We're just a handful of games into the season and fans are already looking at the Detroit Red Wings of the past with rose tinted glasses.
To say the Red Wings are in a tumultuous state is an understatement. There's no clear path from the front office. Dylan Larkin is still with the team. Simon Edvinsson's contract situation has extended its way through six games. It's a mess no matter how you slice it.
But that doesn't mean that former Red Wings would save the team.
In fact, moving on from a few of these players might have been the best decision the front office could have made, given their early struggles.
Patrick Kane struggling to produce
Last season, Kane was fifth among all Red Wings in scoring. Early concerns about the team's offense without Kane have been thus far justified -- the Red Wings are among the bottom of the NHL in terms of goals per game.
But, with that said, keeping Patrick Kane for another year wouldn't fix things.
The 37-year-old is off to a less than ideal start back in Chicago, putting up just two points in six games. While it's still early in the season, it's clear that the Kane of Detroit and the Kane in his second go of Chicago are two different players. To be fair, the Blackhawks are just as bad - if not worse - than Detroit in terms of overall offensive output. But Kane has more opportunity in Chicago than he did in Detroit, playing on the team's top pairing.
Kane turns 38 in November. If he can't return to the level of production he had last season, the Red Wings are likely better off without him.
Elmer Soderblom on the verge of getting waived
Last season was the tale of two Elmers: with the Red Wings, he produced just three points in 39 games, often finding himself a healthy scratch on a multitude of nights. When Detroit traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins, though, he exploded, putting up 10 points in 20 games. At that point in time, it looked like a big failure for then-general manager Steve Yzerman.
Now, the decision seems to have aged quite well.
The Penguins have played six games thus far. Soderblom has been a healthy scratch for four of them. In the two games he's played for the Penguins this season, he has yet to register a single point. His ice time hovers around 10 minutes a game and, if head coach Dan Muse's comments are any indication, there's a chance he might very well be waived.
Should Soderblom find his way to waiver, there's a chance he'll get another shot with another NHL org. The question, though, remains the same: will Soderblom finally find consistency, or is this a sign of things to come?
Majority of Red Wings free agents still unsigned
This summer, the Red Wings moved on from five free agents: Patrick Kane, James van Riemsdyk, Travis Hamonic, David Perron and Cam Talbot. (Erik Gustafsson was also not offered a contract, but he spent the overwhelming majority of the season in Grand Rapids). Of the five that left, two have signed contracts: Patrick Kane and Cam Talbot.
James van Riemsdyk, David Perron and Travis Hamonic have yet to sign deals.
The most surprising of the trio is van Riemsdyk, who finished last season with 15 goals. He could still be a moderate boon for a team in need of offense like, say, the Philadelphia Flyers. Perron, while mentioned by Pierre LeBrun as a potential target for the Red Wings, failed to generate much offense for Detroit last season, scoring just three goals in his brief return.
Hamonic failed to meet expectations last season, and, at 36 years of age, it's hard to find a role for him in the NHL at this point in his career.
Amadeus Lombardi might still be something
Of all the former Red Wings last season, the only one that seems close to bringing something the Red Wings miss is Amadeus Lombardi. While Lombardi never wound up suiting up for the Red Wings, he made the New Jersey Devils' roster out of camp and netted his first point - an assist - in his fourth game.
Lombardi currently plays on the fourth line alongside Jesper Boqvist and Cody Glass. While neither bring much in terms of offense, it's hard to imagine he'd be able to crack the Red Wings' roster with how many veterans are logjamming Detroit's bottom-six.
It's gotten so bad there's even a chance the Red Wings might have to send Nate Danielson down to Grand Rapids again.
While Lombardi's speed and skill would've certainly been a boon to Detroit, it isn't likely he would have had a chance to showcase that in Hockeytown.
Lombardi might still become a regular NHLer with New Jersey. For now, he's still a relatively unknown commodity at the NHL level.
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