Will Andreas Athanasiou return to Red Wings?

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Mar 27, 2017; Raleigh, NC, USA; Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou (72) celebrates his game winning overtime goal against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Wings struggled for offense during the 2017-18 Season, their second consecutive year without qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One important piece of their struggling offense is speedy forward Andreas Athanasiou, who is a restricted free-agent to-be this summer.

After a contract holdout to start the year, Athanasiou returned to the Red Wings 10 games into the season and initially performed well, recording 17 points in 31 games. However, he only put up 16 points in the next 40 games. 

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Will he return to the team next year? He wants to be back, but as fans have found out, it isn’t always that simple.

“This is one of the greatest organizations in the NHL,” Athanasiou said. “If I get the opportunity to play here, it’s unbelievable. The main thing is trying to get this team back to a playoff position, so you’re a contender for the Stanley Cup.”

Athanasiou saw his ice time increase to 15 minutes, 19 seconds per game, an increase from 13:28 last year. However, his offensive struggles also stretched to his defensive play – he was a team worst minus-15. 

“You have to be ready; it’s that type of business you’re in,” Athanasiou said. “Whether it’s nine minutes, or 10 or 15, or 20, you have to be to try to do the best you can.”

“But, there are a lot of guys in this room that have to play. There’s a lot of things that go (into it) and you can’t really look to much into it. Whatever line combination (coach Jeff Blashill) puts out there, he’s trying to win hockey games. You have to respect that and be ready with whatever you got.”

Head coach Jeff Blashill knows Athanasiou’s value to the team, and wants to see more consistency out of him to justify his increased ice time.

“My message to Double-A was, I as a coach, have to know what I’m getting every single shift,” Blashill said. “The growth in him is going to be to learn to work and compete on every single shift.“ If I’m guessing whether or not he’s going to work and compete, it’s hard to keep putting him out there because I don’t know what I’m getting.

That consistency level and work and compete is going to be critical for Double-A.”