Last week a post on NHL.com released the Red Wings' new starting lineup (link).DailyFaceoff.com also adds some thought as to what Detroit's Defense situation could be (link). Here is what the Wings' line-up will look like this season.
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| Datsyuk and Zetterberg will be re-united. |
Forwards (LW-C-RW)
Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Brunner
Samuelsson-Filppula-Franzen
Bertuzzi-Helm-Cleary
Miller-Abdelkader-Tootoo
Defense
Kronwall-Ericsson
Quincey-Smith
Colaiacovo-White
Kindl
Goalies
Howard
Gustavsson
Forwards
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| Brunner will debut on the top line |
The Wings are reuniting the Euro Twins putting Zetterberg on Datsyuk's wing and adding Swiss sensation Damien Brunner for the first line. Brunner has represented Switzerland at the 2010 IIHF World Championships and has played for EV Zug in the Nationalliga A (the top league in Switzerland) where he tallied 60 pts in 45 games last season. During the NHL Lockout Brunner played on EV Zug with Henrik Zetterberg and Edmonton Oiler's prospect Linus Omark. Brunner lead the Swiss league in scoring with 50 points in 28 games. Brunner has clearly had a lot of success in Switzerland and this has earned him a top spot on the roster with Zetterberg and Datsyuk. It will be interesting to see how Brunner fairs in the NHL. The one thing that might raise eyebrows about this line is the lack of size. Last year Datsyuk struggled a bit until Todd Bertuzzi was placed on his line and using his size gave Datsyuk space to work his magic.
By putting Zetterberg and Datsyuk back together it shows the confidence the Red Wings have placed in Valtteri Filppula. He is centering the 2nd line with Mikael Samuelsson and Johan Franzen on his wings. Filppula had a career best season last year tallying 66 pts in 81 games and during the lockout playing for his old team Jokerit in the SM-Liiga (Finland's top league) scoring 15 pts in 16 games. Filppula did suffer a knee injury but is expected to make the return for the first game. In the off-season Detroit re-acquired Mikael Samuelsson. Despite his age, Samuelsson can be seen as an upgrade over Jiri Hudler who departed to Calgary. Both have hard shots but Samuelsson has the size that Hudler lacks and will be much harder to push around. Franzen has been the Wings most enigmatic player in the last few seasons, and in this shortened season he can't stay off the scoresheet for weeks at a time.
The third line of Bertuzzi, Helm, and Cleary is an interesting one. Bertuzzi and Cleary had some good chemistry last year when they played together and with Helm's speed added to the mix this 3rd line could end up potting a nice amount of goals. Helm has been hampered my injuries recently and currently is Day-to-Day with a groin injury. Helm missed 14 games last year and looked much slower in the playoff series against Nashville. Bertuzzi and Cleary aren't know for their speed and for this line to work having Helm's speed is integral to its success.
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| Tootoo adds tenacity to this line-up |
Detroit's 4th line of Miller, Abdelkader, and Tootoo is reminiscent of the Grind Line of Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, and Darren McCarty who helped the Red Wings win 4 Stanley Cups. Abdelkader and Tootoo are both scrappy guys who are great at aggravating other team's players. Miller is a good hard working guy but word is that his spot will be the revolving door spot if Patrick Eaves gets healthy. Detroit has lacked a true checking line for a few seasons and this line clearly addresses that issue.
The biggest glaring omission from the line-up is the absence of Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist will start the season with the Grand Rapids Griffins but if Brunner can't translate his Swiss League success to the NHL or any injury takes out a top guy, Nyquist will surely be the first to get the call up. The argument for keeping Nyquist in the AHL is that the Red Wings don't want to squander his talent and development on the 3rd or 4th line of the Wings when they can give him quality minutes on the top line of the Griffins.
Defense
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| All eyes will be on Smith in his rookie season |
With the departure of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart (and Rafalski the year before that), Detroit's defense looks a bit shaky for the first time in 15 years. Niklas Kronwall is the team's only legit top pairing D-man and he will certainly have to take a step up in his play to be the leader of this D corps. The good thing Detroit has going for it is that Ericsson, Quincey, Smith, Colaiacovo, and White are all quality 2nd line D-men. Hopefully the lack of a true top pairing will be made up for by the depth of this blue-line. Brendan Smith tallied 7 pts in 14 games with the Wings last year and 20 pts in 32 games with the Griffins during the lock-out. At 23 years of age the Wings are really hoping Smith can step up his game over the next few seasons and become a top pairing D-man to play along with Kronwall. Recent acquisition Carlo Colaiacovo hasn't reached the potential that he was thought to possess mostly due to injures. If Carlo continues to have injury trouble this could hurt the depth of this Defense.
Goalies
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| Gustavsson looks for a fresh start in Motown |
Despite injuries Jimmy Howard managed to post his 3rd straight season with at least 35 wins and posted a 0.920 SV% last season. The big question is whether or not Howard's success was due to the solid Defense corpse lead by Nicklas Lidstrom. However, Howard is in a contract year with a hungry back-up goalie in Jonas Gustavsson sitting behind him Howard should be able to raise his game accordingly.
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Detroit's Forward Lineup and Goaltending duo looks pretty solid but the big question with this team is how the Defense will fair. Detroit also has a lot of Forward and Goaltending prospects so there are some rumours that Detroit is trying to build its Defense through trades. All in all this line up looks like it can be successful but with the shortened 48 game season anything can happen.
Go Wings Go!
