Where The Red Wings Stand Entering This Summer

For the sixth straight season, the Detroit Red Wings missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  And largely because of that, general manager Steve Yzerman announced last week that they would not bring back head coach Jeff Blashill.

The Wings have lots of room for improvement.  But there is promise with strong young players like Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, and Alex Nedeljkovic.  The Wings just need more guys like that.

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The one thing that Stevie Y has improved with out question is the team's salary cap status.  After being snug against the cap a couple of years ago, they finished this season around $11 million under the cap.

And they should have some money under the cap to make a free agent acquisition or two this offseason.  They also have ten draft choices over seven rounds in the annual NHL Entry Draft, which is in June.  And they'll find out next week where they'll pick in the first round as the NHL Draft Lottery is on May 10th.

So, much like the I wrote about the Detroit Pistons' offseason last month, here's a look at where the team stands entering the offseason.  All contract information is courtesy of capfriendly.com.

However, before Stevie Y does anything with players, he has to figure out who the head coach will be.  The organization liked Jeff Blashill and gave him ample time to improve the team.  But as Yzerman said this week, the team had regressed.  And a change was needed.

Will the new head coach be fiery like John Torterella??  Or a retread like Paul Maurice?  Both are available.  Or will he go with someone off the radar?  We'll see.