:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/6142381/134094561.0.jpg)
With the lockout essentially over (after an announcement that both sides had reached an agreement in principle), let's follow up Graham's Thursday post with a glance at the Red Wings' roster, just to remind everybody where we stand.
Forwards (in rough line order)
Franzen-Datsyuk-Nyquist
Brunner-Zetterberg-Samuelsson/Filppula (injured)
Bertuzzi-Helm-Cleary
Tootoo-Abdelkader-Miller/Mursak/Emmerton/Eaves (injured)
Defensemen
Kronwall-White
Quincey-Ericsson
Smith-Colaiacovo (injured)
Kindl
Goaltenders
Howard
Gustavsson
Of the group, Filppula suffered a strained MCL playing for Jokerit Helsinki of the Finnish Elite League and is due to be back from that injury soon, possibly by the beginning of the season. Mursak missed a few league games not too long ago with a slight shoulder injury, but should be good to go. Emmerton broke his finger in the very first game he played in SM-Liiga, but has healed up by now. Carlo Colaiacovo injured his shoulder playing in the Spengler Cup. The extent of the injury is currently unknown. [Ed: @nhlupdate is reporting Colaiacovo's injury will sideline him 2-3 weeks]
If Colaiacovo isn't good to go to start the season, we could see something crazy like the Wings carrying an extra forward to make up for only having six healthy D-men, but we're more likely to see either the Wings dump some forward depth to get another D-man who would stay in the lineup even when Colaiacovo returns or we could see them call up another Griffins' D-man in a guy like Brian Lashoff.
In the goalie spot, there's no reason to believe that Gustavsson will start the season as anything but a backup.
One big thing to mention (and we're going to wait for this to be official before posting more about it) is that all expectations will be that Tomas Holmstrom will retire.
We'll have positional previews coming up this week, but here's the starting spot if you want to have a little fun rosterbating. Remember that Babcock said that Nyquist, Tatar, and even Andersson (who is also currently hurt) are all NHL-ready at this point. Some moves are definitely going to happen with the Wings before the season kicks off.