J.T. Compher is the type of player coaches love to have on their roster.
The Detroit Red Wings newcomer delivers reliable performances offensively and defensively, handy in all areas of the game. A week into his career with the Wings, Compher, 28, has a goal, three assists, a plus-three rating, and a 55.6% faceoff success rate while averaging right around 20 minutes in three games.
“He’s a 200-foot player,” coach Derek Lalonde said ahead of the Wings’ Wednesday game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. “You’ve seen he’s a player I gravitate to in a lot of situations. In that Tampa game, I probably felt I overplayed him a little bit, just because we needed a faceoff near the end of a period. I’ve leaned on him. Having that reliable a player is valuable.”
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Compher was part of general manager Steve Yzerman’s aggressive offseason moves to strengthen the Wings by adding more veterans. Compher brings the swagger that comes with having won a Stanley Cup; he did so in 2022, with the Colorado Avalanche. When Compher became a free agent in 2023, Yzerman signed him for five years, $25.5 million. Compher, a former Wolverine, fit in right away.
“I think it’s just been good team efforts,” Compher said. “We have a lot of different guys that can play on different lines and play together. We are still working through some of the chemistry, but we are all playing for each other.”
Compher started the season centering Lucas Raymond and Robby Fabbri, but when the latter suffered an injury late in the opener, Lalonde went with 11 forwards (and seven defensemen) in the second game, and played Compher 21 minutes and three seconds, the most among team forwards and second only to defenseman Moritz Seider’s 22.43 on the team. That was also the night Compher registered his first goal in Wings uniform and his second assist.
“You just want to impact the game and do what you can to help the team win,” Compher said. “Some nights that’s on the scoresheet, sometimes it’s faceoffs, sometimes blocked shots. I pride myself on being able to help the team in a lot of different areas. It’s not always about points or this or that, it’s just being steady and being consistent.”
Compher has also played on a line with Andrew Copp and Michael Rasmussen, about as reliable a defensive line as the Wings can assemble — and one that provided a goal at Columbus.
“We have some added depth, so we see some different looks,” Lalonde said. “That’s a line that gives us a little pop.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
Next up: Senators
Matchup: Red Wings (2-1-0 entering Wednesday) at Ottawa (2-1-0).
Faceoff: 1 p.m. Saturday; Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).
More online: Wednesday’s game against the Penguins ended after this edition went to print. Visit freep.com/sports for the game result.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: J.T. Compher hugely reliable for Detroit Red Wings, says Derek Lalonde
