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Even if I weren't a big fan of this team, I just really want to see the rest of the hockey world react to the wings missing the playoffs once and winning the draft lotto

The Detroit Red Wings crash is officially here. There’s no easy or quick fix. So, settle down and in for a rough time. For the 2017-18 season, the Wings have 17 players signed with a $67.7m cap hit against a projected $73m ceiling. And, for the 2018-19, the Wings have 10 players signed with a $51.7m cap hit against a projected $73m ceiling. Regardless if it counts against the cap number, Johan Franzen hasn’t played a truly meaningful number of games since the 2011-12 season, but still draws almost $4m a year. Meanwhile, GM Ken Holland’s albatross Stephen Weiss, who last played NHL hockey in the 2014-15 season and was bought out in 2015, will draw an average $1.6m for the next FOUR years. Yes, every team has hiccups and busts, but savvy hockey operations offset those mistakes with corrections in other areas of the ledger to prevent falling off the cliff. We hear repeatedly around the trade deadline, draft day and off season that hockey is a business. However, the DRW front office – Holland, Assist. to GM Kris Draper, Player Evaluation Jiri Fischer and Sr. V.P. Jim Devellano – is seemingly incapable of biting the bullet for fear of burning bridges or pissing someone off. As a result of the “we are family” approach, the Wings, in part, have slipped into the playoffs in recent years and today are 25-27-11 and -29. The 28th best team in the league. There would be no point or value in assessing the current roster. These are OUR Red Wings … for now. Rather, I would like to see is a fundamental shift in how hockey operations and the coaching staff assemble and build the team. Trusting fans have told to be patient as the precious assets (young guns) are slowly worked onto the big club, learning and maturing with superstars and wily veterans. It was supposed to secure a successful future. So, where is the line on the ice, where difficult hockey (business) decisions are made to determine if a manager or player is truly an asset or an albatross? This is where tough decisions need to be made for the club’s betterment. I grow weary of excuses like “salary cap,” “long-term contracts,” “a different NHL.” Blah, blah, blah. Yes, I am spoiled. I follow one of the most successful hockey teams in NHL history. There was a dogged reason/strategy/purpose on the bench, behind the bench and in the owner’s box that is now missing. I’m not asking for change for the sake of change. I’m asking for tectonic shift to reset/restore what it means to operate and represent the Detroit Red Wings.

What if McIlrath is a late bloomer and he turns into the next Chris Pronger. You never know. Sorry, I'm still trying to make that deal look better in my head. But you never know, right? He is the highest drafted player on our current team (until next year), you know.

Well this sucks. Finally it looked like we could see him play for a good amount of games in a row and now this happens. Wish him the best in his recovery, luckily it's not a tear.

So what you're saying is... Brian Lawton = Nolan Patrick Sylvain Turgeon = Nico Hischier Pat LaFontaine = Martin Necas Steve Yzerman = Gabriel Vilardi Well Vilardi is the obvious choice isn't it?...

LW C RW Gustav Nyquist Henrik Zetterberg Tomas Tatar Andreas Athanasiou Frans Nielsen Anthony Mantha Justin Abdelkader Darren Helm Dylan Larkin Drew Miller Riley Sheahan Luke Glendening Defensive Pairings Dan DeKeyser Mike Green Niklas Kronwall Nick Jensen Xavier Ouellet Robbie Russo

Some people just want to see the Hockey World burn. In this case me too btw.

Poor guy. Finally a more or less guaranteed spot in the lineup and then that. Guess we will see more of the other kids now.

Sproul can't catch a break. Too bad, at least it means Russo will get a shot. I was worried Lashoff would be the one to get the call up.

Other than the obvious timing flaw here.....where did this come from? I haven't seen any such comment from Bob (unless it was from years ago)

New Dylan

Damn.. kid can't catch a break. Sounds like plenty of Russo and possibly Hicketts time.

