Lottery contention more likely than playoff contention

When the Pittsburgh Pirates visited Comerica Park for a late-season series with the Detroit Tigers, manager Clint Hurdle was queried as to which parts of the year had not played out to expectations. “I don’t set expectations,… Hurdle explained. “My experience over the years has told me that’s not really a good avenue to go.… This is sage advice. On paper, it’s easy to draw up a game plan that sees the Detroit Red Wings rebound and return to the Stanley Cup playoffs after a one-year absence. Suppose goalie Jimmy Howard stays healthy and lives up to his past all-star form? And perhaps Petr Mrazek rebounds to give them a 1-2 punch in net. Continuing with the delusion, new addition Trevor Daley pairs with Danny DeKeyser to form a formidable top defense pairing. The power play, dismal much of last season, continues the uptick it displayed in the latter stages of 2016-17. They regain their home-ice advantage in new Little Caesars Arena after going 17-17-7 in their last season at Joe Louis Arena. Young players like Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin take further steps forward, while veterans like Gus Nyquist Riley Sheahan and Tomas Tatar rebound from off-years and become more consistent, reliable performers. Captain Henrik Zetterberg continues to defy Father Time and perform like he’s still in the prime of his career. In a perfect world, all of this could happen, but you know what? The world ain’t anywhere close to being perfect. Already, there are monkey wrenches being tossed at the plan. Instead of preparing to progress following an 18-goal campaign, Andreas Athanasiou sits at home, embroiled in a contract dispute. To their credit, the Wings seem to understand the work that lay ahead to return this team to respectability. |We know what we have to be better to be more successful,… Tatar said. “We’ve talked about it many times. We can’t let these home games slip. We know our power play has to be a little better.… Truth be told, far too much ails this club to pass the smell test when anyone suggests the playoffs are a realistic possibility. The fact of the matter is that Howard hasn’t shown a propensity to stay healthy in recent seasons. The Wings don’t have a top pairing rearguard, just a whole bunch of 3-4-5-6 defensemen. Their biggest defenseman (Jonathan Ericsson) doesn’t play big. Zetterberg’s back is a ticking time bomb. The Nyquist who scored 29 goals the past two seasons is likely closer to the real Gus than the guy who tallied 55 goals the previous two campaigns. Let’s not forget that the Wings were an NHL-best 9-0 in the shootout last season. A team doesn’t get that fortunate two years in a row. The reality check is that the Wings look set up more to be a draft lottery contender than a playoff contender. “I think this team has the ability to be good,… Tatar said. “We weren’t obviously good enough last year and we slipped out of the playoff race too early. “We know the guys, us in the locker room, we can have a better season than we had.… Can the Wings be better than they were last season? Certainly. Can the Wings be a playoff team in 2017-18? Certainly not. Follow me on Twitter @asktheduffer