Pool Outlook for Detroit

For a season that seemed to go wrong at just about every turn, the Detroit Red Wings still made the playoffs, keeping their North American professional sports streak alive for their 23rd season.  Now, it's not how you make it into the playoffs, of course, it is just the fact that they made it, which is an amazing feat as it is, even if it was by the skin of their teeth.

The injury losses were among the league worst, as their best players were sidelined for large amounts of time.  Daniel Alfredsson, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk, Justin Abdelkader, Dan DeKeyser, Darren Helm, Jakub Kindl, Todd Bertuzzi, Jonathan Ericsson and Stephen Weiss all suffered injuries through the year and were nowhere near as effective as they could have been.

The Red Wings contingency plan out of the AHL, to their credit, was exactly enough to get the team through the tough periods, showcasing the talents of Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar, who both helped the team through a jam.  The Red Wings were also able to do some quality work in the trade market, picking up David Legwand from the Predators, providing a huge boost to the team down the stretch.

Speaking of Legwand, he ended up as the player with the highest point total that finished the regular season in a Detroit Red Wings jersey.  Despite playing only 21 games for his new club, his season between Detroit and Nashville was better than any other Red Wings player, so he gets the nod in the Pool Outlook this time around.  In 83 games played, Legwand finished with 14 goals and 37 assists for 51 points, scoring at a rate of 0.61 points per game, which ranked him 105th overall in pool scoring.  It will be interesting to see if Legwand will get rewarded for this coveted spot in off-season writing or left to go to free agency in the Summer.

The Red Wings forwards were a hurting bunch, as only four forwards, including Legwand above, finished in the top 100 in pool scoring for forwards.  Alfredsson (49 points in 68 games), Nyquist (48 points in 57 games) and Zetterberg (48 points in 45 games) rounded out those forwards and you could see the number of games played was astonishing.  Nyquist was the most interesting of the bunch, as he couldn't start the year with the Red Wings, due to salary cap constraints, but once the Long Term Injury Reserve was put into action, space opened up and the 24-year old Swede showed his stuff.  With all of the injuries that had occurred, there really isn't much

The blueline for the Red Wings wasn't as much of a problem through the season, but it wasn't without its hiccups as well.  Niklas Kronwall had a pretty good season, picking up 49 points in 79 games, ranking 10th among all defensemen in pool scoring through the year.  Dan DeKeyser, despite missing a stretch of time, still ranked 75th among defensemen with 23 points in 65 games.  Brendan Smith (19 points in 71 games) and Jakub Kindl (19 points in 66 games) were the only other two to rank in the top 100 in the category.

Goaltending had their fair share of issues, between injuries and uncertainty, as Jimmy Howard did take the better portion of the starts, winning 21 games and picking up 46 points in 50 starts, but Jonas Gustavsson, when he was healthy, was the more effective goalie, winning 16 games for 32 points in only 26 starts.  Both goalies certainly had their moments in the year, but an inconsistent line-up likely added to some tough times in the crease.

2015 Pool Outlook

I don't know if there is any way that the 2015 season could get much worse for the Red Wings, as it was in the 2014 season.  Well, I suppose the wear and tear from all those major injuries could be detrimental to the aging process of some of their older players and they could miss the playoffs completely, so there are a couple ways it could be worse.  I don't see anyone really knocking down their projections for the likes of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, just because of one harsh year, but it may be in your best interest.  It could be a slippery slope for these two, who are not as fast as they used to be... no matter how creative they may be.  If you're looking to pump some tires for the Red Wings, your best bet may be to go after Nyquist, Jurco or Tatar.  To sum it up in a nice little package, the outlook is rather uncertain.

The Red Wings are not really known for their young talent, but they do have the Canadian Hockey League goal scoring champion, Anthony Mantha, who made a name for himself at the World Juniors this past year.  This kid is definitely got some upside to him, even if his 200-foot game is deemed questionable.  The Red Wings may also have a bit more talent coming on the blueline, as Xavier Ouellet saw some time with the big club this past season and may earn his way on for 2015.

Free Agency and the Salary Cap

The Red Wings have quite the crop of unrestricted free agents to be on their list, which includes their leading point-getter, David Legwand and the 41-year old Daniel Alfredsson, who is currently contemplating his future going forward.  You can also list Jonas Gustavsson, Todd Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary, Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Quincey on the list as well.

There are a few key restricted free agents to look after in this off-season, as forwards Tomas Tatar and Riley Sheahan will need new deals out of their entry-level contracts, while defenseman Dan DeKeyser is also out of his entry-level deal and will need some new ink.

The salary cap number for the Red Wings is a bit of a fickle bit of calculation, as Jordin Tootoo, who is signed on for the 2015 season, may not see the light of day in the NHL next season, so his cap hit will change, due to burial rules in the CBA, but for now, I have him in the roster at full price.  You never know, he could make another push.  So, with Tootoo, I have the Red Wings with 19 active players, 12 forwards, five defensemen and a duo of Howard and Petr Mrazek in net, coming in at a cap hit of $51.9 million.  This gives the team ample room to move around, a little bit of space, if Alfredsson wants to come back or Legwand wants to sign long-term (assuming those are options).  The Red Wings don't have to fill many gaps this year, so they could be dangerous on the free agent market.

The Red Wings are not doing bad, in my estimation, at keeping some talent waiting in the wings and someone always kind of pops up out of nowhere for the club.  The Red Wings are also never really in a rush to push kids up to the big leagues, so a kid like Dylan Larkin, a Detroit kid, playing centre, already with good size, has some commitments to the University of Michigan, looks like he would be a good fit down the line.  The Hockey News has him listed as a heart and soul forward, which could be an element that the team needs in a few years, as their heart and soul may be lost to retirement of some of those players.

The approach that the Red Wings have taken over the last few seasons has been somewhat impressive, as they haven't traded away many assets to get some of their veteran help, so they've remained patient with what they have in the cupboard, spending money at free agency to fill gaps and the 2014 season was a good example of how it worked out in their favour.

I can't see the Red Wings having nearly as difficult of a year in 2015, rather the bodies that they missed for most of the year should be good to go and I think that's going to be the difference between then and now.  Datsyuk and Zetterberg should be back with a vengeance, while their up-and-coming talent like Nyquist and Tatar have a bit more experience.  Their back end is learning to live without the likes of Nicklas Lidstrom now and the goaltending will come around with the overall team confidence.  Things can change with the coin flip of fate, but I would think that the amount of things that need to go wrong for this team to not make the playoffs is improbable.