Many of the Red Wings' best players are under 30, includingforwards Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, ValtteriFilppula, Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler and defensemen Niklas Kronwalland Brad Stuart, if they're able to re-sign the unrestricted freeagent. And their top two defensemen, Niklas Lidstrom and BrianRafalski, and No. 1 goaltender, Chris Osgood, are still performingat an elite level well into their 30s. "They're a blend of young and old talent. It's the best of bothworlds,'' NBC's Mike Milbury said. "Credit the organization. If youcan continually roll over your organization like that you're goingto have great success. And nobody has had more success in the last10 years than the Detroit Red Wings. Nobody has done a betterjob.'' No Cup champion has advanced past the first round of the playoffsthe following season since 2002, when Colorado lost to Detroit inthe conference finals. Four of the past five Cup winners (Detroit,New Jersey, Tampa Bay and Anaheim) were eliminated in the openinground. The other, Carolina, failed to qualify for the postseasonthe following year. "It's incredibly difficult to repeat, but I believe their core willbe in place for at least the next couple of years,'' Versus analystBill Clement said. "The Red Wings are as good a bet to be at thetop of the heap for the next two years as any team.'' Signing a No. 4 defenseman is Holland's top priority. He's hopingit will be Stuart, if he agrees to accept less than the $3.5million he earned this season. The Red Wings, who have plenty ofcap space next season, will try to re-sign Andreas Lilja and arelikely to bring back Chris Chelios for another year as their eighthdefenseman. They must make room for young Kyle Quincey, who is outof minor-league options. They have two top blue line prospects inJonathan Ericsson, who could be ready to step in next season, andJakub Kindl, who is still a year or two away. At forward, young Darren Helm has likely earned a roster spot fornext season with his strong playoff performance. Highly toutedFinnish prospect Ville Leino will have an opportunity to earn aroster spot in training camp. Justin Abdelkader is likely to spendat least one season in Grand Rapids (AHL) but showed much promiseduring his brief time with the big club. In goal, they would be willing to re-sign Dominik Hasek, 43, foraround $1 million, if he wants to return. Otherwise, they willeither pursue a veteran free-agent to back-up Osgood or go withJimmy Howard, who can still spend another season in Grand Rapidswithout having to clear waivers. "They handled the free-spending era better than anyone else andthey've handled the Back Cap era better than anyone else,'' Melrosesaid. "They never panic, never make a big mistake, always got agood mixture of young guys and older players, so that helps thecap. They always seem to have room at the (trade) deadline to add aplayer.'' 2008-06-06 13:08:34
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