The Red Wings in 2 to 5 Years

[Dimaline312000 51]

I know it probably won't take 5 years for all the players above to Retire but I wanted to give ample time in case someone wanted to pull a Chelios. What I'm concerned about is the Future of the Detroit Red Wings. Now when I say concerned I don't necessarly mean worried but all those players are near retirment given a season or two. What would you like the future of the team to look like? Now if you asked me as I've said before in numerous threads on here I tend to favor the youth movement. If you would have asked me about 5 to 7 years ago I would have said keep the older guys but with a lot of the NHL starting to bring in their younger players and the younger players are preforming really well I think it's time for use to do the same. I think the Wings are a great team for developing their players nice and slow but I often wonder if it's to slow. I think it's time for the Wings to start brining up some players from Grand Rapids. I really like Emmerton, Mursak, Pyett and Kolosov. I know they are young and they have to get the experince but I'm a big believer in allowing players to get a few games experince to be able to come up one day. I know Emmerton and Mursak have and I think but cannot recall positively if Pyett and Kolosov have had a chance to have any amount of ice time with the Wings yet. Watching them in GR and at Training Camp I've been very impressed with all of them and I think they would be good replacements for some of our players who are on their way out. I obviously want what's best for the team but I hate to see us continuing older veterans year after year and just waiveing out young guys that are due to come up. As for the goalie, I'm confident in Howard being our Starter I think he has been fabulous but we do need a back-up for Jimmy and once Ozzies gone whos it going to be? MacDonald is a good choice but he's not old but he's up there. I like McCollum but he has been a very up and down goalie if he can stay consistent for a full season I could see the Wings maybe giving him a chance in the NHL, once again it's one of those things where I'd like to see the Wings bring younger players up instead of signing some older ones. However Tommy is nowhere near ready to come up so we'd have to get another if Ozzie doesn't stay and we can't keep MacDonald. How does everyone feel about the direction of the Wings once we part ways with Liddy, Homer, Drapes and Ozzie what would you like to see done and what do you think the Wings will do?

[MGreenberg 105]

I know it probably won't take 5 years for all the players above to Retire but I wanted to give ample time in case someone wanted to pull a Chelios. What I'm concerned about is the Future of the Detroit Red Wings. Now when I say concerned I don't necessarily mean worried but all those players are near retirement given a season or two. What would you like the future of the team to look like? Now if you asked me as I've said before in numerous threads on here I tend to favor the youth movement. If you would have asked me about 5 to 7 years ago I would have said keep the older guys but with a lot of the NHL starting to bring in their younger players and the younger players are preforming really well I think it's time for use to do the same.

I think the Wings are a great team for developing their players nice and slow but I often wonder if it's to slow. I think it's time for the Wings to start bringing up some players from Grand Rapids. I really like Emmerton, Mursak, Pyett and Kolosov. I know they are young and they have to get the experience but I'm a big believer in allowing players to get a few games experience to be able to come up one day. I know Emmerton and Mursak have and I think but cannot recall positively if Pyett and Kolosov have had a chance to have any amount of ice time with the Wings yet. Watching them in GR and at Training Camp I've been very impressed with all of them and I think they would be good replacements for some of our players who are on their way out.

I obviously want what's best for the team but I hate to see us continuing older veterans year after year and just waiveing out young guys that are due to come up. As for the goalie, I'm confident in Howard being our Starter I think he has been fabulous but we do need a back-up for Jimmy and once Ozzies gone whose it going to be? MacDonald is a good choice but he's not old but he's up there. I like McCollum but he has been a very up and down goalie if he can stay consistent for a full season I could see the Wings maybe giving him a chance in the NHL, once again it's one of those things where I'd like to see the Wings bring younger players up instead of signing some older ones. However Tommy is nowhere near ready to come up so we'd have to get another if Ozzie doesn't stay and we can't keep MacDonald. How does everyone feel about the direction of the Wings once we part ways with Liddy, Homer, Drapes and Ozzie what would you like to see done and what do you think the Wings will do?

Sorry man, fixing this so maybe people can read it easier.

[Dimaline312000 51]

Thanks sorry, I slept during Grammar Class, lol.

