Red Wings needs

On mostly Asham. He would provide the toughness that Detroit probably needs to even survive the teams in the West that don’t rely on skill but sheer brutality and/or penalties going their way (AKA Anaheim, maybe partly San Jose). And although many Detroit fans would not like the inevitable penalties he’d cause with his style. That’s what our excellent Penalty Kill is for (With presumably the next generation of the Grind Line Helm, Eaves, and Miller helping with that)

As for Modano I would also like him to pick up the Winged Wheel but It might feel awkward no matter what you think about Modano coming over. And it’s a very slim chance, it’d be more appropiate or him to go to Minnesota as a tribute to his actual first team. And we have enough Veteran Leadership as it is (Lidstrom, Holmstrom, Draper, Osgood (for Howard), Even Datsyuk and Zetterberg has Veteran Leadership in them).

As for Maltby, You could say the same thing for some other former wings that are still around playing like Kozlov. Maltby (if he goes to another team) will give some veteran leadership himself to any youngsters in a team though he may not even be playing on the NHL team level. If any team picks him up more then likely they’ll move him to the Minors. The only other choice for Maltby is to retire, that may be sad but Maltby is our weakest link when it comes to offensive production. Maltby will probably do something for the front office or even go commentate and yuck it up with Mickey Redmond or McCarty on Versus. Imagine if McCarty and Maltby commentated on games on Versus. I’m sure that would make us be interested into the channel a little more lol

I agree we need some toughness (at least until abdelkader polishes up his slugging skills) but the wings need to get younger. They have all veteran leadership they need, they need more goals and speed. I love Maltby and Draper for the roles they have played in the past but you can’t win the cup keeping the old guy around for nostalgia. Draper’s face off percentage sucked last year, and maltby didn’t contribute much at all. Anybody else enjoying the hell out of chicago dismantling their team.

Maltby’s days are way behind him. When he first started with the Wings he could skate a little. Doesn’t do that any more. He used to hit. Doesn’t do that any more, really. Was a good defensive forward who they could use on the penalty kill. Well, I guess they could still use him but what else does he do for the team. Nothing. Doesn’t score and they have too many players on that team that don’t score. They get very little offensive production out of their third or fourth lines. What’s worse, Maltby is alleged to be a defensive forward. Hmmm his plus/minus is minus most of the time. What’s that say? Is it really just being in the wrong place at the right time? Or is it being the right place most of the time? Wings if they ever want to take a step forward need to shed some of these bad tires. They need some new tread on the Winged Wheel. God bless Maltby and others like Draper for what they’ve done for the team in the past but that’s just it. It is the past. I think it’s a big waste if you have a younger player who needs the ice time and that slot is occupied by Maltby who’s going to have his butt parked on the bench most of the time. This guy needs to be recognized for his contributions and given a nice slap on the back and told good job and let go. You’ve got to move forward, Wings. If you hang on to the past for too long the past is going to drag u down.

We all love Maltby, but he’s going to have to do the Modano thing.. move on or retire. I was hoping that Detroit doesn’t resign Maltby, Lilja, or Lebda… and we’ve already gotten rid of Lebda and Holland hasn’t really said much about the other two.

I would like to see Helm and Abdelkader re-signed, as well as adding Modano for a year or two. I’d love to see him centering for Hudler and Cleary; that’d be about the most dynamic third line you can find. Put Helm, Drapes, and Abdelkader or Eaves on the 4th line, and hopefully Draper will decide to retire after next season.

As far as defense goes… Lebda’s gone, and I’d like to see Lilja gone too. I wouldn’t mind signing a veteran for cheap (Schneider?) and/or bringing up our young guys like Kindl and Ritola.

Goalies… I hope McCollum is ready by next year because Osgood’s contract will be up and that’ll save us some cash and may possibly add a better (less experienced for now, but younger and supposedly pretty damn good) goaltender to our stable.

The Wings need a top-flight winger to play with Pavel and Henrik. First and foremost. I know, people will site the Cap, and the fact that they have a healthy Franzen for an entire season (Fingers crossed), and we are getting Hudler back. Im talking bonafide sniper, and I miss Hossa.. Even though he was invisible in the 09 Final, he gave this squad 40 goals, playing alongside Pavel. They could def use some more offensive pop.

Filppula is going into the most important season of his young career. CAn he be counted on for 55-65 points? Or is his ceiling 40-45? Either way the Wings have a gem there, and Im sure, if a deal was imminent, 29 other teams would love to have him on their roster.

On Defence, its a huge year for Ericsson and Kronwall in particular. I think Ericsson has got so much potential but thus far, with the exception of the 09 playoff run, he has been inconsistent. Kronwall just needs to be healthy, and I dont think 60 points is out of the question. Lidstrom is getting older. Its time for the young bucks to get going. Stuart, I dont think, has shown us his best hockey yet either.

The organization favours building from within. Lets hope we can finish higher than 5th this season.