Yeah, terrible luck / timing for Sproul. I was looking forward to seeing a lot more of him down the stretch. If there's any positive to take from this, maybe he becomes less appealing to take in the expansion draft... Hopefully he has a quick / full recovery, puts in a ton of work this summer, and steals a top 4 spot in October...

Mantha has played right wing in the past but he mostly plays on the left side, as he should. I'm more so speaking of the need for a right shooting top line winger anyway. It's been way too long since we've had one... EDIT: My bad PVD, he does play mostly on the right side. For some reason I was thinking he switched to the left side with Tatar on the right. Regardless, I still think we need that top line right shooting sniper. We have way too many left shooting guys, which prevents us from setting up shooting options on the left side of the ice, in particular on the power-play...

I don't see this at all. He may be one dimensional, but I think he will definitely be a top line right winger. I've heard a lot of comparisons to Kessel, and I'd take a prime Kessel any day. Besides, this team needs more offense first guys. He has an elite level shot and elite level skating, loves to shoot the puck, right handed, 6'2", 205lbs. Sign me up.

For the record, I'd have preferred to have Larkin at 2C and not signed Nielsen. My point was more that those decisions were not essential and don't have that much to do with Dats leaving early. If he left after this year instead, we'd have faced the same decision of whether to have Larkin as 2C or sign a UFA - just a year later. The draft trade certainly wouldn't have happened if he finished the contract, but I think we'll have to wait many years to see if that was a good move.

I dont really follow the isles but according to their SB Nation, sounds like their NHL roster was pretty young and their defensive prospect pool was pretty crowded.. this is from August of 2015 when Russo signed with the wings: ‪http://www.lighthousehockey.com/2015/8/16/9161749/islanders-pick-defenseman-robbie-russo-signs-with-red-wings‬

I agree that we will likely draft around the #4 spot, and if that's the case, I want Vilardi (he may be gone by then though) or Tippett. Larkin may become that number one C, but he may max out as a really good number two. Vilardi will likely develop into that number one C if Larkin doesn't get there. We have a top line LW in Mantha, but we desperately need that top line RW. Tippett could be that guy. As I've said several time in other threads, our number one priority is defense, but there aren't many high end defensemen in the top of this draft, so we should draft a bunch in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. But I also think the best bet for us to land that future number one should come via trade...

Everyone knows we need that number one defenseman, I just think we should be looking to acquire him through trade, rather than hoping to strike gold in the draft. Holland's staff has been great at drafting forwards, but for whatever reason, can't draft defensemen for s***. We have plenty of quality defensemen in the system, just no top end talent. If we can trade some depth to upgrade, I think that's the route we should go. Some teams like Anaheim, Carolina, Nashville have been great at drafting defense, but not so much at drafting forwards. Make some phone calls, kick some tires, and make a f***ing blockbuster trade that blows everyone away Kenny!

Gee don't give the Wings any ideas.

You do realize that this statement is, in fact, pure speculation.

I'm sure you guys will have a wonderful time. See the thread called "pilgrimage to Detroit" or something (linked by F.Michael above) for ideas on what to do if you don't have every day planned out yet. Downtown Detroit has a lot to offer.. it's really come a long way in the last 5-10 years. I love it down there.

That's rough, I hope you get it all worked out. Stoked for you to get to go to the Joe before it's gone though! It's definitely something every wings fan should get to do.

Man I'm bummed for you that you don't get to go to both games. I'd like to help you somehow. I live local to the area (arena about 20 miles away). I could try to put them on Craigslist or eBay for you. Of course there is an element of trust that would need to happen there. I have an eBay account of nearly 20 years with perfect standing with the same name as this account here. I could list it and then when it sells, you could email the tickets to the buyer so I would never see them. I would just need to get you the cash then. If you have PayPal I could send you the money. I could even show you around town if you want. Let me know what you think.

As long as we don't grab another 5'10" 175 lbs forward. Tired of our "goal scorers" being small and easily thrown around.