DETROIT – A core of talented, young forwards on the roster and some promising prospects in the system ease the Detroit Red Wings’ concerns about goal-scoring in the years to come.

Getting the puck out of their zone quickly and efficiently? That’s another story.

Defense was the Red Wings’ biggest weakness this season and improving the blue line their biggest challenge.

They could sign a free agent. They could make a trade. They could use the sixth pick in this year’s draft on a defenseman.

But, realistically, for next season, improvement by the defense must come from within.

“What do we do about the defense?” general manager Ken Holland said. “We draft, we develop, we have patience. We live with their mistakes. We hold them accountable. We educate them. We try to have some veteran players here we think are role models for them and are steadying influences on and off the ice.

“But to find top-four defensemen, you got to draft them, for the most part, and you got to develop them. Maybe you can trade for one, but you got to trade a significant piece to get one of those guys.”

That significant piece would be a core, young forward, like Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha or Tyler Bertuzzi, and there’s no reason to believe that will happen this off-season.

A thin free-market class on the back end will be led by two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, unless he re-signs with San Jose before July 1. But even if he’s on the market, he’d surely join a team that is better positioned to compete for the Stanley Cup.

The next tier includes, potentially, Jake Gardiner (Toronto), Tyler Myers (Winnipeg), Alexander Edler (Vancouver) and Anton Stralman (Tampa Bay).

If any were interested in the Red Wings, would they be worth signing to a multi-year deal? Would any make that much of a difference?

“There’s always potentially a free agent or two; there haven’t been many on the market that are going to really change your team,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Certainly, I’m in favor of making our team a little bit better with some free-agent acquisitions, if they’re available. If we can add players who make us a lot better in a hurry, now, not so much of the pressure is on the young players here. We’d love to do that, and we’ll see.”

Blashill added: “I still think the reality of us getting better has to come from the growth of our guys that we currently have.”

That means Filip Hronek must continue taking steps like he did the latter part of the season. Dennis Cholowski needs to earn a job in training camp, like he did this past season, and maintain it with improved play in his own zone.

The veterans don’t have much room for improvement, but Danny DeKeyser played as well as he has in a few seasons after getting healthy the second half. If Mike Green stays healthy for a full season, or most of it, they’ll get more offense from the blue line, which is much-needed. Niklas Kronwall exceeded expectations and will decide shortly on his future. Jonathan Ericsson and Trevor Daley will enter the final year of their contracts.

Gustav Lindstrom (Frolunda, Swedish League) and Jared McIsaac (Halifax, Quebec League) are their top defense prospects not on the roster or with the Grand Rapids Griffins. They are more apt to compete for an NHL job in 2020-21.

“Everyone says it’s about younger players. I agree with that on some level, but I think if you really look at the defensemen in the league, they’re not super young, certainly not the defensemen on winning teams,” Blashill said. “It takes longer for a defenseman to become an elite-type player than it does for a young forward. It’s a process to get to be a top-pair type D.”

He cited Calgary’s Mark Giordano, a first-time Norris Trophy candidate at age 35.

“Not super-fast, not super-big, smart, can add offense, hard to play against,” Blashill said. “That, to me, is a real comparable for Filip Hronek. I want him to become Mark Giordano. Now, it took (Giordano) 12 years to become Mark Giordano. I’m hoping Fil does that quicker. What steps can he take? Keep creating without giving as much up.”

Holland envisions 2020-21 as the season the team will make a significant improvement on the blue line.

“As we’re rebuilding, we know some of our defense has to be young and if you look forward to the ’20-21 season, pretty much all those old defensemen, their contracts have expired,” Holland said. “These young defensemen have to slowly, methodically take that ice time.”