wingsnut19

So far, I believe that the Red Wings have a decent team, but I definitely don't think that its anything spectacular. We lost our entire 2nd line from last season in Bertuzzi, Lang, and Calder, and on D we lost Schneider and most likely Markov. I realize that people have some big hate for Lang, me included, but the fact is that his point production was still part of our offense last year, and that needs to be replaced by someone this year. Are the young guys up to the task? Can Franzen, Filppula, and Hudler produce consistently this year? I believe that much depends on the amount of confidence that Babcock decides to show in them.

To look at our projected lines.

First line: Samuelsson- Datsyuk- Holmstrom.

I kinda like this line, but as first lines go, its still rather weak. Datsyuk is an elite center, but Holmstrom and Samuelsson are far from elite wingers. I realize the man love people have for Holmstrom, and I understand his uses on the powerplay, but he is not a first line winger. He fed off of Datsyuk and Zetterberg when that line was hot last year, but is often slow and can be a defensive liability. I think that offsetting his poor defensive play with that of Datsyuk and Zetterberg worked out well, but throwing Samuelsson on a line with him opens up a whole new can of problems. He may have a great shot, but he doesn't know how to pick the openings, and he certainly isn't great defensively... but who knows, maybe things will work out.

Second line: Franzen- Zetterberg- Hudler

Ok, that looks nice. Franzen is a beast and would do great with Zetterberg, and make up for an undersized Hudler... this should probably be our first line. I really like Franzens game, though he's underdeveloped offensively, I think he could make a big impact playing with the right linemates. Hudler has made huge strides in the last year and a half and has looked great in Camp. Not enough can be said about the work that Zetterberg does, he's just an overall great player; probably one of the best 2-way forwards in the league.

Third Line: Cleary-Filppula- Draper

This is a great energy line. Cleary showed last year that he can get into the corners and rough it up a bit. He has the ability to score big goals, and playing with Filppula who has great speed, he should have another good year. As much as I think that Draper has lost a step, I do think he plays his role well. He back-checks fearlessly and creates great energy for the team. The problem is, he's gotten slow. Can he keep up with Cleary and Filppula, or the competition for that matter? I'm not so sure, and I think it's time to let him go after his contract runs out this summer.

Fourth Line: Drake-Kopecky- Maltby
A good utility line that should get the job done, so long as Kopecky adjusts well to the change to center. This line has really clicked in camp, and hopefully they can keep their intensity up into the preseason games and regular season.

Extras: Grigorenko, Matt Ellis, Aaron Downey.
I don't think Grigorenko is going to make the team this year, and will probably head back to Russia for the season. Heres to hoping I'm wrong. Matt Ellis and Downey could make the team, but probably not as more than extras.

Defensive pairings:

First Pairing: Lidstrom- Rafalski

I find this is huge overkill by Babcock if he indeed goes with this as the first pairing. Lidstrom can make anyone he plays with better, ands seeing as Rafalski is already one of the better defensemen in the league, I think he should be anchoring his own defensive pairing. I would much rather see Babcock through big defensemen Cullimore, who is at the Wings camp on a tryout, out there with Lidstrom to knock around some bodies, basically performing the same function that Markov did last year. Unfortunately, it looks like Cullimore is going to lose his spot to Sopel, who I am far less impressed with and makes a lot more defensive errors. But, Sopel does make our second PP unit better, which was very poor for us throughout last year, and still looks rather weak. Both of these tryouts present their uses, but I think that Detroit needs the size of Cullimore.

Second pairing: Kronwall- Sopel/ Lilja

Ummm... this pairing scares the everliving **** out of me. No defensive awareness from any of those players, outside of the small bit that Lilja might be able to contribute. I think that this Pairing would do much better to be Kronwall- Rafalski, as Rafalski is a better defensemen than Kronwall, and Kronwall can help jar the puck out to send Rafalski on the fly. Despite his lack of size, Kronwall is a very impressive open ice hitter, and if he can remain healthy, he could perform his role exceptionally well. The problem is, Kronwall is far from being the iron-man, injuring himself freakishly every year. So... keep your fingers crossed guys.

Third Pairing: Chelios- Lebda

Lebda is a great puck-moving defensemen with elite skating ability, but is very much undersized and has concussion problems. Chelios is aging... but I love the guy and his intensity. He exceeds my expectations every year, and as far as I am concerned, he can stick with the Wings for as long as he wants and feels he is able to compete. His performance in last years playoffs was invaluable.

Extras: Meech or Quincey

Detroit will probably end up keeping Meech on the roster as he is no longer protected from waivers. As well as he has played in this years camp, I think that Quincey is light-years ahead of him and showed last year during the playoffs that he can step up into a NHL role. However, a season down in the AHL will do wonders for Quincey, where he will develop alongside prospects Ericsson and Kindl, who look to be great defensive prospects. Meech seems to be somewhat expendable, but the Wings brass doesn't enjoy losing young talent for nothing.

Goaltending:

Hasek- health will always be a concern with Hasek, but he still can play at an elite level. With his conditioning at such a high level right now, and Babcock being smart in playing him, I can see him staying healthy for us, and performing well enough to take us deep into the playoffs. The question is, do we have enough depth in net to cover us if Hasek does go down?

Osgood- a more than capable backup who can play well in games when it is demanded of him. I think that having him on the team is restricting the progress of prospect Jimmy Howard, but he plays his role. I still wouldn't trust him as a starter if Hasek went down.

Howard- he has had a spectacular camp, and reports all indicate that he has impressed the Red Wings brass. If it came down to it, I think I would trust Howard with a starting role over Osgood, and I really hope that the Wings give Howard a chance next year, because he is starting to look like he is NHL ready.

Overall, I think the Wings look good, but there are holes. They have great forward and defensive depth, but they lack offensive ability up front, and lack size on D. They were able to make up for both of these deficiencies last year and made a deep playoff run in which they very nearly made the Stanley Cup final, but can they do it again, especially in a division that, outside of the Predators, improved this offseason?

I still think that the Red Wings will win the division with considerable ease, and they may even take the conference, but is this team built to make a deep playoff run? Well, we have roughly 4mill of cap space to work with at the deadline, but limited resources to use as trade bait. If Holland can somehow bring in a player to solidify either the first or second line, and find some size on D, this team would be in great shape. For now, they are not built to win it all, but are still definite contenders.

__________________

Sig. credit to rbenares11.

The Dutch rule all.