Central offseason: Young teams set sights on reloading Wings
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Fourth part in six-part series
The chance to repeat as champions ended only in the last seconds of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. That's why it may be easy to forget that the Detroit Red Wings have really been the NHL's best team the past decade.
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| St. Louis acquired former Red Wing Ty Conklin to be Chris Mason's backup. (Getty Images) |
Detroit is starting to feel some heat in its own backyard though, with three other young and improving Central teams making the playoffs last season. The Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues entered the postseason for the first time since the lockout and the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first-ever time. And lurking not far behind it are the Nashville Predators, who had to deal with several key injuries yet still narrowly missed the postseason cutoff line.
Here's a graded looked at what they've been doing so far this summer in reverse order of last year's finish.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings lost their top goal scorer when Marian Hossa took off this summer and another good producer when Mikael Samuelsson followed suit. By the time the season starts, 23-goal man Jiri Hudler could be playing in Russia. Normally the loss of that much offense should be a matter of serious concern, but the Red Wings have shown a remarkable ability to find players ready to step in over the years.
And the efforts turned in by youngsters Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino in the playoffs suggest the Red Wings won't necessarily suffer by opening up full-time spots for them. Detroit still has some tweaking to do with a lineup pushing against the cap and needs a couple more depth players, but what matters here is that the very good core remains intact and ready for another run. Grade: B
Chicago Blackhawks
So much for the summer of love. Or was it the season of love? In a year when everything came up roses for the Blackhawks, lately there has been a dark cloud hanging over the organization.
The Blackhawks signed the most notable free agent available when Hossa jumped from Detroit along with teammate Tomas Kopecky, and they didn't hurt themselves by adding checking forward John Madden. But Chicago created some serious question marks by losing goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and top scorer Martin Havlat, a popular player in what was a close-knit dressing room.
Making matters worse, Hossa was later discovered to have shoulder problems that required surgery and will keep him out for half the season. Then there was the sloppy handing of a front-office shakeup. Dale Tallon was retired as GM, ostensibly because qualifying offers weren't mailed in time to several restricted free agents. That cost the team serious re-signings premiums and cut into the cap space for retaining several key young players whose contracts are coming due next year.
But Tallon wasn't replaced by his assistant Stan Bowman until the middle of July. After making all the roster moves. Bowman, by the way, was previously the Blackhawks point man when it came to contracts, and is the son of legendary coach Scotty Bowman, a trusted consultant to team president John McDonough. Grade: C
St. Louis Blues
The Blues were one of the NHL's bigger surprises last season, enough to think seriously about being buyers at the trade deadline. They had their sights set on Chris Pronger and were willing to part with some of the good young talent they have drafted and developed in the last few years, but were unable to pry him away from Anaheim. Yet they made the playoffs anyway, largely because several of the talented young players advanced far ahead of schedule last season.
In other words, the organization wasn't under any heavy pressure to make many changes so it has done only some minor tinkering this offseason and stuck to a self-imposed budget. The most notable addition has been goalie Ty Conklin, who replaces Manny Legace as Chris Mason's back up, while the key departure has been veteran defenseman Jay McKee, who leaves the Blues with little experience along the blue line. St. Louis is bringing back veteran Keith Tkachuk, and Paul Kariya will return after missing most of the season with a hip injury. Grade: C
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets were overwhelmed in their first-ever playoff appearance last April, but just getting there was a big step in the right direction. More important though, was signing Rick Nash to an eight-year extension a few weeks ago. Nash wasted no time becoming a franchise player after being drafted first overall in 2002, and he remains the cornerstone of the Jackets' long-term building plan. Getting him to commit was critical.
Meanwhile, GM Scott Howson still has some holes to fill on the blue line and at forward, but he continued the process of steadily upgrading the team he took over two years ago by adding veterans Sami Pahlsson and Mathieu Garon this summer. Pahlsson, one of the league's best defensive centers, makes it three deep down the middle for the Jackets. The team picked up Antoine Vermette at the trade deadline and will get back second-year center Derick Brassard, a Rookie of the Year contender when he went down for the season in January. The award eventually went to the Jackets' Steve Mason, the 20-year-old goalie sensation, who will be backed up by someone who understands the role in Garon. Grade: B+
Nashville Predators
The good news for the Predators this summer is that no one is talking about moving them. At least not right now, although Kansas City and its brand-new arena always seem to be lurking in the background. Besides the NHL's relocation busters are too busy dealing with the Phoenix Coyotes situation. So for the moment, the focus for Nashville is just on the next season and making up the four points that cost the Predators a playoff spot for the first time in five seasons. The Predators aren't big spenders, but they took what they believe is a risk in giving an extra year on his new contract. But they believe if he stays healthy and Jason Arnott does too, they'll combine to give them the offensive spark they missed last season. Beyond that, Nashville has been quiet this summer, opting mainly to tinker mainly with minimum wage players. But the Predators still have some moves to make to reach the salary floor. Just don't expect them to be big ones. Grade: C-
