Gorilla Crouch

Last year the Detroit Red Wings made it past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. The big storylines last season were threefold: would Detroit be able to replace the leadership lost when Steve Yzerman retired and Brendan Shanahan signed with the New York Rangers; would Mike Babcock be able to improve upon Dave Lewis’ short-lived tenure as head coach; and would Pavel Datsyuk step into a larger role - particularly in the playoffs?

While its tough if not impossible to determine the answer the first questions, the other two were answered quite definitively and as a result helped Detroit get to the Western Conference Finals. If not for injuries to two of their top four defensemen there’s a decent chance they end up playing Ottawa for the Stanley Cup. That obviously was not the case. What I’m going to do to kick off this preview is take a look at some of the key storylines that will likely play out this season.

Johan Franzen as Power Forward? The Red Wings have tried to replace Brendan Shanahan with little to no success. They gambled - albeit a reasonable gamble in terms of cost - on Todd Bertuzzi coming back and becoming the player he once was in time for the playoffs last season. Here was my take back on January 28th:

Man, is this ever a tough call. A couple years ago this guy was the next Brendan Shanahan. He was a beast and just lethal in front of the net. With the new rules this guy seemed likely to be a 50 goal scorer year in and year out. Then he went apes*#t on Steve Moore and hasn’t been the same since. Oh, and he is also returning from back surgery. You are taking a risk with this guy, but he has some of the elements Detroit is looking for.

Bert obviously never returned to his former self and Brian Burke decided he was willing to wager more than the Red Wings on Bertuzzi becoming the player he was back in 2002-03. So the Red Wings have decided to put Johan Franzen on Pavel Datsyuk’s wing. The Mule has good size at 6′2″ and while he isn’t a fighter he’s good in the corners and was a solid scorer as a junior player, so the Wings are going to see if he can become a power forward.

Datsyuk is one of the better playmakers in the league, so if the 6′2″ Franzen can get to the front of the net he could be the beneficiary of some really high-quality scoring chances. I guess that Franzen will score 13 goals and put up 27 assists. That would be a career high in goals for him. But if he sticks on the top line - and the first game of the preseason was very positive with the Mule scoring two goals - he could conceivably crack the 20 goal mark.

Jiri Hudler’s breakout campaign? Possibly the biggest debate amongst Red Wings fans last season was diminutive forward Jiri Hudler’s role on the team. He played a limited number of minutes, typically on the fourth line, but still managed to score 15 goals. He is slated to play on the second line alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson. My guess is he will have a breakout campaign; I’m guessing he will score 25 goals and will tally 20 assists.

Defensive pairings? The forward lines are pretty much set for the time being. That’s clearly not the case with the defensive pairings as numerous blueliners are competing to fill out the 4th, 6th and 7th spots. Mike Babcock said that he planned on using Nick Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski on the top defensive pairing. It makes sense as they are Detroit’s top two d-men. Chris Chelios also has the 5th spot nailed down. Niklas Kronvall appears to have the #3 spot nailed down. If he can come through and stay healthy he will be a fixture on the second pairing.

Andreas Lilja was very reliable in the playoffs and probably has the inside track on the 4th d-man slot. He’s a rugged stay at home type who is solid on the penalty kill. Beyond that it’s wide open: Brent Sopel is probably Lilja’s main competition for the 4th d-man slot, while Derek Meech and Brett Lebda are the main players competing for the 6th/7th slot.

Pugilist? Mike Babcock has stressed how important it is for the Red Wings to become “difficult to play against”. That hasn’t included adding a fighter to the roster but it will happen if they can find a guy who also has some skill. The Red Wings have made it a priority to invite fighters to training camp. So far it hasn’t worked out to the point where a “fighter” [using the term loosely when it comes to Darryl Bootland and Brad Norton] made the roster.

The Wings don’t want to give a roster spot to a guy who can only start a fight, gets his ass handed to him and provide nothing else. The guy has to be a solid grind liner, a guy like Martin LaPointe who has some offensive potential [although ideally not a complete dumbass like LaPointe] or simply isn’t a team cancer [cough Sean Avery cough]. I don’t see any of the fighters currently on the training camp roster making Detroit’s squad, although I’d like to see them keep Neil Clark in Grand Rapids, who has good size and reach. He might have some potential at some point in the future.

Here are answers to some questions I threw together for the preview.

1. Which player will lead the Wings in goals scored? I’m going to go with Henrik Zetterberg, although Pavel Datsyuk will likely lead the team in total points.

2. Which player will receive the most fighting penalties? Given that Neil Clark isn’t likely to make the roster I’m going to go with Andreas Lilja.

3. Who will be the breakout player for Detroit? I made the case for Jiri Hudler above. If he pots 25 goals he’ll likely have this award sewn up, with Johan Franzen being a darkhorse candidate.

4. Which player is likely to get traded at the deadline? Last year Detroit traded Jason Williams and almost all Red Wings fans considered it addition by subtraction. This year there aren’t many obvious candidates but I’ll guess Brett Lebda if both Brent Sopel and Derek Meech stick with the Wings.

5. Which player would you like to see the Wings acquire at the trade deadline? Anytime they want to acquire Foppa is a-ok with me.

6. Which player will have you counting down the days until his contract expires? Early on this was a slam dunk Dallas Drake reply. But he’s gotten lots of positive commentary from Mike Babcock, which impresses me. But I want to see how Drake looks before I change my tune so I’m sticking with him for the time being.

For the fantasy geeks I’ll have my point projection for each forward and d-man later on today.

Red Wings

September 24th, 2007
Categories: Red Wings . Author: Dave

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