So you're saying the Wings are a little too young?
Looking at top 15 forwards, top 8 defensemen, and top 3 goalies in games played:
8 players 26 or under
12 players 27-32
6 players over 32
4 out of 6 optimal positions are 27-32
Taking out the injury replacements:
7 under
10 prime
6 over
Prior to adding Quincey and moving Commodore, we were perfect though. Guess it's no wonder things went south right after that...
I wasn't talking about the RW yet. But since you brought it up, lets. Currently the RW have 21 returning players from last year returning. Here they are by age groups, with their age in 2012.
26 and under:
Abby 25
Emmerton 24
Helm 25
Mursak 24
Nyquist 22
Kindl 25
Smith 23
27-32:
Eaves 28
Filppula 28
Miller 28
Zetterberg 32
Ericsson 28
Kronwall 31
Quincey 27
White 28
Howard 28
MacDonald 32
Over 32:
Bert 37
Cleary 34
Dat 34
Franzen 33
Then there are the old UFA's Lidstrom and Hommer. 42 and 38 respectively.
On the surface the roster is balanced fairly well. Majority of the team in the 27-32 year old group. 4 of the 6 premuim positions covered in that group. But that is also were some of the questions arise for the team. Filppula and Howard are UFA's after this coming season, and Zetterberg moves out of it due to age. Now we are down to just 1 of the 6 premium postions covered by this group. White is solid as a #4 D, but can either Quincey or Ericsson become a #3 D? Both are going to be/are paid like one. eaves, Miller, and MacDonald are just backup role players and that is fine. The question is: where do our next group of stars come from? History says this is the make/break years for Ericsson and Quincey. Most of us feel good about Smith. The rest of or prospects are several years away. this is also why everyone is talking so much about signing(insert your fav. UFA here) free agents. We need a youthfull talent infusion.
Now look at the roster via lines and budget amounts. yes this is just my opinions and everyone has their own versions of this.
top line: LW(3m budget): open, C(6m budget) Datsyuk, RW(3m budget) Franzen, this line needs a new LW
2nd line: LW (3m budget) open, C(6m bidget) Zetterberg, RW(3m budget) open, this line needs a new RW and LW
3rd line: LW(3m budget) Nyquist, C(4m budget) Filppula, RW(3m budget) Cleary, this line is set for the year.
4th line: LW(2m budget) Abdelkader, C(2m budget) Helm, RW(2m budget) Bertuzzi, this line is set for the year.
13 and 14th forwards: Mursak and Emmerton. Both are under the 1m per year budget.
Defense:
top pair: 1D(6m budget) open, 2D(5m budget) Kronwall, we need a new #1, ideally a RH shot.
2nd pair: 3D(4m budget) Quincey?, 4D(3m budget) White, can Quincey be a number 3d?
3rd pair: 5D(2m budget) Ericsson-overpaid? or can he become the 3D?, 6D(1m budget) Smith
7D: Kindl, under the 1 million per year budget
Goalies:
starting G: Howard, budget is 5 million and he is under that
backup G:MacDonald, budget is 1 million and he is at it
Now looking at the roster this way, we have 2 guys that don't really fit: Miller and Eaves. Neither one is good enough to fill any of the 3 open forward positions. We also have a hole at the #1 D. That is 4 opens to be filled via trade or FA. With the current contracts and budgeting, our total payroll would be 65 million. Leaving 5 million (based on an estimated cap of 70 million) leftover to bank for next season. After this season we have the following UFA's: Howard (should resign for 5 m or less per year), White (should resing for about 3 m per year), Cleary-needs to be let go and free up his 2.8 million cap hit, and Filppula who maybe should be let go, freeing up his 3 million per year. With those 4 contracts expirering, and a modest cap increase to 72 million, we will have 18 million to spend. 5 goes to Howard, 3 to White, leaving 10 million left to fill the #3 C and the #3 RW position. If, and we can hope Bertuzzi retires, that adds another 1.5 million to spend, if Sheahan is ready to take his spot on the 4th line.
By doing all of this, you can start to see something of a 2 year plan, to keep us moving forward, without a huge drop off. I am not going into the 100$ guessing game of naming FA's or trades, that horse has been beat to death already. But there are several UFA's this year that stay in budget and fill our 4 holes, while improving our team. Then we get to the loaded 2013 class of UFA's and can find a potentail super to help at C.
Edited by Richdg, 21 May 2012 - 09:03 PM.
