DALLAS — After working together at the World Championship in Denmark, Jeff Blashill came away impressed with Dan Bylsma on several levels.
Chief among the reasons Blashill hired Bylsma as an assistant coach: helping the Detroit Red Wings’ power play.
“Dan and I had a pretty unique experience being able to work together at this most recent World Championship for the U.S.,” Blashill said Friday. “When I set out to hire an assistant coach, I wanted to hire somebody that had lots of experience. The more experience you have, with real good minds, the better information you get as a head coach to then make decisions.
“I also wanted somebody that would help our power play and add value to our team. The experience in Denmark gave me first-hand knowledge of Dan as a coach, specifically as an assistant coach. I thought he did an excellent job for us over there. Our interaction was excellent. He really then went to the top of my list for assistant coach.”
Bylsma, 47, a native of Grand Haven, agreed to a three-year contract - two years beyond what is left on Blashill's contract. Bylsma takes the place of John Torchetti, whose contract was not renewed after last season. He was head coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 2015-17, and head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2008-14 and was named NHL coach of the year in 2011.
Blashill and Bylsma coached the U.S. to the bronze medal at the World Championship in May.
“He ran our power play over in Denmark, so I think he’s got a very organized plan of how he believes a power play should execute, how he believes a power play should be run,” Blashill said. “Having a multiple number of breakouts to be able to utilize in a game if needed if you’re struggling. Dan’s an excellent, excellent faceoff play guy — I coached against him so I know this first hand. His teams have always been really good on the faceoffs and having a good plan off the faceoff, specifically on the power play, and honestly that’s something (where) I haven’t been good enough.”
The Wings had one of the worst power plays in the NHL the last two years, operating at 15.1 percent in 2016-17 and at 17.5 percent this past season.
How can Bylsma make it better?
“I think there are different aspects needed to have a successful power play,” Bylsma said. “But possession and entry into the zone is a key importance. It starts with the faceoff, might be a breakout, but gain that possession and entry is vital to your power play. And then a shot-and-attack mindset and mentality is a huge indicator of power play success.
“Teams that have those aspects to their power play, they have a lot of success. Toronto is a perfect example of that type of mentality, where they are attacking and shooting and converging to the net front. So once we evaluate the players that are going to be on the power play and who is going to be put there, you’ll see a certain kind of mentality from us. But it will always end up with shots and activity around the net and chaos around the net. Attacking and converting is a core essence of having success on the power play.”
“At this point in time, we are looking at a lot of left shots on our power play and how we are going to incorporate that into it,” Bylsma said. “The possibility of adding young players to that power play, as well – Rasmussen, possibly. He could be a real good net-front guy. Mantha is a guy who scored a lot of goals in and around the net, I think it was eight last year at the net on the power play. He’s a guy we’d look to utilize on that power play for sure. Some of the pieces are yet to be determined but I think we have a number of good, skilled players and forwards in that group to develop what should be a good, hard, power play.”
The Wings have urged Mantha to emulate the play of James van Riemsdyk, a net-front presence who scored 36 goals last season for the Maple Leafs, and helping Mantha accomplish that is another part of Bylsma’s appeal. He coached Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Jack Eichel when they were around 19, 20 years old.
“He’s coached elite, elite players, specifically guys when they were a little bit younger in their careers, and we have a group of young players that we need to take that next step and become elite-level players,” Blashill said. “I think Dan can help with that as well.”
The Wings’ rebuild hinges on the growth of a group of young players headlined by Mantha, 23, Dylan Larkin, 21, and Rasmussen, 19.
“We’ve talked about Mantha and what he can do on the power play, and that’s the next step for him,” Bylsma said. “Dylan Larkin has been in the league a couple years but is still a young player that I think needs to take another step in what he can bring to the Detroit Red Wings as well. Then you have the future of Rasmussen, you are talking about a 6-5 smooth-skating guy who could be an impact player for the Red Wings as well. So we are looking for those young payers to come in, not to mention the sixth pick in the draft. So there are some young players with bright futures coming to the Red Wings and that’s part of the development plan that we are under right now."
The experience in Denmark in May enlightened both men. For Blashill, it surpassed anything he could have learned about Bylsma from a mere interview. For Bylsma, it opened a career opportunity.
“I wanted to get into a situation I felt comfortable with, and I found that with Jeff at the World Championship,” Bylsma said. “That experience over there coaching together really made me want to come to Detroit and want to get on Jeff Blashill’s coaching staff.”
Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!
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