Imagine what would happen if...

[Octopus]

• Datsyuk and Zetterberg played an injury free season
  
• Howard plays as well as his best year so far
  
• Tatar, Nyquist, Sheahan, Jurco all improve and put up more points
  
• Weiss comes back and scores 50 points
  
• Quincey plays as well as his second half last year
  
• Smith learns how NOT to cough up the puck so much
  
  Would the Wings win the Cup?

Click to read more...

 

[Frk It]

• Datsyuk and Zetterberg played an injury free season
  
• Howard plays as well as his best year so far
  
• Tatar, Nyquist, Sheahan, Jurco all improve and put up more points
  
• Weiss comes back and scores 50 points
  
• Quincey plays as well as his second half last year
  
• Smith learns how NOT to cough up the puck so much
  
  Would the Wings win the Cup?

I think that would be good enough to punch them a ticket to the Cup, and get through the East.

I don't think that's enough to beat LA or CHI in 7 games, if that's who comes from the West.

I still think we have serious issues transitioning the puck unless you write in an additional scenario where one of the young D comes up and helps that out as well.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I think that would be good enough to punch them a ticket to the Cup, and get through the East.

I don't think that's enough to beat LA or CHI in 7 games, if that's who comes from the West.

I still think we have serious issues transitioning the puck unless you write in an additional scenario where one of the young D comes up and helps that out as well.

Yeah, we finally have good scoring depth in Detroit so long as Tatar, Nyquist, Sheahan and Jurco are on the ice. That remains to be seen as far as Jurco is concerned, I can see him being sent down to Grand Rapids. There's a lot of history as far as that goes.

However our defense leaves much to be desired. We have two very solid d-men in Kronwall and Ericsson and one guy who could continue to improve in DeKeyser. That's a pretty decent top 3, although only one is a solid puck mover at this point.

Now if Babcock can get 1-2 puck movers up from Grand Rapids and all of what the original poster suggests as far as the star aligning for a perfect season, then I think we become a very interesting and talented team.

We were pushed to rely on youth last year and it made all the difference. I certainly hope the same thing happens this year on defense. Kindl and Lashoff should be forced to compete for their roster spots and given the need for puck movers they need to win those competitions convincingly IMO.

 

[PullHard]

We don't even need all of that to go right to make it to the finals, IMO. Ideally we avoid the Bruins in the playoffs, that is basically it.

Look at the Rangers. They had a borderline catastrophic start to the year last year. New coach awkwardness, Lundqvist was hurt and not usually playing very well when he was playing, lots of contract rumours surrounding Girardi and Callahan, traded their captain away, etc. but they peaked at the perfect time, everything came together for them. If you have the pieces you just have to hope you're almost 100% healthy and have a decent amount of momentum come April.

For example, I'd say our 2012 team deserved a better fate than a 4-1 first round exit. Still had a fairly well rounded team, and they took the Cup champs to game 7 OT the following year without Stuart and Lidstrom. The team lost a ton of steam at the end of the regular season, and it was pretty obvious. I went from feeling like the team had an honest chance to go deep and maybe even win it all to doubting our chances in roughly the span of a week.

So basically, I really like our chances if our best players are healthy and have good line chemistry in March and April, and in a perfect world we don't play Boston in round 1.

 

[Flowah]

I think that would be good enough to punch them a ticket to the Cup, and get through the East.

I don't think that's enough to beat LA or CHI in 7 games, if that's who comes from the West.

I still think we have serious issues transitioning the puck unless you write in an additional scenario where one of the young D comes up and helps that out as well.

I understand we have problems on the back end and our top9 might not be as strong on paper. But I legitimately believe our forward group, optimally rostered and lined up, is as good as any other in the league.

Agreed though that it's likely our defense that is our downfall. If they can't get the puck to the forwards and support them properly in the offensive zone, nothing can happen. We're so close to a contending team I feel. Dump a couple of our garbage D, let one kid out of 4 prove himself, and if we had just landed one of those free agents.

We're so close, yet so far away.

 

[Adam Schnepp]

Would they win the Cup? That's tough to say, because so much of that is match-up dependent.

I certainly like their chances in the East, however. It's clear that they have all of the forward depth they need. What will be interesting to see imo is how the d-corps shakes out. If some of the bottom three are consistently bad, is there a chance anyone from GR gets called up? I have a lot of faith in guys like Ouellet and Marchenko and would like to see what they would do with a more permanent NHL role.

 

[Actual Thought*]

I think that would be good enough to punch them a ticket to the Cup, and get through the East.

I don't think that's enough to beat LA or CHI in 7 games, if that's who comes from the West.

I still think we have serious issues transitioning the puck unless you write in an additional scenario where one of the young D comes up and helps that out as well.

I agree that it is an issue. However I can see a scenario where each of the young blueliners takes a little step and maybe one takes a big step. I don't think Smith and Dekeyser are anywhere near their peak. This could be an important year for both. Kindl should be better. Quincy showed good things in the second half. E should be healthy which is a step. Lashoff is more experienced and then we have the kids in GR that will get rotated in. I can see a scenario where this team somehow surprises everyone and is considered a contender by the All-Star break.

 

[Actual Thought*]

We don't even need all of that to go right to make it to the finals, IMO. Ideally we avoid the Bruins in the playoffs, that is basically it.

