Detroit Red Wings Training Camp Preview: Part 1: Forward Fight Hot at the Bottom

Before we get started...

According to my 'To Do' List, this preview should have come out yesterday.

However, the biggest tragedy in recent sports history rendered that plan moot.

The loss of the Lokomotiv team on Wednesday that included former Red Wings Brad McCrimmon, Ruslan Salei and Stefan Liv, as well as several other former NHL players, is so large that it will take a fair amount of time for the hockey world in general to process the magnitude of the tragedy.

Even now, it's hard to get one's mind around anything other than the shock and disbelief that comes with losing an entire hockey team in one fell swoop.

I considered scraping this preview all together, in deference to the departed.

However, it is perhaps because the Lokomotiv plane crash has (God willing) capped off a summer of tragedy for hockey, that turning one's attention to the business of the game and the excitement that comes with the prospect of a new season is appropriate, even welcome, at this particular time.

This offseason was one of considerable note for the Detroit Red Wings, but, not for the reasons many would have hoped for.

There was no Stanley Cup victory to celebrate, there were no big-name free-agent acquisitions to drool over, and there were no earth-shaking trades to analyze.

Despite this trifecta of offseason perfection never materializing, there were some big changes.

While the team and fans alike endured a few tense weeks of uncertainty regarding whether or not Nicklas Lidstrom would retire, it was his frequent partner, Brian Rafalski, who pulled the rip cord on his illustrious NHL career.

A few weeks later, Kris Draper decided to hang his skates up for good, followed shortly thereafter by goalie Chris Osgood.

Without these men, the Detroit Red Wings will be a very different team, by definition.

However, their replacements hope to fill their skates admirably, if not, a little better than their predecessors.

Ian White is filling the void left by Rafalski and while he has nowhere near the experience or pedigree that Rafalski had, his youth (27), offensive skill, and heretofore unrealized potential indicates he may just prove to be an upgrade over the aging and injured 37-year-old.

Chris Osgood provided invaluable advice and mentorship for starter Jimmy Howard, however, his duties as a back-up were somewhat less well attended to as fatigue and injury had quite obviously caught up with the three-time Stanley Cup winner.

In his place skates Ty Conklin, a seasoned back-up who had his best year ever playing for the very same team that has brought him back on an one-year deal.

Conklin should fit right in with the team he helped mightily in the 2008-09 season, contributing 25 wins and six shutouts.

Then there's the large void left by Kris Draper.

He too saw age limit his effectiveness, but his face-off ability, speed and defensive skills were still serviceable assets and ones the Red Wings will need to acquire through at least one other player.

What follows is a breakdown of the top forwards that will be at training camp in Traverse City on September 17th, a listing of who is sure to stay, a discussion about who will be fighting for spots, and finally a preview of the lines that could start the 2011-12 season.

Detroit currently has 13 forwards locked up via one-way contracts.  They will look to carry 14 forwards on the official roster, and have invited 40 to training camp.  Still, in the end there may actually be two spots to fight over.

If that math doesn't add up, let me explain.

The following players are sure to be on the roster: Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Tomas Holmstrom, Patrick Eaves, Dan Cleary, Drew Miller, Todd Bertuzzi, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Jiri Hudler.

Let's talk about that last one first.

While fans (including yours truly) have been calling for Hudler to be traded for damn near anything all summer long, he remains with the team.

GM Ken Holland may indeed be looking to ship him out, but doing so will be a tough task as not many teams will be willing to take on a $2.5 million contract attached to a player who left his game somewhere in the KHL two seasons ago.

Short of a strategic trade, the best thing that could happen regarding Jiri Hudler would be that he somehow finds his game again, putting up 50-plus point season is a reliable expectation for the diminutive winger.

So, for the time being, let's assume Hudler stays on through training camp.

Using this logic, we are left with two spots.

Youngsters Jan Mursak, Tomas Tatar and Corey Emmerton all played a spate of games with the big club last season and all showed flashes of NHL potential.

However, only Mursak is on a one-way deal which implies that he too will make the big club more or less automatically.

Not so fast.

While Mursak's speed and grit are going to make him tough to beat out, guys like Tatar and especially Emmerton—who cannot be sent down to the AHL without clearing waivers—are going to be fighting like mad for that final roster spot.

Mursak would do well to not think of his one-way deal as any kind of guarantee of an NHL job.

True, he has proved to be the most promising, but a lackluster start to camp could put him in dangerous territory.

Then there's Fabian Brunnstrom.

In the summer of 2009, Brunnstrom was the most hotly pursued prospect on the free agent market and was courted heavily by the Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Stars.

In the end, the Stars won the bid and by Brunnstrom's first game, it looked as if he could end up being the steal of the summer.

He recorded a hat-trick in his very first NHL game and was an instant smash in the Lone Star State.

Fast forward to the end of that season and Brunnstrom is no longer on the Stars roster and is struggling to stay relevant in the AHL.

He remains in the AHL the next two seasons, last year splitting time between Texas and Toronto.

He fails to impress while with the Marlies and is left to wander the wilderness of free agency this summer.

His only shot at coming back into the NHL is now, apparently, to make the best of the professional tryout the Red Wings have given him.

What better place than Detroit to do this?

Detroit has rejuvenated many the moribund career and Brunnstrom's may indeed be next.

There's a reason he was so vigorously pursued a few year's back.

He's big, 6'2'', 212 pounds and has the soft hands and scoring touch that will only be accentuated on a team like Detroit.

Brunnstrom may indeed impress early leaving guys like Emmerton, Tatar, and yes, even Mursak fighting for the last and final roster spot.

On the face of it, there isn't much to talk about regarding Detroit forwards in training camp.

We know who is in for sure and, theoretically, there is only a 14th forward spot up for grabs.

But look closer and analyze who will be fighting for their NHL lives, and all of a sudden the scene gets a lot more frantic, and for my money, more exciting.

Given all of this speculation, it's a bit of a tough call predicting the forward lines, but here's my guess on who we'll see on opening night:

Top Line:            Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Franzen

Second Line:      Holmstrom - Filppula - Cleary

 Third Line:            Mursak - Helm - Bertuzzi

Fourth Line:         Miller - Abdelkader - Eaves

Alternates:               Hudler - Brunnstrom

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