Derek Lalonde singles out “unbelievable” offseason pickup

He may not show up very often on the scoresheet, but his contributions to the team go far beyond racking up goals and assists.

One of the offseason pickups from GM Steve Yzerman that flew under the radar was forward Christian Fischer, signed from the Arizona Coyotes. And his play not only in his own defensive zone but also on the penalty kill has proved to be invaluable, and given himself a strong case to earn a new deal from Yzerman for next season. 

Bench boss Derek Lalonde, who is in his second year on the job, singled out Fischer as an "unbelievable" pickup by Yzerman.

“He’s been unbelievable,” Lalonde said of Fischer. “The attention to detail, to his game … he forechecks. That line has been great. He gets guys touches, but he does things right all the time. For a lineup that was searching for some detail in the game, he does it.

“That’s a good example for the whole group. And he’s energetic. The old cliché, a locker room guy, and he’s the epitome of it. Everyone is going to talk about our success this year with some of the players we acquired, but he’s a quiet one what was a really good job by our management team and a really nice piece.”

Dylan Larkin echoed his coach's sentiments, saying that players like Fischer do "a lot of good" for the team. 

“I was kind of hoping that one went off Fish, because he deserves it with all the -- he’ll tell you all about his third assists and his kind of points that don’t end up on the scoresheet,” Larkin said. “A guy like that just does a lot of good things for the team. We have guys like that up and down our lineup.”

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