Nicklas Lidstrom was a key member of four Red Wings' Stanley Cup-winning teams, including 2008 as captain. (AP file photo)

A quarter century saw many stars wearing the winged wheel

The Detroit Red Wings reached the playoffs 25 consecutive seasons before failing to qualify in 2016-17, in case you weren’t aware.

The tremendous run from 1990-91 to 2015-16 featured many great players, including a plethora of Hall of Famers, as well as some key role players.

It got one MLive reader thinking about rankings.

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Pavel Datsyuk dazzled opponents as a Red Wing from 2001-2016. (AP file photo).

Who are top 10 Red Wings since 1990-91?

Q: Who would you rate as the Wings' top 10 players during their 25-year playoff run. I think the top two spots are slam-dunks. After that it gets interesting. – Doug

A: I agree, the top two spots are obvious. Nicklas Lidstrom would get the slight edge over Steve Yzerman for No. 1 during that time period. Some of Yzerman's best offensive years came before the streak.

I’d give Pavel Datsyuk the slight edge over Sergei Fedorov at No. 3. Datsyuk was more consistent and played during an era when it was tougher to score.

Henrik Zetterberg would be fifth on my list, followed by Chris Osgood, who doesn’t get a lot of respect nationally but won 317 games as a Red Wings and three Cups, including two as starter.

Brendan Shanahan would rank seventh, followed by Tomas Holmstrom, who was the best in the business at what he did (net-front role).

I’d put Johan Franzen at No. 9. He floated a lot and his career was cut short by concussion issues, but he flourished from 2008-12 and was dominant during a three-year stretch in the playoffs, with 31 goals and 59 points in 51 games (2008-10).

I’d round out the top 10 with Kris Draper, the long-time Grind Line center who played in 1,137 games as a Red Wing and won the Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward in 2004.

Just missed: Dominik Hasek, Chris Chelios, Niklas Kronwall, Igor Larionov, Mike Vernon.

I'm not saying Holmstrom and Draper were better than the Hall-of-Famers who missed the cut. I'm taking into account length of time with the Red Wings and the different elements they brought.

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Calder Cup not always a ticket to the NHL for a coach

Q: I imagine Todd Nelson's stock has soared with the Griffins winning the Calder Cup. How long before he winds up back behind an NHL bench? -- John

A: Nelson, 48, certainly enhanced his chances to return to the NHL as a head coach. He went 17-25-9 with the Edmonton Oilers in 2014-15 as a mid-season replacement for the fired Dallas Eakins.

Calder Cup-winning coaches have about a 50 percent chance of becoming NHL head coaches, based on recent history. Five of the previous 10 who won AHL titles went on to coach in the NHL (Jared Bednar, Willie Desjardins, Jeff Blashill, Jon Cooper and John Anderson). The ones that haven’t are Mike Stothers, Kurt Kleinendorst, Mark French, Bob Woods and Don Lever.

The final coaching vacancy was filled on Thursday when Buffalo hired Nashville assistant Phil Housley.

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Dion Phaneuef will be difficult to move with four years left on his contract at a $7 million cap hit. (The Associated Press).

Dion Phaneuf on the trading block

Q: Dion Phaneuf has waived his no-trade clause. The Wings tried to get him a couple years ago. Should they try again, since free-agent pickings are slim and it would probably cost us a top, young forward to get a younger, top-end guy? -- Don

A: No way. He has four years remaining on his contract at a $7 million cap hit and he's 32. It would have been a bad move when they explored the possibility at the 2015 trade deadline and it makes no sense now for a team that finished 16 points out of the final playoff spot.

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Move back to the West in Red Wings' future?

Q: What happens if and when the league expands to Quebec City? Does Detroit move back to the West? Or maybe Columbus? – J.B.

A: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has been quoted in the past as saying the Red Wings' move to the East is permanent, apparently regardless of future expansion or franchise relocation.

I don’t know if the league will expand to Quebec City. The Carolina Hurricanes were rumored to possibly move there at some point, but Bettman emphatically denied that last season. If there is expansion to Quebec I imagine the NHL would just have 17 teams in the East and 15 in the West, as awkward as that may be having nine teams in one division (Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Boston, Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Florida). At that point, maybe they would realign to three divisions in each conference, like they had recently.

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