'We're definitely building': Todd McLellan changes Red Wings' fortunes in first full year

DETROIT — Just the contrast of it all was utterly amazing.

A year ago, standing in the same Red Wings' locker room, captain Dylan Larkin was attempting to explain the team's listless 4-0 loss to St. Louis, and a season that was heading downhill fast. Nothing was going right. There was a helpless feeling, in terms of turning the season around.

"It was a negative place, we were down," Larkin said. "We got booed off the ice all three periods."

Flash forward to earlier this week, Tuesday, and the Wings' exciting 4-3 overtime victory over Dallas. Larkin scored the game-tying and game-winning goals, and Little Caesars Arena was electric, as the Wings tied Carolina atop the Eastern Conference with 47 points.

The year before, the Wings were two points from the conference basement, while replacing Derek Lalonde on Dec. 26 with Todd McLellan.

It's certainly been a dramatic change with McLellan at the helm.

"A combination of Todd coming in and, his first practice yelling to play hockey and his intensity, and his willingness to give guys opportunities and if you can play, you're going to play," Larkin said of the main difference with McLellan coming aboard. "Also, some of the additions we made with Gibby (John Gibson), and shoring up some holes that we had.

“So, there’s a combination. But I would give Todd a lot of credit for a full year now."

You sense the confidence growing with this Red Wings' roster. They're 9-2-1 in the month of December while playing a competitive schedule, highlighted by two victories over Washington and Tuesday's win over Dallas in the last week. Suddenly those victories that appeared to be upsets aren't that shocking anymore.

"Confidence goes a long way and for us," McLellan said. "To have won some of the games that we've won, it slowly stacks."

Gibson has won eight consecutive decisions and is looking like the premier goaltender he was earlier in his career. Rookies like Emmitt Finnie and Axel Sandin-Pellikka are growing and blossoming every game. Mortiz Seider is playing at a Norris Trophy-caliber level. Forwards Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond are playing at an all-star level. Players like James van Riemsdyk and Andrew Copp are beginning to provide secondary scoring.

"We're definitely building," goaltender Cam Talbot said. "Confidence goes with everyone, especially against top teams. These games are not easy, and these points are going to be huge coming down the stretch in March and April. The fact that we're putting this kind of string together now says a lot about our group and the maturity that we've grown over the past couple of years."

McLellan never had taken over a team at midseason. Not having had a training camp, not being as familiar with the Eastern Conference (McLellan had coached three Western Conference teams), not knowing the personalities of his new Wings players — those were all factors that made the task difficult at first.

But McLellan noticed something about the Wings immediately.

"I really believe we had a receptive audience when we first got here," McLellan said. "For as much as we tried to help them, they helped us and that blend was good. Just thinking back to that first month, they were open and tried to allow us to do our thing."

Those almost four months to end last season, along with training camp in September, gave McLellan a deeper understanding of his roster.

"Time to understand the players, the personalities, how they mix together and how they react to being poked or hugged, both individually and as a group," McLellan said. "When you're coming in, you have no idea. You can't really evaluate.

"We attacked the spirit of the team right off the bat and tried to build that back up. Get some belief in each other again. That took a little while, then (installing) the systems, and training camp was big for us.

"We have improved as a hockey team in a lot of different areas. But there's a lot of runway left for not only maintenance, but improvement."

With time now, McLellan now can hold the Wings accountable for their responsibilities on the ice.

"Are they getting the job done? You know, do our actions or inactions live up to what our stated goal is?" McLellan said. "Like I've heard guys on our team say, ‘We have to make the playoffs. That's what we want to make.’ Well, do our actions live up to that, night in and night out?"

McLellan has stressed consistently the last several weeks about the extensive amount of work the Wings need to still do and the amount of games left. The Wings have come a long way, but there's a long way to go.

"To this point it has to feel really good for the franchise, the fans," McLellan said. "We're winning more than we're losing. But again, we got a lot of runway in front of us, a lot of road work that we have to do. We’ve got to improve as a group."

Players have heard the message time and again. They believe it.

"I'm sure he'll tell you it's just a start," Larkin said. "There's a lot of work to be done and just wait until we get to the playoffs and at some point we're going to make it. It's a whole new game and it's a whole new learning experience."