Updated at 2:19 PM: The Detroit Red Wings will welcome Justin Abdelkader, Trevor Daley and Darren Helm back into the lineup as they host the San Jose Sharks this evening (8:00 PM on FSD/NBCS Bay Area/97.1 FM).
As we wait for Red Wings-related articles to pop up, NBCS Bay Area’s Marcus White suggests that the Wings provide a “cautionary tale” for the Sharks to avoid (and, for the record, the Sharks did not hold a morning skate after dropping a 5-2 decision to Pittsburgh on Monday night):
Right now, [the Red Wings are] the league’s oldest team, according to The Athletic. They’re lottery-bound this season, but seven of their nine players signed beyond 2019 are already on the wrong side of 30.
The Sharks currently have far more flexibility, with only seven players signed beyond 2019. But, their present situation looks an awful lot like the beginning of Detroit’s downturn.
Brent Burns, Martin Jones, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are all at least signed until 2024, and their respective contracts are set to expire when they’re 40, 34, and 39 years old.
The Red Wings comparisons can become far more accurate, depending on the type of extensions Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski sign this summer. They’re not legally allowed to sign for as long as Jonathan Franzen or Henrik Zetterberg, but they’ll be 30 and 36, respectively, when their new contracts begin.
As Sharks coach Peter DeBoer probably won’t speak with the media until 4 or 5 PM EST, we’ll focus on the Red Wings this afternoon, starting with a lineup article penned by MLive’s Ansar Khan:
Here are the lines and defense pairs from today’s morning skate, according to DetroitRedWings.com:
Anthony Mantha-Henrik Zetterberg-Gustav Nyquist
Tyler Bertuzzi-Dylan Larkin-Andreas Athanasiou (David Booth extra)
Darren Helm-Frans Nielsen-Tomas Tatar
Martin Frk-Luke Glendening-Justin Abdelkader
Jonathan Ericsson-Trevor Daley
Niklas Kronwall-Mike Green
Danny DeKeyser-Nick Jensen
Luke Witkowski-Xavier Ouellet (extras)
Petr Mrazek (starting)
Jimmy Howard
NHL.com’s Dave Hogg’s preview includes a prospective Sharks lineup, as well as a game set-up:
Sharks projected lineup
Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Kevin Labanc
Mikkel Boedker — Joe Pavelski — Chris Tierney
Melker Karlsson — Tomas Hertl — Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen — Barclay Goodrow — Joel Ward
Brent Burns — Joakim Ryan
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon — Dylan DeMelo
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
…
The Detroit Red Wings will try to end a five-game home losing streak when they play the San Jose Sharks at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.
Detroit is 0-4-1 at its new rink since a 4-2 win against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 5. The Red Wings lost 5-1 at home to the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 25 in their last game before the All-Star break, allowing a hat trick to rookie Alex DeBrincat.
Red Wings forwards Darren Helm (leg) and Justin Abdelkader (lower body), and defenseman Trevor Daley (lower body), are expected to return after missing time before the break.
Goalie Aaron Dell could start for the Sharks after Martin Jones made 26 saves in a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. Jones missed the previous four games with an undisclosed injury.
Update: Here’s more from DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji:
Wings coach Jeff Blashill said he expects Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm and Trevor Daley to play tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
All three are recovering from lower-body injuries.
“Coming off All-Star break, we had some time to get some extra healing and I think we’re all anxious definitely to get back.” Abdelkader said.
Abdelkader and Helm have each missed seven games while Daley has missed the last five.
“It feels like it’s been a long time with the two breaks and getting injured after the first, it’s been a long time,” Helm said. “So obviously excited to get back and just get back on the ice.”
Blashill said he would work all three into the game as he did when Luke Glendening returned from his injury before the All-Star break.
God it sucks to have your team be the go-to example for a Cautionary Tale.