30 in 30 with the Detroit Red Wings

DP · Aug 15, 2011

NHL.com

ust as they always do in Detroit, the Red Wings rolled with the punches this summer.

They bid a fond farewell to three prominent figures, but were lucky enough that the most important defenseman in franchise history decided to stick around for at least one more year. General manager Ken Holland then made a couple of shrewd signings -- and, not surprisingly, the Wings are ready to take a run at another Stanley Cup.

That's just how it works in Hockeytown: The Red Wings are always built to contend.

They'll have to do so this season without Brian Rafalski, Kris Draper and Chris Osgood. The veteran trio has a combined 10 Stanley Cup rings, but each player decided to move on to the next stage of their lives. Draper and Osgood accepted positions within the organization.

But captain and reigning Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom figured out that he wasn't done yet, so the 41-year-old signed another one-year contract in June. It was the most welcome news of the summer for Holland and Co.

The Red Wings brought in Ian White to replace Rafalski and Ty Conklin to take over Osgood's backup duties behind Jimmy Howard. Mike Commodore was signed to be a veteran depth defenseman in place of the departed Ruslan Salei, and the Wings plan on using what was in-house to replace Draper.

The rest of the team is well enough known that diving into specifics on players like Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi, Danny Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart would be an exercise in repetitiveness.

They're good, real good. Everyone already knows that.

However, the Red Wings are also getting up there in age. All of the aforementioned players, including Lidstrom, Commodore and Conklin are on the wrong side of 30. That means 11 players on the Wings' 23-man NHL roster are 30 or older, including Lidstrom at 41 and Holmstrom at 38.

Then again, the Red Wings have been dealing with this issue of age and getting older for the past few seasons. It hasn't seemed to slow them down yet, and there is no reason to believe it will any time soon.
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Detroit remains deep and versatile up front, skilled and big on the blue line. Howard is coming into his prime years as a No. 1 goalie and with Conklin riding shotgun, the Wings could have one of the League's best goaltending duos. Conklin is used to playing between 20-30 games a season, which seems like the appropriate amount of work to keep Howard fresh into the spring.

If injuries become an issue, Detroit might have to dip into a pool of unproven yet promising players like Cory Emmerton, Tomas Tatar and Jan Mursak, who have a combined 30 games of NHL experience.

However, unlike in previous years, Holland still has plenty of wiggle room below the salary cap to make some in-season moves. According to capgeek.com, the Red Wings are $5.845 million under the cap even with a full 23-man roster. There are 12 teams in the NHL that currently have higher payrolls than the Wings, who spent to the cap last season.

If they keep that cushion through the winter, Detroit might be a major player at the trade deadline to beef up in time for another run at the Stanley Cup.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl
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Big Frame · Aug 17, 2011

DP said: ↑

They're good, real good
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Thats really all what needs to be said

Side note, I was scratching my head trying to figure out who the 3 KEY people that we got rid of.

DP · Aug 17, 2011

I like to say I did NOT say that. ^.^ False quotation marks. And when the Red Wings get rid of people, they get someone equal or better. Its a proven fact, one that I HATE. Lol.

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30 in 30 with the Detroit Red Wings

DP He shoots, he scores!

Big Frame Well-Known Member

DP He shoots, he scores!

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30 in 30 with the Detroit Red Wings

DP He shoots, he scores!

Big Frame Well-Known Member

DP He shoots, he scores!

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