The Detroit Red Wings have a lull in the schedule, perfect time for another mailbag with Free Press sports writer Helene St. James.
The team next plays Saturday, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Hockey operations personnel (management and scouts) are off to hold annual winter meetings in Las Vegas, where there will be meetings to discuss the state of the team, free agents, and the NHL draft. I'll be discussing some of those topics from my kitchen table.
Here are a selection of questions from Twitter.
►More: Wings wonder after loss to Stars: Did refs have it out for Witkowski?
Is making the playoffs a feasible goal for this team, and if not, what is?
HSJ: I don't think the Red Wings will make the playoffs. Their chance to solidify a foothold in the playoff picture came when they had 13 of 15 games at home stretching from mid-November to mid-December. They won just four times during that stretch (4-5-6) to emerge at 12-13-7. As it stands Wednesday, the Wings are 18-19-7, good for 43 points in 44 games. Standard thinking is if a team can bank at least 12 points per every 10-game stretch, 96 points should yield a playoff spot. The Wings were seven points off after 40 games, and are 1-3 to start the fifth segment.
Looking at the Eastern Conference standings, the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and Hurricanes are the top three teams chasing the two wildcard spots, which, entering Wednesday's games, were occupied by the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh. The Metropolitan Division looks like its going to claim to spots, which means the Wings' only chance is to move inside the top three in the Atlantic Division. They trail Toronto by 11 points. I don't see Tampa Bay, Boston or Toronto going into a free fall.
While the Wings want to make the playoffs, the better thing for the organization is to miss and get into the 2018 draft lottery. Look at what winning the draft lottery last year did for New Jersey — Nico Hischier, the top pick in the draft, is third on the team scoring with 27 points. The Devils are second in the Metropolitan with 54 points after 43 games. Last season the Devils finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 70 points.
There are good players in this June's draft beyond franchise defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who should go first overall. The Wings need an infusion of high-end talent.
The Wings appear headed for the draft lottery, but as they get there, the important thing is to focus on playing well — playing to lose instills bad habits, and it doesn't guarantee winning the lottery. The Devils moved up from No. 5 to No. 1 last year. The Flyers moved up from No. 13 to No. 2, and the Stars from No. 8 to No. 3.
►Flashback: Red Wings' playoff streak was great, but what now?
Clearly the first unit of the power play unit has struggled mightily. Aside from Zetterberg, at what point does Blashill leave off both Tatar and Nyquist and try some new blood?
HSJ: Neither unit has looked good the past 10 games. Through the first 34 games, the Wings' power play was at 22.6 percent, top 7 in the NHL. Since then, it's operated at 6.1 percent (that's third-worst for the stretch Dec. 21-Jan. 17 — Vegas bottoms out at 3.7 percent). The Wings have two power-play goals the past 10 games, from Anthony Mantha and Justin Abdelkader. I'd like to see Frans Nielsen get a shot on Henrik Zetterberg's power-play unit, either in place of Niklas Kronwall or Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist only has four power-play points, even though he's top three in average power-play time on the team. There really isn't much choice, though, as far as altering personnel.
HSJ: Defenseman Mike Green, 32, will interest teams looking to add offense. He's a pending unrestricted free agent, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded and then end up re-signing with the Wings, provided he returns for a contract in the $3.5-million range. He really likes Detroit, and the organization likes him. He's the only source of offense from the back end, and that's not going to change next season unless the Wings win the draft lottery.
Goaltender Petr Mrazek, 25, has looked better his past three starts (2-1, 2.67 goals-against average, .909 save percentage), his pro-rated salary is now less than $2 million, and he's a pending free agent (unrestricted, as no team will qualify him at the $4 million he made this season). But he's two years removed from being elite, and he hurt his reputation last season with his attitude.
Nyquist, 28 is having a good season (14 goals, 23 points) and has a year left on his deal, at $4.75 million. (He has a no-trade clause, but can consent to a trade). I doubt he would fetch much, but then again, Tomas Jurco yielded a third-round pick from Chicago last year, and Jurco hadn't shown anything at the NHL level in two-plus seasons.