[InKennyWeTrust 126]

The best thing about the Wing's immediate future is the absolute certainty we have locked down at the center position. D/Z will both age and decline eventually, but for the 2 to 5 year time frame, both are outstanding as #1 and #2, respectively. Then Val Fil, Helm, and Abdelkader can fight for the bottom two spots, mostly depending on whether Val Fil at wing makes more sense or not. Biggest need among forwards has to be a scoring winger or two of Franzen doesn't recover.

We need a defensive prospect or two to pan out. Ericsson's been a big disappointment thus far. Kindl could be huge as could Smith, but with Lidstrom and Raffi gone sooner than later, someone is going to have to step up or be signed. In either case we will need a good defensive defenseman, something that's been lacking for a while. The future is less certain in the whole defense, 1-6, but it seems like there are also reasons to be optimistic.

In goal, I want to see Jimmy have a good regular season. I think he will be great but it would go a long way to calming any remaining fears to see him put up a very solid 65-70 game season. I think that if we could have signed Nabokov for league minimum, finding a solid plug won't be that difficult year to year. This will give McCollum time to develop and we will either have a bonafide star in Grand Rapids or a disappointment that won't hurt so much.

There's my 37 cents... I'll try to keep it shorter next time.

[SwedeLundin77 460]

Yes, I understand that some of our veterans are going to retire, but you have to consider the youth on the roster right now as well as the youth in GR that will come up in your alloted 2-5 year span. You also have to consider with some payroll coming off in the years to come, free agency.

Let's start with Goaltending. I honestly think Osgood will come back for one last season, but if he doesn't, I do not see them going with Larsson, McDonald, or McCollum this upcoming season. You can count on them going out and looking for a competent back-up and the market is ripe for it this year. Hedberg, Boucher, Conklin, Nabokov, Theodore are the bigger names out there on the UFA market coming up. I personally would take Nabokov if he'd want to play for 1 million or less like he did this past season. He is a veteran who WANTS a cup and is in his upper 30's. He'd be another guy who can mentor, to a degree, Jimmy Howard and give him different insights. On the other hand, I would be fine with Osgood, or any of the other names I mentioned.

Now onto Defense. I believe Lidstrom will come back for one final season and Rafalski is going to be here until the end of his contract. I see him retiring in 2012. So our defense is pretty shored up right now. We have guys in the minors who should be able to step up within 2 years. Brendan Smith comes to mind first and foremost. This guy should be our next big homegrown D-Man. This is not to say we won't make a move to acquire a 5 or 6 d-man in place of Salei. I cannot see them going with Ericsson and Kindl with regular playing time. More than likely you'll see Kronwall - Stewart, Lidstrom - Rafalski, Ericsson - UFA D-Man/Kindl. I think you're looking at Kolosov as a 7th d-man at best in the NHL. He will more than likely serve as depth in GR for the Wings as long as he is here. You have other guys like Max Nicastro (could be ready in 4 years), Nick Jensen (could be ready in 4 years), and Adam Almqvist(could be ready within 3 years and has the tools to be a Ralfski type). Given these prospects and free agency, I don't see our defense having any issues post-Lidstrom. What really needs to change with defense is McCrimmon. It's obvious since he's come on in 2009 that our defense has suffered.

And finally onto Forwards. Out with the old guard, in with the new. Make no mistake, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Kronwall will hand the team to the next generation when the time comes. Let's assume that Draper is done. After this season you'll see Bertuzzi, Holmstrom, and Hudler gone. That will leave us with Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, Helm, and Abdelkader. So we would need to fill in with 5 forwards. Assume 2-3 would be through free Agency. I can see the Wings bringing back Eaves for sure. I'm not so sure on Miller, however, as his skills are somewhat redundant on this squad and with Holland already speaking about a roster shake-up, I see Miller being expendable. So let's assume in the coming seasons, the Wings add 1 or 2 forwards by way of free agency. One more than likely will be a scorer and the other an energy guy or tough guy. Looking at our prospects, you can make a case for Mursak to come up asap, but my only problem is that you can't keep bringing up these energy guys if they are all identical. That's what I see with Mursak. Can he put the puck in the next? Can Helm? If not you have a carbon copy of a guy who is already up on the team and they need to add more scoring punch if they want to continue to compete through the years. I believe you need guys like Tatar, who is ready to step up this coming season or the next. Other guys you could mention are: Gustav Nyquist, who should turn pro this season with GR, Teemu Pulkkinen, who is still in Europe but developing nicely and had a great season in 10/11. He should be ready to go sooner rather than later. Mitchell Callahan has the chops to be an aggresor on the 3rd/4th lines and could be a couple seasons away. Landen Farraro has the potential to be our next gen 2nd line center, but needs to get his act together. He's still three years out. Andrej Nestrasil has had a great career thus far and I think he could be ready within 5 years time, but it seems as if the Wings are going to be patient with his development.

