3 players that need to step-up for the Detroit Red Wings right now

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nick Leddy.

This summer, when Yzerman was busy making moves for the Detroit Red Wings. He flipped forward Richard Panik and a second-round draft pick to the New York Islanders in exchange for veteran defenseman Nick Leddy.

It was a solid trade to bolster up the team’s defense core when Yzerman was not too high on this year’s draft class due to minimal scouting and lack of information due to the global pandemic and hurdles that so many teams had to face.

But, when it comes to Leddy, the Red Wings knew what they were getting. A sure-handed defenseman who can play well on both sides of the ice and has a knack for getting involved in the offense at times.

Leddy is adequate on both sides of the ice and has gotten involved a little bit with the team in 2021-22, but not as much as the Red Wings probably would have hoped. With a $5.5 million cap hit for this season, the Red Wings have to be hoping he can pick up the slack.

In 28 games played, he has just eight assists on the season. In exactly half of what was last year’s full season, Leddy has performed at a pace that would have him produce only half of what he did in 2020-21 over 56 games played.

There’s still plenty of time left this season for Leddy to get some ground made up and perform better offensively, but the Red Wings have to expect Leddy to make some changes and step if the team really wants to push to make a run.