Red-Wings-4-26-14

Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall (55) with goalie Jonas Gustavsson, Xavier Ouellet (61), Daniel Alfredsson (11) and Brendan Smith (2) after the Game 5 loss in Boston this year.

(The Associated Press)

The Detroit Red Wings haven't advanced past the second round of the playoffs five years in a row.



During that time, the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks have won two Stanley Cups each and the Boston Bruins have advanced to the Cup finals twice, winning one championship.



What are those teams doing that the Red Wings aren't? That was among several questions MLive readers asked.



Q. Other teams (Bruins, Blackhawks, Penguins) have managed the cap, had to sign their own high-end free agents, turned over parts of the team, etc., and still managed to remain Stanley Cup contenders. What are the factors that have dropped the Wings to be happy to qualify for the playoffs status? Is Scotty Bowman's departure part of the issue?

--Brian



A. The 23-year playoff streak is something they take a lot of pride in, but they're far from happy just to qualify for the postseason. They're not happy they haven't advanced to the conference finals since 2009 and don't like having won only one playoff game in two of the past three postseasons.



The Penguins, Blackhawks, Bruins and Kings experienced many non-playoff seasons before their current run of success. It enabled them to land high-end talent in the draft, including some top-three picks (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins; Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews for the Blackhawks).



The Red Wings won four Stanley Cups in a span of 11 seasons from 1997-2008. It's not realistic to expect that run to continue when you're drafting low every year (they haven't picked higher than 19th since 1991) and there's more parity due to the salary cap. You need to reload or rebuild, and the Red Wings are doing it on the fly while maintaining a playoff-caliber club.



They haven't been able to secure the next Pavel Datsyuk or Henrik Zetterberg but they've accumulated good, young talent in their system -- which bodes well for the future.



Some might argue that if you don't have a realistic shot at winning the Cup it's best to miss the playoffs for a few years and stockpile high picks. I think that's silly. And it certainly doesn't assure success (see Columbus, Edmonton, Florida).



Also, Bowman's departure doesn't have anything to do with the Red Wings' inability to advance far in the playoffs.



Q. I was curious if you were willing to make a prediction on the lineup. Mine would be Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Franzen, Nyquist-Sheahan-Tatar, Jurco-Weiss-Alfredsson and Helm-Glendening-Abdelkader. I think this lineup would be the best we've seen in years.

--Alex



A. I picked names out of a hat and this is what I came up with: Henrik Zetterberg-Pavel Datsyuk-Justin Abdelkader, Johan Franzen-Stephen Weiss-Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar-Riley Sheahan-Tomas Jurco, Drew Miller-Darren Helm-Luke Glendening. That would leave Joakim Andersson and Landon Ferraro as extras. Maybe Daniel Alfredsson returns. Maybe Jurco starts the season in Grand Rapids, since he's the only one of the group who is waiver-exempt. Maybe they add a top-six winger through free agency or a trade. Maybe Andersson is traded. And, of course, the odds of everyone being healthy at the start of the season aren't great, as we've seen before.



Q. What do you think will happen to Adam Almquist? What are the chances Petr Mrazek is Jimmy (Howard's) back up this season? Does he have anything left to prove in the AHL? What do you think of coach (Mike) Babcock taking time to watch Anthony Mantha in the QMJHL playoffs? Are the Red Wings seriously considering putting him in the lineup if he has a good camp?

--Robert



A. I think Almquist will play in Sweden. If he were to re-sign with the Red Wings (he's a restricted free agent) and not earn a preseason roster spot (odds would be heavily stacked against him) he would need to clear waivers to be assigned to Grand Rapids. He's indicated he'd rather play in Europe than the AHL.



I don't see Mrazek being Howard's back-up, at least not at the start of the season. I think they'll sign Jonas Gustavsson to a one-year deal. I don't know if Mrazek has anything left to prove in the AHL, but the Red Wings want him to get a heavy workload with the Griffins as opposed to playing sporadically in Detroit.



I think Mantha would need to have a legendary camp, coupled with a rash of injuries, to start the season in Detroit.



Q. It's against the historical norm for Red Wings prospects to get called up as early as they did last season. Unless we repeat the injury epidemic, how many games do you project Anthony Mantha will get called up for next season?

--Anonymous



A. It depends on how he fares in Grand Rapids, which is where I expect he'll start the season. If he has trouble adjusting during his first season as a pro he probably won't play any NHL games in 2014-15. If he's scoring at a decent rate in the AHL then he'll probably play some games with the Red Wings. It's difficult to project a number.



Q. Which defensemen from this year's roster do you see not returning next season?

--Steven



A. Kyle Quincey won't be back, unless he takes a short-term deal for less than what he can get on the free-agent market. I'd expect the other six to return. I could also see them trading Jakub Kindl if the right deal came along. He took a step back last season, seemingly losing confidence, and was the odd-man out at the end. You'd prefer not to have your sixth or seventh defenseman taking up $2.4 million of cap space.



Q. Do the Red Wings regret the David Legwand trade? I know Mike Babcock said they wouldn't have made the playoffs without him, but was that just to appease his bosses or be politically correct towards the fans? It seems the Red Wings got fleeced pretty good on the trade. Thomas Vanek went to Montreal for essentially the same price, and it seems the team could have gotten a lot more in return than Legwand if they were willing to give up all that.

--Steven



A. They were caught in a strange predicament with so many injured centers at that time (Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Weiss, Helm) and were in dire need of help at that position. It forced them to pay a price (promising prospect Calle Jarnkrok, conditional second-round pick) they ordinarily would not have paid for a player who turned out to be a rental. Maybe they could have gotten a better return (Vanek) for what they relinquished, but they felt they had to have a center. Legwand was their first-line center when he arrived and a fourth-line winger at the end.



Q. Weiss had a disappointing first year as a Red Wing. Do you think the Red Wings will give him a second chance to return to his old form on the second line or will they try to trade him? Howard is a good goalie, but after last year I am wondering if he is the great goalie that can take Detroit to the Stanley Cup finals. I also noticed that Howard's play picked up noticeably after the Olympic roster was announced. Do you think his early-season problems could have been (due to) the Olympics bothering him?

--Blake



A. They are hoping a healthy Weiss can fill their second-line center spot and return to his 50-point form from his years in Florida. He is not tradable because he has four years and $19.6 million remaining on his contract and is coming off two injury-plagued seasons.



I don't think Howard's problems (lack of consistency from November through January) had anything to do with any possible concerns about making the U.S. Olympic team. He's still capable of returning to his All-Star form of 2011-12.



Thanks for the questions. I'll be back next week to answer more.

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