Detroit Red Wings 2015-2016 Season Preview

Believe it or not the 2015-2016 NHL season is less than two months away. Training Camp starts a month from Tuesday. A lot has happened for the Detroit Red Wings this offseason after losing a heartbreaker to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of last year’s 1st round of the NHL Playoffs.

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The major change is Mike Babcock will not be returning, going instead to be the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ten years is a long time in one place and there were rumors about players not wanting to play for the Wings because of Mike Babcock. Some may suspect that Babcock was the reason the Wings haven’t been getting free agents the last couple of offseasons.

Jeff Blashill is the new head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. A surprising fact about Blashill is that he is the first American born head coach in Red Wings history. Despite being a first-time NHL head coach, Blashill’s coaching resume is very impressive.

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After coaching at Western Michigan University, Blashill became an assistant on Mike Babcock’s staff in 2011. The following year he took over the Red Wings minor league affiliate in Grand Rapids where Blashill won a Calder Cup and a coach of the year honors. I think Jeff Blashill is going to be a great fit here considering he has coached many of the organization’s younger players – either with the Red Wings or with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Now for the player moves this offseason. Brendan Smith and Gustav Nyquist got re-signed for two and four years respectively. The Wings signed Dylan Larkin to an entry level contract so he will not be back at the University of Michigan’s ice hockey team. Most likely, Larkin will be in Grand Rapids for a brief time like Gustav Nyquist was in 2013.

The Wings signed two premier free agents including the number one defensemen Mike Green from Washington. Center Brad Richards from the Chicago Blackhawks was the second free agent the Wings signed and with Pavel Datsyuk out until at least late November this year Richards was a even bigger addition to this team then previously thought.

The Wings did not re-sign Jonas Gustavsson, Erik Cole, Marek Zidlicky and Dan Cleary all of which were not expected back anyway and the Wings also bought out Stephen Weiss. Something to keep an eye on is the progress of Johan Franzen who suffered another concussion in January against the Oilers and didn’t play again the rest of the year. Franzen reportedly is doing better but his status for the 2015-16 season is up in the air at best.

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Most likely the Wings are done with major moves. They still might make a small trade, possibly trading Kindl or Quincy but for the most part this is the team that the Wings are going to Traverse City with on September 18th.

The following lines are what I envision the Red Wings looking like when they open the season on October 9th against Mike Babcock and the Leafs.

First line: LW Justin Abdelkader; C Henrik Zetterberg; RW Gustav Nyquist

Second line: LW Tomas Tatar; C Brad Richards; RW Tomas Jurco

Third Line: LW Darren Helm; C Riley Sheahan; RW Teemu Pulkkinen

Fourth Line: LW Drew Miller; C. Luke Glendening; RW Landon Ferraro

First Defense pairing: Niklas Kronwall; Mike Green

Second Defense Pairing: Danny DeKeyser; Jonathan Ericsson

Third Defense Pairing: Brendan Smith; Alexey Marchenko

Goalies: Starter- Petr Mrazek; Backup- Jimmy Howard

I think the Wings were smart not trading Jimmy Howard in the off season. Even though I believe Mrazek is the future goalie of this team, I think Howard is a very good insurance policy if Mrazek falters or gets injured. When the trade deadline comes then we can talk about trading Howard, but for right now he’s the backup.

Next: Five Questions Entering Red Wings' 2015-16 Season

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