While it's true they lost some talent and production, and haven't added anything of consequence in the early stages of the offseason, it still shouldn't put much of a dent in the Red Wings' Stanley Cup chances for 2009-10.
Let's take a look at what Detroit is really losing, and what it has coming up through the Grand Rapids pipeline.
The Detroit Red Wings are considered, in most circles, as the model franchise in the NHL. With four Stanley Cups in the past 14 years -- and six trips to the Finals -- it's hard to argue against that belief. Impossible, actually. But are they overrated when it comes to their success at the NHL Entry Draft?
On Monday, the great Maple Leafs blog, Pension Plan Puppets, unveiled an overwhelming analysis of every pick in the NHL draft from 1994 to the present created by one of their members. One of the surprising observations? The Detroit Red Wings are, according to his analysis, one of the worst teams in the NHL when it comes to the draft.
Following Niklas Kronwall's hit on Martin Havlat Friday night, there's been plenty of discussion about the officiating in the Western Conference final. Actually, there's always a lot of discussion about officiating in the NHL, and following Detroit's 6-1 dismantling of Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville sounded off, blaming the referees for ruining a good hockey game. Seriously.
That sound you're hearing is Red Wings fans laughing out loud.
Huge news out of Chicago, where the Detroit Red Wings are severely crippled in their bid to gain a stranglehold on the Western Conference Finals. All-Everything defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom suffered a lower-body injury in Game 3 of the series Friday night and will miss Sunday's game. It's the first time in Lidstrom's career that he has sat out a Red Wings playoff game -- a streak of 228 games..
While the hockey world is debating whether Niklas Kronwall's hit on Martin Havlat should have been ruled interference or charging (or nothing at all), Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell weighed in with his thoughts on the hit, as well as Kronwall's reputation as a physical presence on the ice (hint: he's not a fan).
According to Ansar Khan of Mlive.com, Campbell was one of the most vocal critics of the hit, calling it "gutless all around."
We're a little less than 24 hours removed from Friday's Red Wings-Blackhawks game, which saw Chicago claw its way back into the series with a 4-3 overtime win, while a lot of the debate has been centered around Niklas Kronwall's devastating hit on Martin Havlat.
While Havlat was knocked six ways from Tuesday, Kronwall was issued a five-minute major and a game misconduct for interference which set off a firestorm of discussion around the hockey blogosphere and message boards. Was it interference? Was it charging? Was it a legal, clean hit? We asked the NHL for comment.
As expected, the Chicago Blackhawks got off to a quick start Friday night against Detroit. The Red Wings had a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals, but Chicago was playing at home in a conference final game for the first time in 14 years.
After jumping to a 2-0 first-period lead, the Blackhawks got a controversial five-minute power play. Detroit's Niklas Kronwall stepped up at the Chicago blue line to lay out forward Martin Havlat, who had his head down trying to find a loose puck in his skates.
Two years ago, a much more heralded Anaheim Ducks team took out Detroit on their way to a Stanley Cup. This time, the Ducks enter a series against the Red Wings as perhaps the most-feared eighth seed in NHL playoff history. That said, they're still an eighth seed, and a decided underdog. Is this the end of "Cinderella"?
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they don't boast similar defensive depth. Instead, they tend to lean on their puck possession and scoring to mask some flaws along the blue line and in goal.
As a result, news that veteran puck-moving defenseman Brian Rafalski will miss Game 1 of the Wings' Western Conference semifinal series against Anaheim is not good. It's not a death blow -- as an injury to Nicklas Lidstrom would be -- but it's not a good way for Detroit to start this series.
In hockey, the home team gets the last line change before a faceoff. This typically means the coach of that team will be able to pick the line-on-line matchups throughout the game.
For a team like Columbus, one that only has one really lethal line, this can be a major deal. While Rick Nash was shut down in the first two games against the Wings, the Blue Jackets get to play at home Tuesday night. That means Ken Hitchcock picks the matchup for Nash. That's a good thing, right?
It's been a one-way street out of Detroit this offseason, as the Red Wings have watched Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Ty Conklin and Tomas Kopecky sign with rival teams in the Western Conference, while Jiri Hudler attempts to make a jump to the KHL (even though the NHL isn't all that happy about it). Such losses would be a sizable blow to most teams, but the Red Wings aren't like most teams. 
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While the hockey world is debating whether 
The Detroit Red Wings are one of the deepest offensive teams in the NHL. Unfortunately for them, they don't boast similar defensive depth. Instead, they tend to lean on their puck possession and scoring to mask some flaws along the blue line and in goal.
In hockey, the home team gets the last line change before a faceoff. This typically means the coach of that team will be able to pick the line-on-line matchups throughout the game.
