2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: What's Next for the Detroit Red Wings?

Summer came earlier than usual in Motown this hockey season.

Despite launching more rubber at Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne than a tire factory in the last couple of weeks, the Detroit Red Wings became the first NHL team to be eliminated from this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.

The end came on Friday with a 2-1 defeat in Tennessee in Game 5, as Nashville won three consecutive games to oust the Wings for the first time in three postseason meetings. It was also the earliest that Detroit has exited the playoff picture since 2006.

So what happens now in Hockeytown?

Some past key Detroit performers may not be back next season simply due to advancing age. Left wing Tomas Holmstrom was once one of the best in the world at camping out in front, setting up screens and getting ugly goals, but he's 39 years old, and all that accumulated punishment in the slot has taken a toll on him—especially his knees.

All-world defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who hasn't definitively said if he'll hang up his skates or not, is almost 42. There's talk he can continue playing and some might say he doesn't want to go out like this, but it was only six years ago that Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman skated off the ice in Edmonton following Detroit's early elimination that spring, never to return as an active NHL player.

Holmstrom and Lidstrom are also the last two playing links to the Wings' Stanley Cup champion teams from 1997, 1998 and 2002. Todd Bertuzzi is now 37 and Brad Stuart may have also played his last game on defense with Detroit, as his family still resides out West.

Detroit, though, is only four years removed from its last league title and just three years past its last finals appearance, when it lost to Pittsburgh in seven games. The Wings managed to push San Jose to a seventh game last year in the conference semifinals after falling behind, three games to one, but they just couldn't get back to the second round this year. Not that they were the only ones (see Pittsburgh and Vancouver).

Detroit struggled down the stretch this season, despite winning 23 consecutive home games at one point to set an NHL record. The Wings went 4-8-2 overall in March, the final full month of the 2011-12 campaign, and finished just 4-4-2 in their final 10 regular-season games before falling to the improved Predators in five tight playoff contests.

This isn't to say that Detroit general manager Ken Holland and head coach Mike Babcock have to blow up everything at Joe Louis Arena and start over from scratch. The Wings are still one of the better teams in the NHL—they're not one of its more dominant teams anymore, but there's no need for a full-fledged changing of the guard.

Some adjustments are needed, though—especially on special teams. The Detroit power play connected on just over 16 percent of its opportunities this season, placing it 22nd in the league, while the penalty kill was just under 82 percent, or 18th overall.

Detroit still has enough young talent to rebuild and reload, including the likes of Jimmy Howard, Gustav Nyquist, Darren Helm and Brendan Smith, along with fourth-liners Justin Abdelkader and Drew Miller.

Offensive cogs Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are in their early-30s, but are far from washed up, as is 28-year-old Valtteri Filppula, who had a career-high 23 goals and 66 points this season. Johan Franzen is 32, but just fell a few goals short of hitting the 30-goal mark in each of the past two years despite suffering back problems.

Scoring more goals would help (Detroit only tallied nine in all in the Nashville series), as would playing a more physical game—especially up front, where the Wings have often used skilled, smaller players as a means to success. Maybe picking up a Brandon Prust from the New York Rangers, or someone similar, as a free agent to bang bodies on the boards could free up more offensive zone room for the Datsyuks in Detroit. 

They could also look to add another small, skilled someone like Zach Parise in free agency, depending upon what the New Jersey Devils do (or don't do) in the playoffs this spring.

Of course, staying healthy is always a key, which is also easier said than done in the often rough-and-tumble world of the NHL. Zetterberg played in all 82 games, but he had little company in that regard on the Detroit roster this season.

Datsyuk missed a dozen games with lower-body troubles, Howard sat out 25 contests due to a broken finger and a groin injury and checking forward Patrick Eaves only played in 10 games because of a broken jaw and subsequent concussion. Helm missed 14 games, and would have missed the rest of the playoffs because of severed tendons he suffered early on against Nashville. Even Lidstrom was sidelined for a stretch this season due to an ankle injury.

It may be time to call in more reinforcements from Grand Rapids (AHL), as some of the parts have almost worn out for Motown's most successful sports team of the past two decades. Though they're still good, the Red Wings have a bit of tinkering to do to attain sustained greatness again.