Very quietly, one of the best comeback stories in the National hockey League has been that of the Detroit Red Wings. I remember attending an early season game in Buffalo in which Detroit were the visitors. The Red Wings executives at that early stage of the season were doubting that their team would be able to make the playoffs, when considering injuries to important players on their roster, and adding in their off season defections of talented players. As things stand on March 30th, it’s looking like the NHL’s most recent dynasty, will continue the leagues longest running streak of consecutive playoff appearances at 19. This is truly amazing, when you closely consider the defections and injuries over this past year.
Lost to Detroit in the off season because of salary cap considerations, were Marian Hossa, a 40 goal scorer,Jiri Hudler, 23 goals, and Michael Samuelsson,a 19 goal producer. Injuries this season cost the Wings the services of Johan Franzen who has 15 points in just 20 games played this season. NIklas Kronwall has played in only 41 games so far, and the defenseman has 18 points. Also absent for a good portion of this seasons schedule , was Tomas Holmstrom, who has played in 61 games so far, while scoring 21 goals, and 14 assists. Right winger Daniel Cleary also missed time due to injury, and has 13 goals,along with 16 assists in 60 games. These injuries were a huge deficit for Detroit, and for them to be able to hang around all season long in a playoff race, is remarkable.
This achievement, is also a reminder of the importance of retaining draft picks . The fact the Detroit could survive major injury deficits,is a testimony to the importance of having good players who can pick up the slack for the absentees. The Wings strong finish, now with 5 wins in a row as of March 30th, makes them perhaps, the most frightening playoff team in the Western Conference,for any first round opponent, most of whom thought things might be easier this year in attempting to advance to the finals, without Detroit to compete with.
Some fans of other teams, suggest that it’s ok to give up first round draft picks, because there are only a few teams aside from Detroit, that have mastered the draft so far. This is a dreadful way of analyzing the debate over trading draft choices. There is no way, a team aspiring to compete for a Stanley Cup, can surrender first round picks. In the era of the salary cap, NHL teams need to get the most out of their young players, because once some of them become very good, they can become unaffordable, because their is only so much money that can be split, among highly skilled players. The Red Wings have shown that drafting well in all rounds is important, because that is what leads to depth, allowing a team to survive an injury epidemic, when lesser players can fill the roles for a period of time. If teams have poor records in their draft selection, then they should be firing their scouts and looking for new ones, who have solid track records in this field. Instead of fans sheepishly saying that only a few teams draft well, they should be demanding that their favorite team start doing the same. The only teams that became dynasties in the NHL, were all built through the draft, and improved, with a few smart trades,or free agent signings, as they got close to being a complete contender. It’s the only way to go. Just ask Jim Devellano, who constructed the Islanders Stanley Cup dynasty , and did the same when he took charge of the Red Wings as general manager,in 1982.