Speculation: Are we a playoff team or late stage rebuild?

[Henkka]

That seems to be the million dollar question. Nice start but can this be sustained? Will we sell or buy at the deadline?

Yzerman will sell.

Not matter what the state of the franchise.

 

[JustJokinenAround]

Neither. Mid rebuild. This is a fantastic start to what is shaping up as the first really fun season in a long time, but it's more "playing with house money" than being fully ready to push for a playoff spot. There will be ups and downs throughout the year, but the kids will get tired, an injury will likely happen here and there, and they'll be somewhere around 10th going into the lottery.

Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled with the improvement I already see. But even staying healthy and getting Vrana back, this roster is at least 1-2 pieces and another year of experience away from deserving an 8 seed. (And I'm hopeful that they get those for next season.)

the focus for me is on the development of players. if raymond and seider can continue even 70-80% of this production for the rest of the year that would be incredible and then with that you have veleno, berggren, and possibly edvinsson next year. next year they could be even more exciting with some more young players.

 

[mikerooooose]

I think the roster was tweaked like 15%-20% we're a playoff team. So either a few prospects come in the next year or two, or a trade or two. I like how competitive, young, and scrappy they are though.

 

[lilidk]

My expectations are after Olympics this team will be not as good as now , simply because other teams will step up .
Vrana , hope not going to go to Olympic, he might get reinjured there.
This team going as Bertuzzi going , will be lucky if he doesn't get hurt, same with Larkin.
We will draft around 10-15

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

They're in a deceptively good place right now due to some hot streaks, but I think they'll come down to earth with time. Bertuzzi didn't become an elite scorer overnight, the rookies will cool down a bit, and Namestnikov will stop scoring every other game.

As someone pointed out, Namestnikov is shooting at just under 37%, and Bertuzzi 30%.

 

[Go Wings]

We're probably a late stage rebuild but it is far too early to tell.
If we can keep this level of play up and with Vrana eventually coming back we might have a chance.
But we will have some injuries like every team does and if we lost key players that will sink any chance of the playoffs. Mostly because we just don't have the depth to recover from it.

 

[Hen Kolland]

We will know when we start to get out of the rebuild when we don't sit around eagerly waiting for the young prospects to make their way on their roster because we are severely talent deprived. When the prospects coming up start coming up to step into depth roles because the top lines are established and capable of playing against the best in the league, that is when we will say we are a up and coming competitor.

When a prospects like Niederbach, Soderblom, Mastrosimone, Buium, Tuomisto or Wallinder potentially clicks and is ready to take that next step and the only spots that we can see them fitting in is in the bottom 6 or the bottom pairing, that is when we will know we are moving to the next stage in our life cycle.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Our entire L2 would be a L3 on a Contender.

Seider-Ray-Bert + Larkin are carrying us. Vlad chipping in.

Until a legit 2C & (2) 2W's reveal themselves, we're a 1 line team playing above our win%. Hoping Fabbri+Suter+Zadina can pull that off, still early/TBD. Veleno is the only other possibility & Berg. hasn't cracked the NHL yet.

I think our 2nd line and our 2nd pair (DDK and Hronek) are the two biggest weakpoints on this team.

1st line is a mid level 1st line in the league. (Probably 18th best to 12th best) and that's good enough if we get solid depth scoring. Maybe Raymond and Bertuzzi become the next Pastrnak/Marchand level duo and then they move up the ranks? That would be legit.

Vrana coming in displaces one of Fabbri - Suter - Zadina and puts them on the 3rd line, allowing us to be much more competitive up front.
We're sadly stuck with this defense for the season unless we blow a draft pick for someone. Edvinsson should slot into the 2nd pair at minimum next season from the looks of things. And hopefully we keep Leddy or sign a comparable replacement like Lindholm.

Goalie I'm pretty happy with but we're going to need another 1b goalie this offseason to work with Ned. Who do we look at in 2022 as the 1b goalie?
2022 NHL Free Agents Tracker

 

[jkutswings]

with that you have veleno, berggren, and possibly edvinsson next year. next year they could be even more exciting with some more young players.

Let alone if they get a center in the top ten. Or add another defenseman in free agency or swing a trade for another piece.

The start of the upswing is fun.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Just a tad before late rebuild.

 

[ColdToiletSeats]

we will make the playoffs easy

 

[Syckle78]

Inconclusive a lot will depend on this off season and if edvinsson comes in and plays like Ray and Mo. Anywhere from mid to late rebuild,

 

[RedWingzz]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but 8th from the bottom is 9th overall. With the wild card, that is borderline a playoff team. I agree with most you said, but I think that analysis places us as a fringe playoff team not a team that can’t make it.

In the league, not conference.

 

[GMR]

Depends on health. This team has no depth. We've seen that with Bertuzzi and Vrana out. Same with the defense if someone should go down. If they finish near the top of the league in fewest man games lost, you never know.

I'd be nice if Vrana didn't injure himself overseas. The top six would look much stronger.

 

[SoupNazi]

We're in the middle of the rebuild. Not out of the woods yet.

 

[Henkka]

I think our 2nd line and our 2nd pair (DDK and Hronek) are the two biggest weakpoints on this team.

I don't know what do mean as 2nd pair, but out top4 is:

DeKeyser - Seider
Leddy - Hronek

DeKeyser-Seider has been working really well lately.

We're sadly stuck with this defense for the season unless we blow a draft pick for someone. Edvinsson should slot into the 2nd pair at minimum next season from the looks of things. And hopefully we keep Leddy or sign a comparable replacement like Lindholm.

Goalie I'm pretty happy with but we're going to need another 1b goalie this offseason to work with Ned. Who do we look at in 2022 as the 1b goalie?
2022 NHL Free Agents Tracker

Just extend Greiss. Stability is usually good.

 

[Ricelund]

I don't really understand the question. Even if they managed to squeak into the playoffs, they'd still be in the rebuild.

 

[DatsDeking]

I chose late stage rebuild. I absolutely love how we’ve been playing lately, but it’s still early in the season and we don’t have the quality of depth I think we’d need to be out of the rebuild. I see us similar to where the Canucks were a few years ago. Bubbling around playoffs.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I don't know what do mean as 2nd pair, but out top4 is:

DeKeyser - Seider
Leddy - Hronek

DeKeyser-Seider has been working really well lately.



Just extend Greiss. Stability is usually good.

I mean we have weakness at 3rd and 4th D on the team. DDK and Hronek can and should be improved on.

Leddy-Seider is much better than DDK-Seider. But we have to split them to cover for DDK-Hronek’s weaknesses.

And Leddy-Hronek is only marginally better than DDK-Hronek. Outside of the Edmonton game they haven’t shown much chemistry.

 

[kliq]

In the league, not conference.

Oh ok. I disagree, but that does make sense.