No, I don’t think that’s a reality for Detroit.

Chelios plays in too few games to really be considered a factor. While both Draper and Maltby will be sorely missed by the organization—realize there are a handful of players in their system who would be playing 3rd or 4th line with any other team already. Leino, Abdelkader and Helm have all proved capable of replacing them.

I find it interesting, for as many detractors as Osgood has, many of those same people think Osgood is some integral part of the organization. The Red Wings rely on a tandem system in net—something we now see more frequently in the NHL. As was pointed out by someone on this blog before, the difference between a $2 million netminder and a $6 million netminder really is not that drastic. I imagine both he and Conklin will be around for a few years more to give Daniel Larsson some more time to develop. It’s become obvious that their faith Jimmy Howard is minimal.

They’ll take that money and dump it into their defense. Pending the loss of Lidstrom, that is their most pressing issue. You can see now with Rafalski out that they are testing the water with Ericsson and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him full-time next season.

Even still, it’s a large gap to fill, but the Red Wings will get sizable cap relief with his retirement. Depending on what they do with Hossa, it would be enough to go and find another top-two defenseman.