Detroit Red Wings 2014-15 Season Primer

The Detroit Red Wings are the next Atlantic division team in our 2014-15 season primer series.

Use the below Tabs to view Red Wings info for this upcoming season, as well as some numbers from last year.

2013-14 record: 39-28-15, 93 points
Where they finished: 4th in the Atlantic; tied for 7th in the East; tied for 14th in the NHL; lost 4-1 in the first round of playoffs against Boston

Player Salaries: $72,576,667 (22)
Cap Payroll: $63,729,545
Bonuses: $1,215,833
Cap Space: $5,270,455
Bonus Overages from Last year: $3,017,500
Forwards: $35,932,879 (14)
Defensemen: $17,637,500 (6)
Goalies: $7,141,667 (2)
Source: CapGeek.com

In: Andy Miele C, Kevin Porter W/C, Tomas Nosek LW

Out: Cory Emmerton C/LW, David Legwand C/LW, Willie Coetzee RW

2014-15 Team Outlook:

Coming off a somewhat disappointing season (by Detroit standards) in 2013-14, in which almost every big name player missed some time to injury, the Wings are hoping to bounce back this year in a big way.

Detroit, who is an elite franchise when it comes to player development, got solid contributions from young players who had previously been busting their chops in the minors for two or three years. One of those players was Gustav Nyquist, who in only 57 games with Detroit managed to pot 28 goals and 48 points, despite only combining for 4 goals and 13 points in his previous 40 games of NHL experience over the two seasons prior. The fact that the team still managed to make the playoffs last year speaks volumes to the level of talent the organization employs in the AHL, as well as behind the bench.

This offseason the Wings decided to remain quiet and not overpay for any free agents; likely a lesson learned after giving Stephen Weiss a five-year, $24.5 million deal last summer. They had been linked to right-handed defensemen Dan Boyle and Matt Niskanen, but ended up not getting either via free agency. It has been said that if Daniel Alfredsson does indeed elect to return to the NHL, Detroit is the only team in the running, so when it’s all said and done, Alfie could be back in the mix as well.

The team that is going to be laid out on the ice doesn’t include any new faces from the one they put together last year, but because the veterans will be back the lineup, it could look little different.

The bulk of the offense will come from the top-six unit, although the team should actually employ a pretty good scoring third-line this year as well. On the top-line the usual suspects of Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk will be there, along with one of Justin Abdelkader (one of Babcock’s and Datsyuk’s favourites), Gustav Nyquist, or potentially even rookie Anthony Mantha (although this goes against Detroit’s philosophy for developing prospects). The top-six will be rounded out with Stephan Weiss, Johan Franzen, and either Nyquist or Tomas Tatar. Detroit’s bottom-six is going to be some combination of Danny Cleary, Drew Miller, Riley Sheahan, Joakim Andersson, Tomas Jurco, and Darren Helm. Other players with outside shots of making the forward group are Luke Glendening, Teemu Pulkkinen, the aforementioned Mantha.

Defensively the Wings will look very similar to last season, with the only difference being if one of their young defenders makes the jump from Grand Rapids to Detroit after a good camp. The prospects who could be in line for said call up are Ryan Sproul, Alexey Marchenko, and Xavier Ouellet, although they remain a long-shot, barring injury. The actually defense line-up will likely find Niklas Kronwall paired with Jonathan Ericsson on the top unit, followed by some combination of Brendan Smith, Dan DeKeyser, Jakub Kindl, and Kyle Quincey.

The goaltending combination of Jimmy Howard and Jonas Gustavsson leaves a lot to be desired, but should be good enough to win their fair share of games. Behind those two the Wings have the 22 year old Petr Mrazek, who is one of the better goalie prospects in the NHL, posting a 1.80 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in 11 NHL games played so far in his career. Should Howard go down with an injury, Mrazek will be up in no time and likely receiving most of the starts over Gustavsson.

With a healthy group of veterans, mixed with the youth that stepped up last season in their absence, the Wings could be a really dangerous team this season. Injuries are always going to be a concern with the star players that they have, but assuming they stay healthy, it should be a good year for Detroit. They are no longer the powerhouse that they once were, but definitely have the talent and coaching to continue their tradition as a playoff team. Should the Wings make the playoffs next season, it will be the team’s 24th consecutive trip to the postseason, crazy.

Written by Greg Stamper, who can be found on twitter @g_stamp91.

The depth chart listed below was taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30. 

FORWARDS
Henrik Zetterberg – Pavel Datsyuk – Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar – Stephen Weiss – Johan Franzen
Justin Abdelkader – Darren Helm – Tomas Jurco
Riley Sheahan – Joakim Andersson – Drew Miller
Luke Glendening – Daniel Cleary

DEFENSEMEN
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
Brendan Smith – Danny DeKeyser
Kyle Quincey – Jakub Kindl
Brian Lashoff

GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard
Jonas Gustavsson

A look at the Detroit Red Wings top prospects heading into this season. Each source may use different classifications as to if a player is deemed a prospect or has graduated on from a prospect.

* Dobber Prospects – Prospects based on relevance in a fantasy-hockey keeper league, not actual talent on the ice.

Detroit Red Wings Draft History from the past five years

Performance and Usage Charts for the Detroit Red Wings from last season, from Extra Skater.