Look at the Rangers. They had a borderline catastrophic start to the year last year. New coach awkwardness, Lundqvist was hurt and not usually playing very well when he was playing, lots of contract rumours surrounding Girardi and Callahan, traded their captain away, etc. but they peaked at the perfect time, everything came together for them. If you have the pieces you just have to hope you're almost 100% healthy and have a decent amount of momentum come April.

For example, I'd say our 2011 team deserved a better fate than a 4-1 first round exit. Still had a fairly well rounded team, and they took the Cup champs to game 7 OT the following year without Stuart and Lidstrom. The team lost a ton of steam at the end of the regular season, and it was pretty obvious. I went from feeling like the team had an honest chance to go deep and maybe even win it all to doubting our chances in roughly the span of a week.

So basically, I really like our chances if our best players are healthy and have good line chemistry in March and April, and in a perfect world we don't play Boston in round 1.

Boston can be beaten with speed and puck movement. If our d gets clicking by late season who knows? They didn't seem to have energy in last year's playoffs. I think the injuries and the emotional investment they gave just to get in took its' toll and it showed in the first rd.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

Still wouldn't win the cup.

 

[Henkka]

I think our highest ceiling is to win the East.

But if you get a bit lucky and the Western Champ has some remarkable injuries during their run trough the West...

...who knows what could happen.

 

[The Zermanator]

Still wouldn't win the cup.

Really? We took Chicago to a game 7 two seasons ago without Nyquist and Tatar at their current level, no DeKeyser/Jurco/Sheahan, no 50 pt Weiss, etc.

 

[RedWingzz]

• Datsyuk and Zetterberg played an injury free season
  
• Howard plays as well as his best year so far
  
• Tatar, Nyquist, Sheahan, Jurco all improve and put up more points
  
• Weiss comes back and scores 50 points
  
• Quincey plays as well as his second half last year
  
• Smith learns how NOT to cough up the puck so much
  
  Would the Wings win the Cup?

I am imagining this, and no we would not win the Cup, not even close.

Round 2 loss?

 

[Pavels Dog]

We'd be damn good for sure. Still would need something to happen on defense, at least 1 or 2 kids stepping up.

 

[Actual Thought*]

Really? We took Chicago to a game 7 two seasons ago without Nyquist and Tatar at their current level, no DeKeyser/Jurco/Sheahan, no 50 pt Weiss, etc.

Agreed. In the playoffs it is all about playing your system well for 16 games. That's why there are so many upsets in the NHL playoffs. Now with the cap everyone is pretty watered down and almost any team can win the cup in a given year.

 

[Avery Rule]

A wise gm once said, if you can just make it to the playoffs anything is possible...

 

[Actual Thought*]

A wise gm once said, if you can just make it to the playoffs anything is possible...

And based on the scenario presented they should waltz to a playoff spot.

 

[Dotter]

Imagine if...

• Jiri Fischer was a healthy 33/yr old in the prime of his career top #2 defenseman and never had that heart condition.

That one really bums me out, because Fischer was going to be a BEAST!

 

[PullHard]

Boston can be beaten with speed and puck movement. If our d gets clicking by late season who knows? They didn't seem to have energy in last year's playoffs. I think the injuries and the emotional investment they gave just to get in took its' toll and it showed in the first rd.

I agree, I'd just rather they go 6 or 7 with Montreal or Tampa first.

 

[Short Shorts]

I don't think we'd win a cup, but we'd definitely be tough to beat. I'd say Eastern Finals as a best-case scenario for this season. We're going to need a stronger defense before we become favorites to win it all. The search for someone to replace Lidstrom continues...

 

[Actual Thought*]

The Wings (17th) scored 222 goals last year. Chicago (1st) scored 267. If Weiss got 50pts, and Tatar and Nyquist increased production, Pav and Z stay healthy, We could be the top scoring team in the NHL.

 

[Orthodox Caveman]

I don't think any of those wins us the Cup but they do help our chances. There's more to add...like fixing our powerplay, adding pieces etc..

since the last Cup finals appearance...

2010,2012,2014: first round exits, in 5 games
2011,2013: second round exits, in 7 games

assuming we make the playoffs, we're looking at either of those until certain things put us in the Finals. On paper the Wings look as competetive as any team in the East but they don't look like a Cup contender.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I think that would be good enough to punch them a ticket to the Cup, and get through the East.

I don't think that's enough to beat LA or CHI in 7 games, if that's who comes from the West.

I still think we have serious issues transitioning the puck unless you write in an additional scenario where one of the young D comes up and helps that out as well.

I think that team can beat Chicago, still worried about LA and Anaheim in terms of if they get out of the East though.

 

[icKx]

I don't know about a Cup, but if Howard maintains a .924 SV% through the season and playoffs we can (if healthy) hang with anyone in the East.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

I think that team can beat Chicago, still worried about LA and Anaheim in terms of if they get out of the East though.

Yeah I'd agree with that.

Anaheim, with the addition of Kesler plus what I expect to be a really frightening 4th line with their kids would be a tough matchup. Not invincible though.

And LA's defensive system would also be a really difficult matchup. Like Boston, but maybe even better. How rare it is to win back-to-back will be a challenge for LA though.

 

[gamefan14*]

you forgot danny cleary returning to 20 goal form