As you can see there are a lot of options that will work for the Wings on all fronts. I think they'll be good for years to come. I think you'll see a tiny drop-off with Lidstrom's departure, but nothing too significant to overcome through free agency. As long as we keep the character of a team that doesn't quit, and doesn't get rattled, we'll be a-ok.

This is what happens when I have extra time at work.

[wings1110 184]

guys like tatar and smith should be up next season but im sure they wont be (at least for the full season). I actually think they should have been up at the start of this season (or at least been first callups).

Wouldnt you have seen smith patrolling the blue line over salei this season?

I have big hopes for callahan, jarnkrok (spelling?) and, pulkinnen as well.

Edited May 18, 2011 by wings1110

[VM1138 1,921]

It's nearly impossible to predict. So may players will retire that trades and free agency will be used more than drafting to rebuild the team, I think. FOr instance, Smith isn't going to replace Lidstrom. So, it all depends on the players Holland gets in the next few years, though I agree our youth movement has a lot of talent.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Well, when Yzerman, Fedorov and Shanahan left, we still had guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg that were already there to fill their shoes. I don't see anyone on the team now in their 20's, who is a star forward of the future.

I hope we'll still be good and competitive, but it will be harder with a salary cap to keep this team rolling every year. Although the cap doesn't exist anymore, the Wings of recent years are still similar on paper to what we had before. A continuation of the past of sorts.

The future looks like a blur to me 5 years from now in Detroit. Too hard to predict. Anything could happen.

[Guest mjtm77]

Well, when Yzerman, Fedorov and Shanahan left, we still had guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg that were already there to fill their shoes. I don't see anyone on the team now in their 20's, who is a star forward of the future.

I hope we'll still be good and competitive, but it will be harder with a salary cap to keep this team rolling every year. Although the cap doesn't exist anymore, the Wings of recent years are still similar on paper to what we had before. A continuation of the past of sorts.

The future looks like a blur to me 5 years from now in Detroit. Too hard to predict. Anything could happen.

teemu pulkkinen. depends on how he developes other then that we are filled with Val Filp type players. time to trade down and get a top 5 pick

[Nightfall 871]

Well, when Yzerman, Fedorov and Shanahan left, we still had guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg that were already there to fill their shoes. I don't see anyone on the team now in their 20's, who is a star forward of the future.

I hope we'll still be good and competitive, but it will be harder with a salary cap to keep this team rolling every year. Although the cap doesn't exist anymore, the Wings of recent years are still similar on paper to what we had before. A continuation of the past of sorts.

The future looks like a blur to me 5 years from now in Detroit. Too hard to predict. Anything could happen.

Lets be honest here, when Yzerman, Federov, and Shanahan were playing, Dats was a rookie and Zetterberg was still in Sweeden. No one knew what their potential was back then. We can speculate that Tatar and Smith will be good, but we just don't know. The NHL can chew up and spit out elite players in the AHL. Heck, Dats was only a 35 point guy back in 2002 and only notched 6 points in the playoffs. No one knew he would be a superstar until later.

I do agree with you though. I am less than impressed with the quality of guys in the AHL right now. I see some promise, but we have to see what the final product will be and we won't see that for a few years.

teemu pulkkinen. depends on how he developes other then that we are filled with Val Filp type players. time to trade down and get a top 5 pick

Either that or we can go with the free agent market. Not like players like Rafalski were a bad pickup. There will always be players out there that will take a discount to compete for a cup.

[Guest mjtm77]

Lets be honest here, when Yzerman, Federov, and Shanahan were playing, Dats was a rookie and Zetterberg was still in Sweeden. No one knew what their potential was back then. We can speculate that Tatar and Smith will be good, but we just don't know. The NHL can chew up and spit out elite players in the AHL. Heck, Dats was only a 35 point guy back in 2002 and only notched 6 points in the playoffs. No one knew he would be a superstar until later.

