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How bad are we if our roster is now finalized?

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We're so bad that even Crymson and Nightfall probably believe deep down that we'll miss the playoffs.

Haha, I wouldn't go that far. Its really tough to tell how we are going to do. We have to put in youngsters in the lineup, and that adds some unknowns. how will they respond? No one knows until the season starts. I think the Wings are probably going to make the playoffs, and thats all that matters. With an 8 seed winning in 2012, anything can happen come playoff time.

We're so bad that even Crymson and Nightfall probably believe deep down that we'll miss the playoffs.

Haha, I wouldn't go that far. Its really tough to tell how we are going to do. We have to put in youngsters in the lineup, and that adds some unknowns. how will they respond? No one knows until the season starts. I think the Wings are probably going to make the playoffs, and thats all that matters. With an 8 seed winning in 2012, anything can happen come playoff time.

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Alright, so I've been thinking about this, because much like the majority of fans on here I've been anxiously awaiting some exciting news. If you take a step back and look at what we've already got to work with, it's really not as bad as some are making it out to be. Perhaps after a few boring off-seasons we were all just itching for some big splash - something exciting, not necessarily because we needed it, but because we'd kinda earned it.

There's no denying the fact that we are weaker on D than we were last year. Suter or no Suter, this was inevitable - Lidstrom alone makes this so. Stuart, as much as some liked to bash him, was great and will be missed. This only adds another large hole in our defense. We could use one more depth defenseman especially given the departure of both Exelby and Janik. Now that they are gone, if there is an injury, which there almost always is, we really have nobody to call up. As sickening as it is to even say it - someone as crappy as Lebda would suffice as his only purpose would be 'bandage.' Luckily we still have a few viable options via free agency, not to mention the fact that we have WAY too many forwards and will likely trade a few for something. If that something isn't picks, it should be a depth defenceman.

I see a lot of complaining regarding Quincey and Smith. Yes, Q was not what we'd expected after the trade deadline, but keep in mind he was really good in Colorado and we were all a bit sour over losing him. He is better than he showed, and perhaps it was merely the adjustment from one team to another. I would expect an impressive effort from him this season and I feel that our first round pick was most certainly not wasted. Smith - what can be said about the kid? He is our best prospect, and our prospect pool is pretty damn decent. Rated as high as 4th was it? If teams like Philly can just throw their underripe prospects into the roster and see results, I would expect good things. I already liked what I saw last year and I, like many, didn't want to see him sent back down. Did these two fill the gaps left by both Lidstrom and Stuart? Of course not. Will they keep our team competitive? Bet your ass they will.

As far as forwards go... well, we may not have acquired any flashy free agents, but our team has improved. We lost Hudler - Jiri Hudler. With the exception of Eva and maybe two other people, he will not be missed very much. He wasn't as bad as we made him out to be, but there's the whole KHL thing, and oh yeah he's the smallest guy on the team. Sammy will not only replace the offence Hudler took with him, but will bring size and grit. Judging by about half of the rosters I see from various posters, it seems most of us have forgotten about the acquisition of Damien Brunner. He was the winger version of Schultz, and nobody really gave two craps when we learned of his interest in Detroit. He is a gamble, but then again so is Alex Semin. He could very well out score Hudler, and although unlikely, score more goals than Parise, who was signed for like 6 million more than Brunner. We don't know how well his game will translate into the NHL, but the potential is there, and that, to me, is as exciting a signing as any. We also have Jordin Tootoo. Tootoo may have inadvertently caused the death of miscellaneous computer hardware by signing here, but he will also cause death to those who f*** with our young guys, which is my next point.

We need to give our young prospects a shot in the NHL. There's a reason why most of you wouldn't want Nyquist included in a trade; He is the real deal. I don't understand how we can discourage trading them for proven players such as Nash or Ryan, yet be perfectly content with letting them rot in the AHL while we sign DOAN or whoever else. Doan is great, but he is old and he is not ours. For every Mueller, Prust or Doan we sign, a prospect loses his wings. For another season at least... Babcock guaranteed Brunner a spot. Tootoo is not sitting out at that salary, and neither will Samuelsson. We already have too many forwards, so as far as Doan and Semin go, we really don't need them. Nyquist is ready for the NHL and he will only become as great as he has been projected to be if we give him the chance.

Our team may not be stacked, but it will make the playoffs. We lost out on the Thunder Buddy sweepstakes, but we landed Brunner. This will be an exciting season and it could be full of pleasant surprises which will benefit our team in the long run. All we need is more depth on the back end and Holland will address this. The sky is not falling.

Agree with almost everything you wrote... Which is rare for me because I like to debate just for the sake of debate. All things considered, I'm excited about next year. Sure, I'd love to see Semin join the team and get back to his 40-goal form. But I'm also ready to see Brunner, Nyquist and Smith...

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Haha, I wouldn't go that far. Its really tough to tell how we are going to do. We have to put in youngsters in the lineup, and that adds some unknowns. how will they respond? No one knows until the season starts. I think the Wings are probably going to make the playoffs, and thats all that matters. With an 8 seed winning in 2012, anything can happen come playoff time.

Haha, I wouldn't go that far. Its really tough to tell how we are going to do. We have to put in youngsters in the lineup, and that adds some unknowns. how will they respond? No one knows until the season starts. I think the Wings are probably going to make the playoffs, and thats all that matters. With an 8 seed winning in 2012, anything can happen come playoff time.

Well, if history is any indication or youngsters will probably respond like this: "Since the lockout, the average production by a Red Wings forward in his first two seasons has been four points in 21 games and 223 minutes of ice time. That list includes Filppula, Franzen, Hudler, Darren Helm, Ville Leino and 19 others. If you're looking for a best-case scenario, Franzen has turned in the best early production over that span with 12 goals and four assists in 80 games as a rookie in 2005-06".

So here's hoping Brunner and Nyquist step WAY up. If not, then here's hoping that Smith, Sammy, and Tootoo were the pieces we needed to put a post season run together.

Obviously, another acquisition or two changes that considerably.

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I'm really not trying to bust your balls here, but just so I know what it is that you're optimistic about, would you mind throwing out a line combo so I can see what you see? Again, I'm really not trying to be a smart ass...I just want to follow you more accurately.

Any team with Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Helm down the middle and Howard in the net has a great shot of winning on any given night. We need a solid veteran D, a decent season from Smith, and good health on the back-end and we'll be fine.

We can't replace Lidstrom, so I won't even discuss that.

We're going to be harder to play against with Tootoo and Samulssen replacing Hudler.

I expect a better year from Franzen because of Tom Renney (players coach).

We actually have better balance up front with the addition of a bunch of RH'ers: Brunner, Sammuelsson and Tootoo.

Hopefully Eaves will be back because he'll help on the PK.

We have more speed with Brunner and hopefully Eaves back in the line-up.

I can go on... but for my money... we just have a different team now. We're not stacked like we have been for the past 15 years. But there's not a bad player in the lineup.

And if it doesn't work out, we still have a ton of cap-space to add some real firepower at the trade deadline. Or, if the cap drops significantly because of the new CBA, there will probably be some pretty good players available as teams like the Bruins, Wild, Cunucks, Sharks and so on have to shed salary.

Maybe I'm just an optimist... but I'm looking forward to next year.

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I agree with you that it will be fun to see, but as it stands I'm not expecting a lot considering all those forwards can't play at the same time. And I've already mentioned what is reasonable to expect out of Red Wings' rookies.

But like I said, it will definitely be interesting.

Edited by kipwinger

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