DETROIT – Andreas Athanasiou has scored 4 goals and 2 assists in three games played this preseason.
At times he has looked like the speedster Detroit Red Wings fans know he can be. Highlights from Tuesday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks show Athanasiou controlling the game and speeding up and down the ice, setting up teammates and being an all-around threat.
Recommended Videos
.@T_Vanek26 16 seconds in. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/Y55TVeBh70
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 26, 2018
Sure, it's preseason. But remember, Athanasiou missed preseason last year during a contract holdout. It wasn't until Oct. 20 when he reached a contract agreement with the team.
He ended up joining the Red Wings late and was not able to match his previous season goal total of 18. Athanasiou scored just 16 goals in 71 games played this past season. He did record a career-high 17 assists, but it was his -15 rating that tells the story of how 2017-18 went for not only "AA" but the entire Red Wings roster. Offense was tough to come by.
The 24-year-old is now projected to be Detroit's 2nd-line center, flanked by veteran goal scorer Thomas Vanek and another winger to be determined. With his speed he is a 200-foot threat, setting up Vanek on a nightly basis. That would be an ideal situation for the Red Wings who need to find some sort of consistent goal scoring.
It appears they've found it in the Athanasiou-Vanek tandem, at least in this preseason. Vanek scored two goals himself in the 8-6 victory over the Blackhawks.
Red Wings roster taking shape
Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 4 when the Red Wings take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Here's what the Red Wings lines could look like:
| Forward Line 1 | Tyler Bertuzzi | Dylan Larkin | Anthony Mantha |
| Forward Line 2 | Thomas Vanek | Andreas Athanasiou | ??? |
| Forward Line 3 | Gustav Nyquist | Frans Nielsen | ??? |
| Forward Line 4 | Darren Helm | Luke Glendening | Justin Abdelkader |
Those open spots are up for grabs by a list of young forwards including Martin Frk, Evgeny Svechnikov, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina.
As for the defense, if Mike Green isn't ready to go at the start of the season, we could be looking at rookie Dennis Cholowski making the lineup thanks to his strong preseason play.
Here are the projected D lines:
| Defensive Pairing 1 | Dan DeKeyser | Trevor Daley |
| Defensive Pairing 2 | Dennis Cholowski | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Defensive Pairing 3 | Niklas Kronwall | Nick Jensen |
That's an interesting mix of young and old. The pressure is on DeKeyser to help turn around this defense. This is his 7th season with the Red Wings. He's posted 12 points in back-to-back seasons, far less than the 31 points he had in 2014-15 when it looked like he was trending in a better direction.
Here's the schedule for the rest of the preseason:
- Sept. 26 -- 7 p.m. against Boston Bruins in Boston
- Sept. 28 -- 7:30 p.m. against Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto
- Sept. 29 -- 7 p.m. against Toronto Maple Leafs in Detroit