Decision for Bylsma to join Red Wings came in Denmark

Dan Bylsma officially joined Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill's coaching staff as an assistant Friday but the decision was forged overseas in Denmark.
Bylsma was one of the assistant coaches on Blashill's Team USA staff at the 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark, helping the team win a bronze medal.

"Dan and I had a pretty unique experience being able to work together at this most recent World Championship for the U.S. and when I set out to hire an assistant coach I wanted to hire somebody that, one, had lots of experience," Blashill said during a conference call. "I think the more experience you have with real good minds, the better information you get as a head coach to make decisions. I also wanted somebody who would help our power play and add value to our team.
"The experience in Denmark gave me a firsthand knowledge of Dan as a coach, specifically as an assistant coach, and I thought he did an excellent job for us over there. I thought our interaction was excellent and he really at that point went to the top of my list for assistant coaches."
Bylsma, who replaces John Torchetti, said working with Blashill in Denmark sealed the decision for him as well.
"I really have a mind to say I wanted to get into a situation I felt comfortable with, with the staff, with the coaches, I find that in Detroit, I find that with Jeff at the World Championship," Bylsma said on the conference call. "That experience we had, the 4-5 weeks coaching together, really made me want to come to Detroit and want to get on Jeff Blashill's coaching staff."
Bylsma, 47, is a native of Grand Haven, Mich., who is best known for coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2009-14.
In 2009, Bylsma and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Red Wings in seven games.
From 2015-17, Bylsma spent two seasons as coach of the Buffalo Sabres.
Last season, Bylsma was a studio analyst for the NHL Network.
The last time Bylsma was an assistant coach in the NHL was when he served as an assistant for the New York Islanders in 2005.
Bylsma was the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL affiliate, when he was called upon to replace Michel Therrien on Feb. 15, 2009.
At the time, the 38-year-old Bylsma was the youngest head coach in the league and in his first 25 games, the Penguins had an 18-3-4 record, the second most of any coach in his first 25 games.
Although both Blashill and Bylsma are Michigan natives, the two did not know each other well before coaching Team USA together last month.
"The other thing I had here is Adam Nightingale, our video coach, worked for Dan his last year in Buffalo. Adam is a really bright young coach who has a great mind and Adam and I would talk lots about the experience in Buffalo and talked lots about Dan as a coach and his strengths. I felt I had a little bit more knowledge going into it. There's not an interview you could have that would be anywhere near the level of importance compared to working with somebody in the setting we worked at the World Championship for three and a half weeks. That would supersede any interview you could ever go through, to get a feel for what I am as a coach, what Dan is as a coach, and I think we both felt real comfortable in our relationship that way."
One of the most important duties that Bylsma will be tasked with is improving the power play, which ranked 24th at 17.5 percent last season.
"He ran our power play in Denmark," Blashill said. "One, he's got a very organized plan as to how he believes a power play should execute, how he believes a power play should be run, having a multiple number of breakouts to be able to utilize in a a game if needed if you're struggling. Dan's an excellent face-off play guy, it's something that … I coached against him, I know this firsthand, his teams have always been good on the face-offs and having a good plan off the face-offs and on the power play. Honestly, that's something I haven't been good enough. Those things for sure he can really add to our power play and I just think having a chance to see it firsthand, and I think one of the most important things you have as a coach is the ability to relate to players and find a way to get the most out of them and I think he did an excellent job with that group over there."
During the 2015-16 season, the Sabres were 12th on the power play at 18.9 percent and then jumped up to first in the league at 24.5 percent during the 2016-17 season.
"I think there's several different aspects that you need to have on your power play to be an effective one but possession and entry into the zone is a key importance, it starts with the face-off, might be a breakout but gain that possession and entry is vital to your power play," Bylsma said. "Shot and attacking mindset and mentality is a huge indicator of power-play success and teams that have those aspects to their power play, they have success. Toronto is a perfect example of that type of mentality where they're attacking and shooting and converging to the net. That's where they gain their power-play success over the last two years.
"Once we evaluate who's going to be on the power play and who's going to be put there, you'll see a certain kind of mentality but it'll always end up with shots and activity around the net and chaos around the net, attacking and converging is really a core essence of having success on the power play."
One of those players who will be important to an improved power play is Dylan Larkin, who was also on Team USA during their bronze medal-winning run.
Larkin led the Wings in points last year with 63 but only eight of those came on the power play.
"Dylan is one of those guys, I think, has potential to work in several different areas of the power play," said Bylsma, who also coached Larkin with Team USA before he signed with Detroit. "He's got the intelligence and the smarts to be a middle guy and a bumper guy, he's got the ability to play on the half-wall as a left-shot guy, he can play on the half-wall attack and with his speed, with his shot can be an effective guy on the power play. The other area is Dylan's got unique NHL elite speed, one we'll look to utilize on the breakout as well and certainly was that for the Red Wings last season. So I'm excited about it, I think he's got room for growth and development in this area of his game and depending on the pieces of the power-play unit we end up having, Dylan could be in a number of spots."
Bylsma has spent most of his hockey career outside the state of Michigan, but joining the Red Wings is a special homecoming of sorts.
"I've lived two lives in this aspect. The first 20 years of my life I was a Detroit Red Wings fan and for the next half of my life I may not have been," Bylsma said. "But I've always had in the back of my mind that coming back home and working for the Red Wings and being a part of the Red Wings organization is something that I wanted to do and certainly this is an opportunity and an aspect that Jeff afforded me to come back home, so to speak. It's a ways away from where I lived in Michigan but I've been been around the Red Wings family and the Red Wings fans for a long time and I've already gotten a lot of love and support from people in the area, saying welcome home and welcome to the Red and White. It is a big aspect of my decision to join Jeff and join the Red Wings."