Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff believes that the Red Wings’ quiet start to the unrestricted free agent period might mean that GM Steve Yzerman will finally “give the kids a chance” to play more regular roles this upcoming season:
The Red Wings really have taken a hit since the end of the season in terms of depth, especially scoring depth. Gone are David Perron (17 goals), Daniel Sprong (18), Shayne Gostisbehere (10) and Jake Walman (12). That’s 57 goals exiting.
Regression for a team that missed the playoffs by a point last season would appear quite possible. While the Red Wings have patchworked the past couple of years with journeymen veterans, teams like Philadelphia, Buffalo and Ottawa were opting to run out their kids and take some lumps while they were learning.
Will their kids be a step ahead of Detroit’s youngsters on the NHL learning curve because of that?
Who knows what other plans the Red Wings might have cooking right now on the back burner. Yzerman isn’t one for entering the sharing circle when it comes to discussing his plans for his team.
Following the weekend’s NHL draft, he certainly didn’t seem at all concerned about not signing any A-list free agents.
“If we can get somebody at the right number, we’ll do it,” Yzerman said at the time. “If not, we’ll wait. We’re confident we’ll fill our roster out one way or another.”
