This is the third article in a series of articles looking at and analyzing the success of the last five teams to raise the Stanley Cup. I am in search of the new magic formula to creating a champion and whether that champion is built to stand the test of time. Yesterday we looked at Detroit as being the only true dynasty of the last twenty years. Today we continue our analysis of the Detroit Red Wings to determine if we are watching the end of an era.
The last time the Wings made the Cup final was in 2009 and the last win was in 2008. Even if the current version of the Detroit Red Wings is still considered a dynasty, does the 5-year year gap between the last Cup win to current date suggest that we are witnessing the end of that dynasty? Are the dark days of old about to return to motor city?
Over the past 10 years it would be hard to find another team that boasts a better retirement list than the Red Wings. Since 2006 the Wings have said goodbye to Steve Yzerman, Dominik Hasek, Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Brian Rafalski, Kris Draper, and Chris Osgood. A list of that includes four Hall of Famers and probably one of the best and most underrated goalies who is currently retired but not in the Hall yet (Osgood – will he ever make the HOF? A discussion for another day). Does Detroit have enough in the system to continue?
Leadership
If there is one thing Detroit has in abundance it is leadership. From top down the club is a pillar or strength when it comes to leadership.
Management: The success of a franchise starts with the management of a club, and it would be hard to find a better general manager in the game then Ken Holland. Holland took over the reigns as team general manager in 1997 after being with the club in different roles for 12 years. Over his general manager tenure the Wings have never missed the post-season, won the Presidents trophy 4 times, made the Stanley Cup finals 4 times and won 3 Stanley Cups. All of this was accomplished while never being able to pick higher than 19th in the NHL entry draft over his tenure. SportsIllustrated.com named Holland the General Manager of the decade (2000-2009). Holland has shown no sign of slowing down or wanting a change in scenery so expect him to stick around for some time.
The longevity of Holland has been a blessing for Detroit but it may also be a bit of a curse. A team is not made of one, and Holland has had a great support staff in the management of the Wings organization, but the longer Holland stays the more chance that support staff will venture elsewhere to move up. The Dallas Stars have recently benefited by this by signing long time Wings management member Jim Nill as its new general manager. This is not to sound panic bells, but it will be difficult for Detroit to replace a guy like Nill in the front office. The question is, will Nill be the extent to the management loss?
Coaching: In 2005 the Wings hired Mike Babcock as its bench boss. Babcock is one of the top coaches in the game. He reached the 400-win plateau for a coach in less than 700 career games coached. He reached that mark in the third fastest time, only falling short to Hall of Fame coaches Scotty Bowman and Glen Sather.
On Ice: Captain Henrik Zetterberg and assistant captain Pavel Datsyuk led The Wings on the ice. It is tough enough to have to step into the Captain’s role when you are expected to follow the likes of Steve Yzerman, well Zetterberg had to step in as Captain this season following the reign of Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom, and in his first campaign as team Captain the club not only made the play-offs but made it to within one game of the conference finals. It is too early to say whether Zetterberg will match his predecessors as an elite leader of this franchise, however at 32 we will have at least a few years to see Zetterberg grow – he is off to a good start.
Roster
Even with strength in leadership, the franchise does have pressing questions in respect of its roster. There are positives, such as cap space, goaltending and an outlook for next season.
Using the Detroit Red Wings official team page, the current roster has 18 players that were drafted by the club, 11 were either drafted by other clubs or signed with the Wings as un-drafted free agents. According to capgeek.com the Wings have 19 players under contract for the 2013-2014 and has over $11,500,000 in projected cap space to fill out its roster. This does not include any buyout the team may choose to make in the off-season. There is room to make changes.
Detroit has solidified its goaltending for years to come by locking up Jimmy Howard for six more seasons. In addition, Petr Mrazek made the most of his brief NHL call up in 2013, and if he can continue his growth as a player could be the Wings goaltender of the future, or make a nice asset to use in a future trade.
Another bright spot for Detroit is that its American Hockey League affiliate. The Grand Rapid Griffins are currently playing in the Western Conference Finals in the Calder Cup play-offs. This suggests that there may be some help in the system to fill roster spots for next season and seasons to come.
However, there are some pressing questions in respect of the roster that if not answered could lead to the 22 season play-off streak coming to an end.
The need to replace great players and plan for succession is one of the questions that need to be answered. As mentioned at the start of this article, the list of recent retirements from the franchise is list of stellar players.
It is impossible to replace a player like Nicklas Lidstrom or the eventual replacement of a Pavel Datsyuk, but teams must do the best to try and fill loss that they can. Defense was one of the Red Wings’ concerns this past season. Brendan Smith and new addition Danny DeKeyser will be asked to step up their games and to fill some of the gap that was created when Lidstrom retired. Both are young and decent players, but neither will be a Lidstrom. Do the Wings currenlty have the solution in the system to its defensive problems? Where do Ryan Sproul and Xavier Ouellette fit in, and when?
Datsyuk’s future in Detroit is not certain, as his contract is up at the end of next season. It is possible that Datsyuk retires from the NHL at the end of this contract and returns home to Russia to finish his playing career. If that is the case, who on the current roster or in the system can best replace what Datsyuk brings to the franchise?
LWOS writer Ben Kerr may have shed some light on this matter in his August 2, 2012 series Top Shelf Prospects outlined Detroit’s top prospects. Kerr named Smith the top prospects in the Detroit system and stated “There is a top 4 spot waiting for him on the Detroit backend and its up to him to seize the opportunity.” The question is, has he, and if not, will he seize it? Will Gustav Nyquist and any combination of other prospects the Wings have in the system such as Tomas Tatar, Martin Frk, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco, Joakim Anderson, and others?
It is becoming harder (not impossible) to find franchise players in the later rounds of the draft. In reviewing the other 4 winning teams of the past 5 Stanley Cups one thing that stuck out was the fact that each had benefited from drafting a player in the top 3 picks in a previous entry draft. Will the fact that Detroit has not picked higher than 19th overall in recent past catch up to them and either lead to its fall or at the very least lead to mediocrity?
Finally, to complicate matters, for the first time in years, or so it seems, Detroit was unable to use Detroit as a selling point to lure top tier free agent defenders like Ryan Suter or forwards like Zach Parise. Again, Suter is not Lidstrom, and Parise is not Datsyuk, however they would have been a closer fix to the gap then what Detroit has or ended up with. Were these failures to attract players one-off situations, or is this a sign of things to come?
Only time will tell whether this is the end of what has been a great run for the Detroit Red Wings. Many look at the fact that Detroit made it to within one game of the Western Conference Finals as a positive, and in the short term I believe it was. Long term, the failure to beat Chicago while leading the series, the fact that the team has a roster with an aging core, and the fact the team has not had a high pick in decades, I believe the end is near for this chapter in the Wings’ story. Whenever that happens, the next chapter will begin, and given the team’s leadership, any downturn likely won’t be for long.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back soon for the next installment in this series. As always, feel free to leave comments below and follow me our hockey department on twitter @IswearGaa. @lastwordBKerr, @BigMick99, and @LastWordOnNHL, and follow the site @lastwordonsport.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Visit our Join our Team page and be heard!
