Red Wings Lose Out In Suter/Parise Sweepstakes; What's Next?

While I understand it may be hard times for fans of the Detroit Red Wings, I'm going have to ask that those of you who are over-reacting to losing out on Ryan Suter and Zach Parise to please back off the ledge slowly. Yes, the Wings got bounced in the first round of the playoffs. Yes, Nick Lidstrom decided to retire at the end of the season. Yes, Brad Stuart and Jiri Hudler have opted to play elsewhere. And yes, Ryan Suter turned down a deal to go play with Zach Parise for an eight million dollars.

Losing out on Suter hurts, it hurts because he was the big, physical, shutdown defense man the Wings and their fan base craved. And while I hate to take credit away from Suter, lets not forget that he's spent the last few years of his career playing next to Shea Weber(who could hit the market next year) but it's going to be interesting to see how Suter does playing with substantially lesser talent.

What about Parise? I'm not fully convinced the Wings were sold on Parise, especially when rumors starting floating about his contract hitting the 100 million dollar range. My theory seemed to be right when on the first day of Free Agency in the NHL the Wings went out and signed not one, not two, but three forwards. You don't sign three forwards when your roster is already full of forwards if you're going to try and land the top forward available. So losing out on Parise doesn't hurt and shouldn't hurt as much to the fans and the organization. Hats off to the Minnesota Wild on landing these two free agents but know what, half of their 70 million dollar salary cap is tied up into five players. Last I checked its hard to fill the other 17 spots on your roster with talent for the other roughly 35 million you left.

So what's next for the Red Wings you may ask. I'll tell you. Ken Holland has had a Plan B, C, D and probably E in place for the moment when Suter said no. Holland has been extremely successful here as the General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings. He's going to go out on a mission to go land himself a forward that scores goals and defense man that moves the puck crisply and smartly. So who are they?

Starting with defense men first, the Wings had probably four or five guys they were looking at after Suter. Jason Garrison, Matt Carle, Carlo Colaiacovo and Sami Salo. Jason Garrison is coming off a career year in Florida, he's a big and strong defense man with booming shot from the point. Unfortunately for the Wings, Vancouver went out and may have slightly over paid for his services before Suter made his decision. Matt Carle is a defense man who likes to skate out with the puck and loves to make the long outlets too, something the Wings d-men were notoriously known for. He fits well here, only down size is his size. He won't outmuscle too many people in front of the net. Colaiacovo is similar to Carle except he's not as efficient offensively and he's injury prone. Salo, while old, still brings a cannon of a shot with him and a little edge physically. Sadly, Tampa Bay swiped him up early. Chris Campoli could be a dark horse the Wings look at if they lose out again here.

You know the market forwards was bad this year when most people had Jiri Hudler as a top five available forward. That said, two big intriguing names are still out there: Alexander Semin and Shane Doan. Now both guys would be looked at for different roles. Bringing in Semin means adding another top six forward to the squad and it would be interesting to see what can of Russian magic he and countryman Pavel Datsyuk could create. The only question to his game is his work ethic. Semin has been viewed as someone who tends to takes games and playoffs off but having Datsyuk around him and on his line could motivate the young man. Turning our attention to Doan, he brings that veteran presence to the team and a big physical nature. The team wouldn't be counting on Doan as a goal scorer but he would do plenty on the stat sheet as a third or fourth liner.

One last possible move the Wings make this offseason is acquiring Rick Nash via trade from Columbus. But I wouldn't bet on it happening. Columbus wants too much and the Wings won't part with the likes of Filppula, Helm, Smith and Nyquist. Getting Nash creates more holes for the Wings to fill.

People need to calm down and realize this team isn't as bad as many of you make it out to be. However, this team is as dominant as they have been either. Things will get better people, have some faith in Ken Holland.