Will Todd McLellan’s 1-3-1 Work for the Red Wings?
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08 Nov 2026 02:08:54 pm.
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So I’ll do my best to preview what the Red Wings 1-3-1 may look like, who it depends on, Detroit Red Wings Jerseys and how it may play into this team’s strengths. If you’re interested in more casual Red Wings coverage, check out my weekly show below.
The 1-3-1 is essentially the tactical way to compensate for roster deficiencies. At least, it’s one of the better ways to negate more potent offenses from opponents, which is probably needed given the lack of a top pair of defencemen. It takes some pretty rigid buy-in and the right players in the right roles.
The short answer to explaining the 1-3-1 is one forward sits high and attempts to stop the initial pass, the wingers and a defenceman clog the neutral zone, and the final defenceman sits back as a sort of safety. The long answer is a little more specific, should you be so inclined; here it is.
The high-forward (F1) cuts the ice in half by forcing a lead pass from the defenceman. They essentially funnel the play to either side of the ice. F1 needs to have the threat of a turnover present when they press, or else getting beat will result in a player being caught and having a much easier time breaking the trap.
The wingers (F2 & F3 respectively) are responsible for actually forcing the turnovers. Once funneled to either board, the wingers need to press the play in the other direction. The best-case scenario has the wingers push the play back to the high-forward, and the opposing winger comes up to create a chance. Worst case, the pressure along the boards should give the rest of the team enough time to adjust to negate the push from the other team.
The defenceman takes on two pretty different roles; the high defenceman sits in the neutral zone between the wingers (D1) and attempts to turn the play. D1 needs to cut off the pass through the middle in case the F1 can’t pressure the play towards the boards. It’s probably the most fluid role; D1 needs to be able to float around and deter play down the middle while covering the boards to help the wingers turn plays.
Finally, the sitting defenceman plays the safety role. If the puck is dumped in, D2 has to recover the dump-ins pretty much on their own and make the pass to the support in the neutral zone. It’s also on them to deter any passes that break through and lead to odd-man rushes.
The risks with the system come from pressure in the gaps. The system isn’t exactly fluid, and there’s pretty noticeable space between the high forward and the midline that can lead to multiple forwards breaking through to only one defender. Personnel matters too; you need strong board presence from your F2 & F3 and really good skating and reach from D1 to complete the midline, or opposing teams can just bulldoze through the midline.
So how has Detroit executed it, and who has been benefiting from it?
Detroit has some roster problems, shocker. Had they had Simon Edvinsson and Dylan Larkin, or at least some adequate replacements for either, they may not need such a philosophical change to their game plan. Instead, they have a lot of raw prospects who have physical tools but lack game sense, so putting them into a rigid formation can help compensate for that while leaning into their strengths a little more.
Notably on defense, Anton Johansson and William Wallinder are both tall and great skaters but lack the game sense to really settle the game in their own end. Having them use their physical traits like speed and reach to deter plays through the middle as a D1 makes a lot more sense for them than having them try to shut down half of the D-zone on their own. It complements the skill sets that Moritz Seider and Justin Faulk have as well. Seider is elite at shutting down odd-man rushes, and both defencemen are great at transitioning the puck after picking it up. Against the Panthers, even when the trap went wrong, Seider and Faulk could largely negate the risks.
This is still a Steve Yzerman roster; the players on it are supposed to come with some solid grit and speed, and the choices made about the roster on a nightly basis really fit the style McLellan wants here. John Leonard, Viktor Arvidsson, Lucas Raymond, Michael Rasmussen and Sheldon Dries all make for pretty solid F1’s given their checking and agility. The other forwards complement really well along the boards, being either great with their stick like Andrew Copp or J.T. Compher, or gritty enough to push the play forward like Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and Alex DeBrincat.
It’s rewarded Detroit with some really solid chances in transition up and down the lineup, and it’s led to the Red Wings pretty easily deterring the other teams’ offense because the lineup feels so well constructed to play into the Todd McLellan system.
The question for me is whether this is a bandage or a long-term solution for the Red Wings. Is this a choice made to compensate for the lack of high-end talent on the team, or is it the style McLellan wants to see permanently executed? While it certainly raises the floor, Todd McLellan himself will tell you that when it’s solved, it’s pretty easy to get pummelled. Just look at their struggles against the Oilers season after season.
Does the system change when the Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson trades are finalized? Will their return have McLellan put the team into a different style? Will that depend on what the return consists of? Who’s to say, but for my two cents, I’ll give this. Detroit’s roster has consistently been very lackluster on paper, and even when their best players gave you 40+ goals and an 11th in Hart voting season like DeBrincat and Seider have, it hasn’t gotten Detroit into the playoffs. Worse teams have found success with a team-centric system. Obviously, the L.A. Kings, but the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes had pretty long-standing system-based strategies that at the very least earned them playoff appearances.
The bar for the Red Wings isn’t succeeding in the playoffs; they’re still focused on getting there. I think that regardless of who comes back in trades, they won’t bring more talent to Detroit than they had last season, so a system-first approach is where my money lies.
Transition Offense: Detroit was awful in transition for both of the past two seasons. They weren’t scoring on the rush and weren’t generating many chances either. The 1-3-1 has changed that so far. The turnovers have led right into scoring chances for anyone who’s willing to jump into the play this season, and against the Panthers, the Red Wings had plenty of looks with an extra man heading up ice.
William Wallinder and Anton Johansson: As mentioned, it’s tough to learn the defensive zone in the NHL right away. Both Wallinder and Johansson are fairly raw as NHL players, but the physical traits are what make them so special. The system really leans into their skating and size rather than making high-IQ plays this early in their careers.
Losers:
Axel Sandin-Pellikka: Being sent to Grand Rapids is already a rough look, but it’s clear McLellan couldn’t make him work. He’s not great on his own, and his style doesn’t really cater to being that middle-man D1. Until either the style changes or his game refines, Sandin-Pellikka is going to find it hard to find his way back onto the roster.
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