again in June next year.

This slideshow will go over five things that they must address in training camp this year.

1. Penalty Kill

The Red Wings' penalty kill was middle of the pack at 17th in the NHL.

But in the playoffs, especially in their four-game sweep of Phoenix, it dipped to 66 percent.

That's just not acceptable in the NHL, especially from one of the supposedly better defenses in the NHL in the Detroit Red Wings.

A big part of Detroit's lapse in the penalty kill was not having captain Nick Lidstrom on the ice.

Lidstrom averaged over two-and-a-half minutes on the penalty kill in the regular season, but he played under 30 seconds a game on the penalty kill in the Phoenix series.

His decision to return for another season, along with the signings of Ian White and Mike Commodore, should bolster the penalty kill.

White averaged just over a minute on the penalty kill this past season, while Commodore (in limited games) averaged over two-and-a-half minutes on the penalty kill.

Detroit's ability to better the penalty kill and get timely kills, as opposed to raise the percentage as a whole, will make the difference in how successful their season is overall.

2. Team Defense

Normally when a player wins the Norris Trophy for best all-around defenseman, one might think that the defense as a whole is pretty decent.

But Detroit's team defense last year was just down right brutal.

The Red Wings' team defense dropped from seventh overall in 2010 to 23rd overall last year.

This drop in defense was clearly evidenced by the minus-two that Nick Lidstrom had last year.

If you follow Nick Lidstrom at all, you will realize that he has a career plus/minus of plus-429; never before last season had Lidstrom been a "minus" player.

This season promises to be a bit different.

With the defensive additions of the previously mentioned White and Commodore, along with the returners—Lidstrom, Kronwall, Stuart and the over-rated Jonathan Ericsson—the Wings will look to perform better in their own end this season.

3. Putting Games Away in Regulation

Detroit scored a lot last season.

But scoring is only half of the battle in hockey.

The defense seemed to sputter sometimes in key moments, allowing other teams to come back, tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Red Wings must focus on ending games in regulation when they have the chance.

They cannot allow their opponents off of the mat once they have them pinned.

Detroit's overtime/shootout record last year was only 13-10.

That's good enough for most teams, but it's the games that get away that end up deciding the top playoff seeds in the standings.

Detroit won 80 percent of the games in which they led after the first period (sixth in the NHL) and only 87.5 percent of the games in which they led after the second period (14th in the NHL).

I saw only 87.5 percent, because ranking 14th in the league when leading after two periods is only mediocre.

Long story short, Detroit must practice putting away games when they have a lead.

4. Faceoffs

The offseason has brought about a number of changes on the Red Wings roster.

One of them is that Kris Draper has not been offered a contract by Detroit's GM Ken Holland.

I disagree with Holland not offering Draper a contract because of one huge area that Draper excels in far above any other Red Wing: faceoffs.

Draper averaged 56.5 percent on faceoffs—next closest on the team was Pavel Datsyuk at 54.6 percent.

With Draper not being brought back means that Detroit must find another go-to faceoff man.

If they cannot find a dominant faceoff man, they will have problems playing their puck possession game, as they would have to chase the puck down more from the other teams.

Detroit's offensive game has been one of puck possession, but how are the Wings supposed to play a puck possession game if they lose their lead faceoff man in Draper?

Bottom line is, although Draper didn't play a heck of a lot of ice time this past year, the Red Wings still need to find another center to step up and win some more draws for them this season.

That center (or player in general) will be found in training camp over the next two weeks.

5. Scoring in the Shootout

The Red Wings were 4-4 in the shootout last year.

Better than they have been in recent years in the shootout, but still not phenomenal.

What brings me to include "shootouts" as something that the Red Wings must improve on is that the Red Wings as a team in the shootout shot 23.1 percent last season.

That's good for 27th in the NHL for shooting percentage in the shootout. The Red Wings are far too talented to shoot a mere 23.1 percent.

It's a good thing their goaltending held up last year, stopping 84.6 percent of shooters.

This season must be different. The Red Wings must capitalize in the shootout and take advantage of the extra point in the standings that is on the table.

It's not something that can be done easily, but the Red Wings have snipers like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen and (when he's scoring) Hudler.

This should not be an overly-challenging "activity" for the team as a whole.

Training Camp Rundown

The Detroit Red Wings have a number of things to sort out during this training camp.

The first priority for Detroit is to see what Fabian Brunstrom, Ryan Johnson (both pro-tryout invitees), Jiri Hudler, Chris Conner and Cory Emmerton can do in training camp.

I throw Hudler into that list because (by his standards) he had a terrible year last year.

Cory Emmerton is on that list because if he does not make the roster, he would have to clear waivers to be re-assigned to the minors.

The second priority will be to see what new assistant coaches Bill Peters and Jeff Blashill can bring to the team.

Hopefully, Peters and Blashill can bring a renewed sense of defense and penalty killing to Detroit.

Finishing games in regulation should not be an issue for Detroit; they are usually fundamentally sound once they have the lead.

Faceoffs are a pride thing.

As for shootouts, I predict Detroit shoots somewhere between 30-35 percent in the shootout this year.

Take it to the bank: Detroit is a more fundamentally sound team this year than they were last year.

Let's just see how the work ethic is throughout the season.

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