Touring the Red Wings internets
With the Red Wings bloggers weighing in with their season previews now is a good time to take a look at what they have to say. Bill over at Abel to Yzerman feels confident the Central Division has been locked up already:
The Central? It’s done. It’s 24 September and the division’s been locked up already. By now you know that has less to do with the talent in Hockeytown than it does with the complete lack of it throughout the rest of The Division That Gary Built. The Central is garbage. The second-best team has been gutted.
It’s tough if not impossible to disagree with that, although I will be interested in seeing the Forechecker’s preview as far as what he expects from the Preds this season. Dave Poile has done a remarkable job in Nashville so I think they’ll find a way to make the playoffs and possibly even push the Red Wings for first like they have in both the past two seasons.
The Chief sees Lidstrom winning his sixth Norris and Datsyuk winning another Lady Byng trophy, which is certainly possible but he also thinks Henrik Zetterberg will win the Selke trophy. He was getting strong consideration for the award last year before Brad Stuart decided to try and redesign Hank’s lumbar vertebrae which resulted in Z missing the last 20 or so games of the regular season. I missed Saturday’s game against the Pens but it sounded like Hank was dominant, which is obviously a great sign.
Christy at Behind the Jersey - as is usual - has provided a thorough account of the players the Red Wings lost and signed this offseason. I agree with her that the biggest loss for the Wings was Mathieu Schneider signing with the Anaheim Ducks. But his leaving didn’t bother me at all when I found out that Detroit was able to sign Brian Rafalski to replace him.
She also takes a look at the one debate raging amongst Red Wings fans: which defensemen will make the team:
…the team will give a defensive roster spot to a fresh face. While there are quite a few players who could earn the spot, it’ll probably go to Derek Meech. Why? Meech has to pass waivers if he’s to be sent down to Grand Rapids and another team would pick him off and the Wings would get nothing in return.
Another possibility is Kyle Quincey, who played solidly in the postseason when defenseman Niklas Kronwall and later Schneider were injured. The biggest defensive prospect is Jakub Kindl, who will play for the Griffins in the AHL this year.
One intriguing development is that Jonathan Ericsson appears to have picked up where Jakub Kindl left off last preseason and has been pretty solid for Detroit. I think he’ll ultimately wind up in Grand Rapids this season but in terms of the Big Picture the 6′5″ d-man appears to be a solid offensive defenseman who will play in Detroit’s top 4 at some point, possibly next year after Andreas Lilja’s contract expires.
The guys over at Gloveside have their preview up and offer their take on the upcoming Red Wings season. Steve takes a look at how the scoring will work if Datsyuk and Zetterberg end up on separate lines as Mike Babcock said would happen this season:
The number one line last year featured superstars in the making Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Both of those players exhibited the ability at times last season to showcase their tremendous skills and dominate games. Holmstrom was the lucky plug to play on the same line and scored thirty goals.
The Red Wings tried splitting Z and Pavs last year and there wasn’t enough scoring so they were re-united. This will be one of the bigger things to watch as the season plays out. If they need to be reunited expect Detroit to use their remaining cap space to acquire a top 6 forward. The Gloveside preview also predicts Aaron Downey will make the team. I think the Red Wings will keep Grigorenko in Grand Rapids at the start of the season for as long as they can before bringing him back up to the big club. If that’s the case does Downey make the team, or does someone like Mark Hatigan or Matt Ellis? Based on his play I think there’s a good chance Hartigan starts off in Detroit.
Finally, Red Wings Central has an article on the seasons to date for several Red Wings prospects who have been sent back to their minor league squads. Randy Cameron in particular has gotten off to a fine start which is a good sign since it seemed like he struggled a bit during his first training camp in Detroit.
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