I do agree with you though. I am less than impressed with the quality of guys in the AHL right now. I see some promise, but we have to see what the final product will be and we won't see that for a few years.

Either that or we can go with the free agent market. Not like players like Rafalski were a bad pickup. There will always be players out there that will take a discount to compete for a cup.

yes but the question is will we still be a contender

[Konnan511 1,736]

guys like tatar and smith should be up next season but im sure they wont be (at least for the full season). I actually think they should have been up at the start of this season (or at least been first callups).

Wouldnt you have seen smith patrolling the blue line over salei this season?

I have big hopes for callahan, jarnkrok (spelling?) and, pulkinnen as well.

No to that. They weren't ready this season and still need at least another year down in the AHL.

But as for the latter, Jarnkrok and Pulkkinen look to have bright futures. Hopefully Almqvist stops being a ***** and bulks up like Nill and Andersson say he needs to do, but for some reason Almqvist hasn't done it.

Marshall looks like a steal and might have an impact within 5 years. Sheahan should be at worst a shut down third line center in 2-5 years for the Wings.

[Nhurdi 42]

The next 2 to 5 years will be a great test to show us how good our GM and a lesser extent our scouts are.

[Nightfall 871]

yes but the question is will we still be a contender

It really is hard to tell. You would think the Wings would reload through free agency if the draft picks don't work out.

[toby91_ca 620]

It is kind of scary that in 2 years, Datsyuk will be 35.

[Buppy 1,720]

Too hard to predict really. We still seem to be a team a lot of FAs are interested in, but long-term deals are really hurting the available talent pool.

Nick is really impossible to replace, it will take a team effort. Fortunately, the next couple years seem to be good years for FA defensemen, so that transition could be less painful than we fear. But our own guys are also UFAs at the same time so it could be even worse. Our D in GR looks pretty pathetic. Pyett, Ehrhardt, and Kolosov probably aren't even NHL caliber, or at best borderline line Meech and Janik. Lashoff is maybe a little ahead, but it's still probably a year or two before we really have an idea what he'll be. Smith seems the lone bright spot. Almqvist and Nicastro sound promising, but like Lashoff we need a couple more years at least before we can really judge. We're still not really sure what Kindl and Ericsson can be.

I think we'll see Stuie and Kronwall stick around, Smith, and at least two good FAs/trades, and maybe a FA plug as well. One or both of Kindl/Ericsson gone, with at least one of Lashoff, Almqvist, and Nicastro trying to crack the roster.

Howard for now looks good, but goalies are fickle beasts, so who knows. McCollum and Pearce weren't very impressive, but neither was Howard in GR. Larsson looked promising then he bolted back to Sweden.

I think we ride Howard for at least the next two years, probably with a vet backup. After that it's too hard to guess.

At forward I don't think there's any reason to think Pav, Hank, and Mule won't still be the big three. Maybe (hopefully even) we can add a big 4th. Flip, Cleary, and Huds are all talented enough to stay as our 2nd tier while we wait (and hope) for our younger guys to develop. We're full of bottom-6 candidates, with Miller and Eaves potentially staying. Helm and Abby should stick around. Mursak, Emmerton, and Andersson in GR. FA vet and/or a fighter type. Aside from Tatar, most of our better looking forwards aren't in GR yet. We'll probably need a rental or two in the next few years while we see how Nyquist, Jarnkrok, Pulkkinen, Sheahan, etc., develop. But we should be good for the next 5 years. Maybe not a top contender every year, but close at least.

We have a handful of potential stars, and a couple more drafts to find more. If two or three of them make it (and our defense and goaltending doesn't fall apart) we'll stay right where we are, or even get better. If none of them do, we'll be in trouble. I don't think FAs could fill the holes, and if our prospects don't develop we won't have the trade assests for anything big.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary/FA

Franzen - Filppula - Tatar

Nyquist - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen

Abdelkader - Helm - Mursak

Incredible.

Edited May 19, 2011 by Aussie_Wing

[Red Wings Addict 787]

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary/FA

Franzen - Filppula - Tatar

Nyquist - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen

Abdelkader - Helm - Mursak

Incredible.

If Jarnkrok develops the way we hope then in a few years the Wings could have the best depth down the middle in the entire league.

