Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Red Wings have league-wide respect for their 25-year playoff streak, but there's unrest among their fan base for being eliminated in the first round for three consecutive seasons.

Change is warranted and expected this summer.

While the franchise does not require major rebuilding like the Toronto Maple Leafs, it does need a roster shake-up. Here is where the Red Wings are today and where they should go this summer:

Pavel Datsyuk

The Red Wings have known for a while that Datsyuk had hopes of finishing his playing career in Russia, where he can be closer to family. That time may finally be here, although Datsyuk says he needs time to think about it.

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If he does retire, the Red Wings are on the hook for his salary cap hit ($7.5 million). That is, unless they can deal his contract like the Philadelphia Flyers did with Chris Pronger (to the Arizona Coyotes) in June.

The Red Wings could be involved in the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes this summer if they free up that space. Mike Ilitch, the owner of the Red Wings and Detroit Tigers, has a history of desiring big names.

The forwards

The Red Wings would like to add scoring, size and toughness. They want to come back next fall with grit on every line. They want a more dangerous offense. It ranked 23rd (2.55 goals per game) this season.

Detroit might be among the suitors for free agents Milan Lucic or Troy Brouwer, among others. The Red Wings will be a bigger team next season.

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The defense

The Red Wings need a top-pairing difference-maker on the blue line, but there is no one in the free agent market that fits that description. There’s not going to be one in the trade market, either.

To improve on defense, the Red Wings will have to patch together a new unit, retooling around Danny DeKeyser. At a minimum, the Red Wings need to bring in two veterans through trade or the free agent market. Alexey Marchenko has proved he's deserving of a spot. The tricky part will be deciding which veterans will still be part of the mix.

Goaltending

Petr Mrazek, 24, is the goalie now and in the future. It doesn’t make sense for the Red Wings to have Jimmy Howard as a backup eating up more than $5 million in cap space ... for the next three seasons.

But trading Howard will not be easy because of those factors. Plus, it’s a buyer’s market for goalies. The majority of teams are content with their goaltending. The Calgary Flames are the obvious team looking for goaltending help.

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Who’s gone?

Defenseman Kyle Quincey and speedy forward Darren Helm are both unrestricted free agents and probably will end up elsewhere next season.

The Red Wings probably would like to retain Helm, but it's unlikely they'll pay him what he believes he can earn on the open market.

Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist both had sub-par seasons, and one of them could end being traded. It’s possible the Red Wings could trade a defenseman to change the look of the blue line.

It’s time to make decisions on younger forwards such as Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen. If the Red Wings make trades, they could be included.