The Detroit Red Wings New Year’s Resolutions
By Bob Heyrman
With an ugly 2018 finally, in the rearview mirror for the Detroit Red Wings, we take a look at a few new years’ resolutions the franchise.
The year 2018 was not kind to the Detroit Red Wings. I mean the loss of a leader and captain Henrik Zetterberg was certainly at the forefront of the unfortunate downfall of the 18′ Wings. I need to mention 18 wasn’t all bad. Holland and company were able to add top prospects into the pool of future Wings; Filip Zadina, Joeseph Veleno and Jonatan Berggren are at the top of the list.
Others will point to specific roster moves. I mean the resigning of Thomas Vanek, or the addition of Jonathan Bernier. People will point the finger at Ken Holland retaining his head coach Jeff Blashill. Others will look at the ownership being reluctant to fire the three-time Stanley Cup-winning General Manager Ken Holland himself.
Maybe you consider the fact the Detroit Red Wings continue to roll out the likes of Jonathan Ericsson or Christoffer Ehn, maybe Martin Frk or Jacob de La Rose. The franchise has struggled with rebuilding the right way. They have this idea of restoring while staying competitive. It has yet to work.
The idea of signing veteran players with the idea of flipping them for picks at the deadline is a great idea until you realize you’ve signed them with no trade or no movement clauses attached to their deals. Folks will spew out in defense “the likes of Vanek wouldn’t have signed without an NTC.” I have breaking news here, then don’t sign him! Move on to the next player that has some trade value that will sign without any restrictions.
In this piece, we will take a look at what we think the Detroit Red Wings New Year’s resolutions should be for 2019 as a franchise.