Datsyuk

Zetterberg

Jarnkrok

Helm

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Cleary/FA

Franzen - Filppula - Tatar

Nyquist - Jarnkrok - Pulkkinen

Abdelkader - Helm - Mursak

Incredible.

2012-2013 could be a little interesting in terms of prospects graduating.

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Franzen

Tatar-Filppula-Cleary

Nyquist-Andersson-Mursak

Abdelkader-Helm-Callahan

Edited May 19, 2011 by Red Wings Addict

[DesertWing 11]

Defense wins championships. I'm not worried about the Wings' offense, but they need a couple young Defensemen to pan out. It would also be nice to see Kenny go after a young top pairing free agent D-Man after Rafa & Lids' contracts come off the books.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

It is kind of scary that in 2 years, Datsyuk will be 35.

More scary that he gets better and better every single damn year. Scary good maybe. Regardless, Hank has regressed a bit in my opinion mainly because of a nagging back injury but he still controls the puck and back checks like a damn monster. Nick will be sadly gone here in the next little bit. Tatar, Smith, Nyquist, and Pulkkinen are the dudes that have to take the torch. I have confidence in this organization to figure it out and make some splashes in the draft to secure our spot for the next 10-15 years or so, hopefully. As we have stated with the way the NHL is now, we really have to pin our hopes on these kids in the A to get it done for us. Regardless, I am not at all worried about the competitive aspect of this team, that shall always be there. Cup contenders? That just may change, I really don't know. Seems we might have our goalie now though. I use might quite strongly here.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

How underrated is Nyquist? It's insane. Back to back finallist for Hobey Baker, starts off with a bang with the Griffins, the kid will be at worst a third line winger.

[Konnan511 1,736]

How underrated is Nyquist? It's insane. Back to back finallist for Hobey Baker, starts off with a bang with the Griffins, the kid will be at worst a third line winger.

He's a soft Euro who doesn't play a flashy game, of course no one is going to talk about him. He's severely under appreciated on these boards, that's for sure.

[uk_redwing 495]

He's a soft Euro who doesn't play a flashy game, of course no one is going to talk about him. He's severely under appreciated on these boards, that's for sure.

I thought he had a quite a flashy game in his spell in Grand Rapids. He wasn't afraid of pulling a move every now and then. Does a good spin-o-rama and toe drag.

Scary to think of line so far ahead in the future, but Im guessing assuming theres no major trades or movement (which there will be at some point) I'd go with (for 5 years in the future):

Tatar-Datsyuk-Nyquist

Zetterberg-Filppula-Cleary

Pulkkinen-Jarnkrok-Mursak

Abdelkader-Helm-Callahan

No idea how those lines would work out. Certainly very skilled and very speedy. Size would be a concern though.

[Konnan511 1,736]

I thought he had a quite a flashy game in his spell in Grand Rapids. He wasn't afraid of pulling a move every now and then. Does a good spin-o-rama and toe drag.

Scary to think of line so far ahead in the future, but Im guessing assuming theres no major trades or movement (which there will be at some point) I'd go with (for 5 years in the future):

Tatar-Datsyuk-Nyquist

Zetterberg-Filppula-Cleary

Pulkkinen-Jarnkrok-Mursak

Abdelkader-Helm-Callahan

No idea how those lines would work out. Certainly very skilled and very speedy. Size would be a concern though.

Every one of those lines has at least two extremely defensively responsible forwards on it, they are also very fast, but you're missing Sheahan who will be to the big show probably before Pulkkinen due to skating and size.

I'm not worried at all about our forward depth, i think we'll be top 10 or 5 in scoring in the future for a while, i just have reservations about our defense as we have a TON of puck movers, but no defensive minded defensemen.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Agreed.

Gotta be honest - there's no "star calibre" players coming to the "Bigs" in the next few years; hope I'm wrong.

Dats/Hank/Mule are already at their peak, and will begin the decline within 2, or 3 years (Hank, and Mule in particular)...Our defense looks even more shaky with Lids possibly retiring sooner than later.

Hate to be a downer - just how I'm seeing things.

Hopefully Holland will change gears and make some big moves when it comes time, but I'm worried that he will "tweak things" for the next few seasons until the wheels finally come off this team. As was mentioned, the tweaks have worked up to now largely because of guys like Z, Dats, Kronwall that helped the transition.