Okay, I get this. I would love another goal scorer at forward, but forward is anything but a weakness for the Wings currently. Datsyuk and Zetterberg may be aging and may be prone to occasional cold spells, but they're still two-way studs who can anchor the team's two really strong lines. Franzen is wildly inconsistent and lackadaisical (and to me, quite infuriating to watch) but he still can be a clutch scorer and is a nice piece to have in the top six with a cap hit just under $4 million. Filppula showed last year that he can put up points when provided with an opportunity. So there's four solid pieces for your top two lines. The likes of Bertuzzi, Samuelsson, and Cleary will rotate in and out depending on if they're running hot or cold. The Wings will likely be able to give one if not both of Nyquist and Brunner an opportunity in the top six, and I'm one who thinks Nyquist could challenge for the Calder next year if given the right opportunity. So, really, the Wings are in fine shape for their top nine. And they have too many forwards competing for the remaining five spots: Abdelkader, Tootoo, Miller, Eaves, Mursak, Emmerton. Possibly Holmstrom if he tries out (though I don't see him making this team). The Wings will hopefully turn one of those guys into a draft pick via a trade. We'll see.
Goaltending is currently more solid than it's been in a while. Howard is a legitimate number one guy, Gustavsson has more talent than most of our backups in recent years have had, and we currently still have MacDonald as a number three.
Defense is the true question mark. Kronwall's production will see a spike as he mans the first power play unit now, but I'm leery of him now being our only true option to shut down the opponents top offensive weapons. White might be decent enough to play on the second pairing sans Lidstrom, but not with the likes of Ericsson and Quincey. The bottom line is that Kronwall, White, Ericsson, and Quincey is not a the defensive corps on a contending team. Smith is a bit of a wild card, but I don't see him being strong enough defensively in his first season to be relied on as a shutdown guy. And Kindl is a depth defenseman at best. The Wings seemingly have to sign somebody else, but whoever that turns out to be will likely be a 6/7 guy anyway.
So, in my mind, the Wings hopes are really hanging by a thread defensively. And if there's an injury... yikes.
But, all is not lost. On paper, I would have said that New Jersey's defensive corps was weaker than Detroit's current group. By a long shot. But their coach implemented a system that allowed them to be quite good - as in playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. Babcock is considered one of the top coaches in the world by the vast majority of hockey writers, and should be able to implement a system that can allow Detroit's defense to be successful. Just look at the Mighty Ducks team that he took to the Cup finals way back. That team lacked in many areas. And, there's still a good chance in my mind that Holland makes a trade by the Winter Classic to shore up the defense. Yandle, Bouwmeester, or more likely somebody no one has mentioned. Also, it's hard to say that any team that was worse than Detroit last year is now better - maybe Chicago with Oduya for a full season. In fact, it could be argued that Detroit may now be better than Nashville.
So Wings fans, to summarize, we can take solace in the following:
- Babcock is a good enough coach to figure out a system where our defense can be successful
- A team with what looked to be a lesser defense on paper just played for the Stanley Cup this past June
- A trade could still happen
- There isn't a team that finished below Detroit that is now clearly better than the Wings
It's the dog days of summer, and the CBA negotiations are draining my enthusiasm, but at some point this month I plan on previewing each division. So if you're one of the two who reads my occasional posts, stay tuned.
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