Before the Red Wings’ prospects played each other during Saturday’s development camp final scrimmage, coach Jeff Blashill addressed the future.



Listening closely were guys who this rebuild will hinge on — Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno, Dennis Cholowski. If they’re not as good as the Red Wings hope and if they don’t further develop their skills, it’s going to be a long several years in Detroit.



Blashill made it clear: There will be NHL opportunity, but it’s going to take work. Standing in the way of these young players are real pros. Guys who have been in the league a long time. Guys who don’t have any desire to move out of the way for the next generation of Red Wings.



There are not three or four spots on the Red Wings defense for the young players to slot into. There aren’t a high number of openings up front for these young players to grab by default.



They listened, and it meant...