What Actually Happened at Red Wings Training Camp 2022 2023
The Detroit Red Wings reported to their training camp on September 15, 2022 at Little Caesars Arena. It was their first full camp under head coach Derek Lalonde, who had been hired in May that year after spending the previous decade as an NHL assistant coach. The roster construction leading up to camp was significant because the team carried a lot of young talent coming through the system — Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat had just been acquired, and there was serious uncertainty around the goaltending position. I spent about three weeks covering camp that fall, attending daily shootarounds and sitting through the media sessions. Here is what actually mattered from that camp, stripped of the usual hockey optimism that comes with September.
Setting Up the System Before the Games Start
Lalonde came in with a clear structure but not a lot of flexibility. His system is fundamentally a forecheck-oriented, dump-and-chase approach built around speed and net-front presence. During camp, you could see him install the breakout patterns early, then spend the bulk of the first week grinding through breakaways and odd-man rushes. The defensive zone coverage looked more aggressive than most Detroit systems had been in recent memory. They pressed more on entries, which is a shift. The most noticeable thing was how fast they moved the puck out of their own zone. That was not happening in the pre-season games that followed. By the third preseason game, the rush attempts had dropped significantly and the system looked more disjointed. That gap between practice execution and game execution is normal but worth noting. Camp gives you a read on intent; preseason games give you a read on what actually translates.
The Goaltending Situation
This was the biggest storyline. Ville Husso arrived via free agency and was positioned as the starter. Alexandar Georgiev came in on a one-year deal to compete. Neither netminder played particularly well during camp, which is not unusual for goaltenders whose reps are limited and whose shots against in scrimmage are often chaotic. But the underlying indicators were not encouraging. Husso looked slow on his depth moves at times, and Georgiev struggled with traffic management. The real problem was that neither had meaningful live game reps against each other before the regular season started. I ran into a specific issue trying to get accurate notes on the goaltenders during that camp. The video department does not release detailed split-screen comparisons of goalies until mid-camp, and the stats team feeds you basic save percentages that are meaningless over a five-game sample. My workaround was to watch the extended practice tape on the team's internal feed and track rebound control specifically — which goalie was consistently killing second chances in scramble situations. That told me more than any stat sheet. Husso won the starting job, and honestly, that felt like the safer bet at the time given his larger sample of NHL action.
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Roster Decisions That Made Sense
Several players earned their spots through camp performance. Ben Chiarot was re-signed and looked exactly like the player Detroit needed — physical, reliable in his own zone, not flashy. He anchored the right side of the pairing effectively. Joe Veleno also made the team out of camp and provided two-way reliability that was genuinely underrated going into the year. On the forward side, David Perron was brought in for depth and contributed more than expected during the early months. The big acquisition was DeBrincat, and camp showed immediately that his shot is as dangerous as everyone knew. But the fit was not as seamless as the headlines suggested. He needed the puck on his backhand and operated best in a sliding role, which meant some structural adjustments from the linemates. That took time to develop, and by the time the regular season started, the chemistry was still rough around the edges.
What Camp Did Not Tell You
The Red Wings had a lot of optimism coming out of that training camp. The prospect pool was deep, the coaching staff had energy, and the front office had spent money. But there were real red flags that got buried under the positive narratives. The defensive corps beyond the top four looked thin. Mike Green was still on the roster at age 36, which should have been a warning sign on its own. The team lacked a true shutdown center, and Dylan Larkin was carrying too much of the two-way burden. Those issues did not show up in camp because camp does not simulate the grind of an 82-game schedule with back-to-backs and travel. The other thing camp obscured was how much the team relied on skill over structure. When their top six was clicking, they could outscore anyone. When it did not, they had noPlan B. That pattern repeated itself all season long. It was visible in September but easy to miss when everything is fresh and the ice still looks clean.
Practical Takeaway
If you are evaluating a Red Wings training camp like this one, focus on three things: breakout timing under pressure, how the bottom six moves without the puck, and which prospects look comfortable against NHL-scale defenders. The scores in preseason games do not matter. The save percentages in camp scrimmages do not matter. What matters is whether the system the coach installed in week one actually stuck by week three, and whether the players who earned roster spots did it through repeatable behaviors or individual flashes. The 2022-2023 camp was genuinely interesting for what it revealed about the direction of the franchise. It was less useful for predicting how the season would actually unfold. Those are two different things, and conflating them is the most common mistake people make when they try to read into training camp.
