Via Paul Kukla of Abel to Yzerman comes the following take on the Red Wings’ forays into free agency from the Boston Globe’s Matt Porter:
▪ Detroit: Still a lottery team, but with several more legitimate NHL players on the roster (Thomas Greiss, Vlad Namestnikov, Bobby Ryan, Troy Stecher, Marc Staal, Jon Merrill), they may have added 20-30 points in the standings. Not that it gets them anywhere, but wins are building blocks.
The Red Wings are hoping to avoid the lottery–it’s at least GM Steve Yzerman’s goal to screw up Kris Draper and company’s drafting a bit–but no matter how well or how badly the Red Wings play this upcoming season, there is a sense of hope around the organization for the first time in a long time.
