Before I get going on this one, I just want to give proper respect to P.K. Subban for his huge donation to the Montreal Children's hospital yesterday. He is certainly not my favorite player on the planet, and I have been critical of him in the past for on and off ice reasons, but this is a gesture that makes him much more difficult to dislike in my book. Sure, there are jokes going around about microfracture treatment and also the "looking for the limelight" comments, and the tax breaks that go with such a donation, but giving $10M to a good cause is certainly worthy of more than a few kudos.
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The Detroit Red Wings are one of those teams that you look at and can't really determine what they are going to be this season. You keep waiting for a fall, and for the Vets to show their age, but that hasn't happened yet.
They do, however, have a new coach for the first time in 10 years and that could be a factor going forward.
Here is how the Wings and Senators project to line up as we head into a new season, as usual from dailyfaceoff.com:
UP FRONT
The addition of Brad Richards means that the Wings can try to keep the wily Zetterberg-Datsyuk combination together and then follow it up with a very skilled unit that includes Tatar and Nyquist, who are just entering their prime, centered by the veteran Richards. They don't have a ton of scoring potential on their bottom 6, with Jurco being sort of on an island in the top-end skill department. What they do have is a nice combination of veteran and youth role players who have been in the system for a while and know what is expected in their role, such as Darren Helm and Drew Miller. The wildcard is sniper Anthony Mantha, a top prospect who could make a run at a spot on the roster in training camp in a top 6 role that could shake things up.
The Senators can't match up with the experience that Zetterberg and Datsyuk bring, but they could be just as deep through their top 6. I think Ottawa has more potential to get offense from the bottom 6, with Lazar, Pageau and Michalek as a likely 3rd line that should be able to contribute more than their fair share.
THE BLUE LINE
Niklas Kronwall is all of a sudden 34 years old. I had to double-check that age but I guess he played in Lidstrom's shadow for so long that when he finally got the attention he was a bit older than I had realized. He is still the leader of the Wings' blue line, for now and the foreseeable future. The interesting name is Mike Green, who joins the Wings as a free agent and is the kind of riverboat gambler that could go either way on any given night.
Karlsson and Methot will set the pace for the Senators, especially at even strength and the key remains the ability of Jared Cowen to show he belongs in a top 4 role so that the Senators have options and flexibility to mix and match their bottom 2 pairings.
BETWEEN THE PIPES
Jimmy Howard has a lot of years and a lot of money left on his contract, but this could be the year Petr Mrazek takes over after a sub-par year from Howard. This will be one of the most contentious battles for a number 1 spot in the league, and they are as close to 1 and 1A as there is. They had pretty comparable stats as well as a similar winning percentage. When healthy, Craig Anderson is probably the best netminder in this matchup right now, and if Hammond can show he is more than lightning in a bottle (or more), then the Senators will be in decent shape.
Really, on paper these two teams are pretty similar and there isn't much to choose between them over the course of a season. The Wings system hasn't had to take a backseat to anyone in terms of consistency, but the big question for me is exactly how much of that success was due to Babcock's influence and how the Wings will progress without him guiding from behind the bench.
The Wings are certainly one of the teams that Ottawa will be battling with for position, as last season they were separated by a single point, with the Sens scoring 3 more goals and allowing 6 fewer.