Detroit Red Wings: Will they tank while still developing players?

BOSTON, MA - MARCH 6: Frans Nielsen
BOSTON, MA - MARCH 6: Frans Nielsen

I could argue that the Detroit Red Wings head coach, Jeff Blashill is the right coach right now for the winged wheels. He is said to be a good developmental coach.  The Detroit Red Wings who are in need of talent, may be wise to tank next season.

The Detroit Red Wings,  seem to be caught in the middle.  Red Wings general manager Ken Holland,  has been reluctant to even use the word rebuild until recently.  Given his past stances, tanking would not be something Holland would try.

It is a hot topic in the sporting world.  Tanking for high draft picks, seems logical enough.  All four professional sports have teams that have embraced the tank.

In Detroit, prospects need to play.  The sooner, the better.  However, the team needs more talent.  It is a catch twenty-two.  Last season the Red Wings finished nine games under .500.  That hardly seems like a tank.

The 2019 NHL draft currently has a center, Jack Hughes, as the top prospect right now.  The Detroit Red Wings will be in the market for a center, though they are desperately in need of a top pairing defenseman.  In a rebuild, you take the best player available in your draft slot.  Much like Ken Holland did this past draft with Filip Zadina & Joe Veleno.

The  Detroit Red Wings prospect pipeline was recently ranked #10  by  The Sporting News.

This is pretty good news.  There is still a lot of work to do to get the Detroit Red Wings to both play more consistently and at a level that will allow the team to perform well enough to play into the postseason.

If Red Wings prospects perform well,  that could jeopardize any thoughts for a tank.  The focus should be on player development.  I can not see how allowing prospects to tank would be good for their development.

The best case scenario for the team is to play the young talented prospects and if they struggle to leave them in Detroit to work things out.  Then it would be a sort of unintentional, intentional tank.  When the team is accused of tanking they could point out the young players needed ice time.

Then players would be developed.  The team, if they should they finish  9 or more games back again would more than likely be looking at another lottery pick in the 2019 NHL draft.  This would also be a way for Ken Holland,  not to fully embrace the tank.

These are exciting times in Motown.  And in my opinion, it demands fans attention.