#LGRW Daily: New players making instant impact in Detroit

DETROIT -- Eleven Stanley Cup championships. Original Six. The Winged Wheel. Hockeytown.
That's the cache that comes with being a member of the Detroit Red Wings, and this season, the Wings welcomed seven new members to the exclusive fraternity as the clubs looks to jumpstart their rebuild.

The Red Wings began their offseason by signing Swedish forward Mathias Brome on April 29 and traded for 13-year New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal on September 26 before attacking the free-agent market in October.
On the first day of free agency on October 9, Detroit signed veteran forward Bobby Ryan and Michigan native defenseman Jon Merrill to one-year deals. The next day, the Red Wings added 11-year NHL goalie Thomas Greiss and 26-year-old defenseman Troy Stecher, and on October 11, Detroit capped off its new haul by signing center and Red Wings bloodline Vladislav Namestnikov.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he was pleased with the offseason work of executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman.
"I think all of them have the opportunity to make our team a better hockey team, without a shadow of a doubt," Blashill said during training camp. "They all have good hockey in them. I think they're a good group in their own different ways that can give us good, good minutes, which is what you need lots of times in the NHL."
The Wings badly needed defensive depth after finishing last season near the bottom of the NHL in goals-against average. And with the help of Merrill, Staal and Stecher, along with the return of Danny DeKeyser from a back injury, Blashill said the back end has been stabilized.
"It's been something that's been a real matter of focus for us. Not just in our own end, but just puck support, wanting the puck," Blashill said. "The defense core all has the ability to deal with that. For me, their biggest strength as a group is they all can go out and make good, solid decisions."

The Wings also solidified their last line of defense by adding Greiss to replace veteran netminder Jimmy Howard. Greiss spent the last five seasons assisting the New York Islanders' rebuilding project and helped lead the club to the playoffs the last two seasons.
Greiss has platooned with Jonathan Bernier in the Red Wings' net so far this season, starting two of the first four games, and Blashill said despite Greiss' 0-2 record, he's impressed with what he's seen from his new goalie so far.
"I think Thomas has done a good job, has impressed in a lot of ways," Blashill said. "He's good pro. He just comes and does his work. There's not a lot else to worry about. He just totally does his job and he's done a good job at it."

And while the back end has been re-tooled, the offense was also in need of increased depth, as the top line of Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi accounted for more than a third of the team's points last season.
The addition of Ryan has definitely helped take the burden off the Wings' top line, as Ryan became the first player in franchise history to score four goals in his first three games with the club. Namestnikov hasn't cracked the score sheet yet, but he can play all three forward positions and provides much-needed versatility up front.
Mantha said Ryan and Namestnikov have been crucial additions to Detroit's offensive attack.
"It's huge," Mantha said about the added depth. "If you look up front, Namestnikov and Bobby are two guys that like to control the puck, and I think that's a little bit what we were lacking last year. Giving the puck away a little too easy, and if they can slow down the play and make good plays, we'll play with the puck more often."

While all the new additions said it was a no-brainer to sign with the Red Wings, it's an especially sweet feeling for Merrill and Namestnikov, who grew up in metro Detroit and have had lifelong ties to the community.
Merrill was born in Oklahoma City but grew up in Michigan, playing for the Little Caesars Amateur Hockey League and later for the U.S. National Team Development Program and collegiately at the University of Michigan.
The 28-year-old blueliner said playing for the Red Wings is a constant walk down memory lane.
"It's really special for me, personally," Merrill said. "Just to walk around the locker room, see all the photos on the walls, it feels like I've watched those Hockeytown VHS videos a million times, so I've seen all those pictures on the walls a million times as a kid.

"It's definitely a little surreal. I've got to pinch myself sometimes in the locker room. You see all the great names up all over, so it's something I don't take lightly and something I'm really honored to be a part of."
After being born in Russia, Namestnikov spent parts of his childhood in Michigan and is the nephew of former Red Wings forward and Russian Five member Slava Kozlov. The 28-year-old forward said it's a dream come true to don the Winged Wheel.
"I grew up watching the Red Wings games, so this is extremely special for me," Namestnikov said. "Every time I show up to the rink, it's like 'oh my god, it's a dream come true,' so I'm ready to give my all for the Red Wings."

With a compacted 56-game schedule, Blashill said the new players have had to get acclimated to the Red Wings' systems quickly to form chemistry in game situations and get off to a good start.
"We're going to have to gel as quickly as possible, and I think we're moving towards that," the Wings' coach said before the season. "The one thing that would make it easier for all of those guys is there's a lot of them. It's not like walking onto a team where everybody knows each other and everything's set in stone. It's a lot of new, fresh faces, including some of the young guys."
Blashill said the more comfortable the new players feel, the better they'll play, ultimately resulting in more victories for the Red Wings. And the results have been noticeable as the Wings started the season 2-2, fighting hard in every game and responding to adversity in ways they didn't last season.
"We've just got to keep doing everything we can to help these guys get comfortable," Blashill said. "I think people play their best when they're in comfortable situations where they can be real confident and go out and play their best."