Detroit Red Wings: Andreas Athanasiou Will Flourish As A Winger

With the recent signing of former Detroit Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula, it has been pretty much confirmed that Andreas Athanasiou will move back to the wing. Athanasiou will do nothing but flourish on the wing with the Red Wings.

Last season, in the very small sample size that was allocated, Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou was impressive. An even smaller sample size, but Athanasiou on the wing with newly signed winger Taro Hirose on the other side produced some good output for a team who was trying things out on a trip to failure, or a lottery pick. A recent Red Wings signing Valtteri Filppula will allow the Red Wings to move Athanasiou to the winger spot which could create the Athanasiou and Hirose line once more.

Currently, it would be believed that Frans Nielsen or Filppula will start as the second-line center allowing Athanasiou to make this move where he feels much more natural and plays his usual position. With Hirose expected to crack the Detroit Red Wings roster early in the year, we’ll likely see Athanasiou on a line with Hirose very early on during the year. Going off of the products they had in such a small sample size, it could mean great things for them.

Athanasiou netted thirty goals and twenty-four assists for fifty-four points last year. In the ten games Hirose spent on a line with Athanasiou, they managed four goals, a 38.5% Scoring Change For(SCF) percentage, while creating a 42.86% High-Danger Chances For (HDCF) percentages all while being keeping the game on the offensive side. When Athanasiou and Hirose were together, they took just under half of the faceoffs in the offensive zone for the Red Wings.

It is understood that Nielsen or Filppula will be centering this line with Athanasiou which did well for the Red Wings last season. With seventy games played together last season, the combo of Athanasiou and Nielsen on the ice scored twenty-four goals and sixteen goals against. They managed a 51.19% SCF, 51.85% HDCF, all while producing 64.75% of the faceoffs in the offensive zone.

The bottom line is, the Red Wings are in good shape when Athanasiou is on the ice as a winger, not that he is a lousy center at all, but playing the position he’s most comfortable with only helps. Look for Athanasiou’s metrics on the standard stats as well as the advanced side of things to increase this year with Nielsen or Filppula at the center position. Also, look for Hirose to have a greater impact if he plays on a line with Athanasiou this upcoming season.