Todd McLellan got there first by himself as he sat down for his post-game news conference.
"I'm sure," the Detroit Red Wings coach said, "I'm going to get questions about Anton."
McLellan has gotten quite a few questions about Anton Johansson over the past week, for good reason: The 22-year-old defenseman keeps making good impressions as the Wings work their way through the exhibition season. He has appeared in all of their first three games, and added his fifth assist in that span in the 3-2 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, Sept. 24, at Little Caesars Arena.
"Clearly he's played real well and unfortunately for some others that have played well, but they haven't been able to play at Anton's level to this point," McLellan said.
"Will it continue on? I don't know."
On Thursday, Johansson (6 feet 4, 203 pounds) set up fellow right-shot defender Axel Sandin-Pellikka during a power play in the first period.
"I feel good, I feel better and better in every game," Johansson said. "It builds confidence. When you score points, you get confidence. When you play good, you get confidence. So yeah, I'm full of confidence right now."
Johansson and, for that matter, Sandin-Pellikka, are vulnerable as the Wings work on paring their roster to 23 by Monday's 5 p.m. deadline because neither needs waivers to be sent to the minors. But each can help offset the offense lost with the offseason departures of Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk, and help make the back end more potent.
"I mean, it's huge, I think," Alex DeBrincat said. "The quicker we move it up the ice, the more offensive zone time we're going to have and then obviously in the O-zone, those guys are elite and can really hold the puck and get it through and create chances that way. It helps us move as a five-man unit. That's something we need to do better and we've really focused on breaking the puck out and spending less time in our D-zone. Those guys can help us that way in defending and then moving it up quick to the forwards and we can play north a lot quicker instead of turning it back and creating turnovers that way."
William Wallinder hasn't shined offensively during his three exhibition tests – the Wings wrap up the preseason at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m., Detroit SportsNet – but he has played a pretty steady game in his own zone, and that's making an impression, too. He is no longer waiver-exempt, so while he projects to be on the roster, it's another thing to force his way into the lineup.
"Our back end has been involved in a lot of offense so far in the exhibition season," McLellan said. "I'd like to see that continue. And it's not necessarily a careless offense. We got dinged for a two-on-one today, a little bit careless, but other than that we haven't really given up too many outnumbered rushes. We've been able to check fairly well and still have our D-man involved in the play, so that's a good sign."
At the very least, even if Johansson is shipped to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, he'll leave having impressed upon the Wings just how capable he is.
"I hope so," Johansson said. "I feel good, so I hope so. I came into camp with a lot of confidence. I played really good last year in GR. I know what I'm capable of. So yeah, it feels good."
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com.
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Next up: Blue Jackets
Matchup: Red Wings (2-0-1) vs. Columbus (2-1-0); exhibition finale.
Faceoff: 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
TV/radio: Detroit SportsNet; WXYT-FM (97.1).
Regular-season opener: Vs. Rangers; 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2; TNT/truTV.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Anton Johansson keeps making his name heard among Detroit Red Wings
