Red Wings: Adding one top-flight forward makes for a well built top six

The Detroit Red Wings are rumored to be making moves this offseason, adding an impact forward to the top-six needs to be considered.

This upcoming offseason, expect the Detroit Red Wings to make waves in either free agency or by trade. Recently, the announcement that a flat salary cap is being put in place leaves General Manager (GM) Steve Yzerman with wide eyes, looking to make improvements.

The Red Wings are in a spot where they can make an impact signing like forward Taylor Hall or defenseman Torey Krug and not think twice. However, they are also in a position to make a move, bringing in someone with a larger cap hit like Jaden Schwartz or Jordan Eberle as Site Co-Expert Bob Heyrman recently explored.

Either way, the Red Wings need to spend some money on a goaltender, and ideally a big-name as well. The hope was that Torey Krug would be the name to target for the organization, but signing an impact forward could make things change drastically in the organization’s top-six cluster.

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Not to say that the Red Wings should leave Krug on the table or neglect adding defenseman.

Additions need to be made to this organization that is no question, just a matter of which areas will be targeted first.

But the organization could put together a core of forwards that will excel and remain in a Red Wings jersey for the time being.

Exploring a trade or free-agent pursuit that brings in a top-tier forward should definitely be brought up in meetings where Yzerman starts to iron out his Yzer-plan.

The 2020-21 season is going to be a big one for Yzerman and this rebuild, steps in the right direction are a must, adding a top-flight forward only helps.

The Detroit Red Wings top-six forwards could form a versatile and well put together group.

Looking at the Detroit Red Wings’ current grouping of forwards, they have some power with their top three but expect the line combinations to change a lot with fluid and versatile roles. For all intents and purposes, assume the Red Wings sign a big name forward, here’s how it would work.

Currently, putting all three top forwards together, it would make for a Tyler Bertuzzi (LW), Dylan Larkin(C), Anthony Mantha (RW) line. This relegates Robby Fabbri (LW/C), Filip Zadina (LW/RW), and Player X  to the second line.

Playing the hypothetical game, assume the Red Wings opt to target Taylor Hall in free agency, he could become “Player X” from above. Switching things around a bit, the first line could potentially be Hall (LW/C), Larkin (C), and Mantha (RW).

Pairing well with that, the second line becomes Bertuzzi (LW), Fabbri (C/LW), and Zadina (LW/RW). This top-six should thrive, especially if the Red Wings improve their goaltending situation. This is playing the hypothetical game with Hall alone, not any of the other players the organization can target.

This offseason will hopefully be a fun one as drastic improvements should be made across the board in multiple areas. Ultimately, GM Yzerman gets his final say on what happens next for the Yzer-plan, but hopefully, the idea of adding a top-tier forward is being tossed around.

For the fanbase, be optimistic; expect the Detroit Red Wings to make moves this offseason that leaves the organization in a much better spot than the beginning of the  2019-20 season.