Season preview: Red Wings depth chart
Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports
theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.
The Detroit Red Wings have not missed the playoffs since 1990, but there's a very real possibility that Joe Louis arena will not host a game past the upcoming regular season, thanks in no small part to the premature departure of Pavel Datsyuk.
Here's a look at the projected depth chart for 2016-17.
Forwards
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Henrik Zetterberg | Dylan Larkin | Gustav Nyquist |
| Justin Abdelkader | Frans Nielsen | Thomas Vanek |
| Tomas Tatar | Darren Helm | Andreas Athanasiou |
| Drew Miller | RileySheahan | Luke Glendening |
- Veteran center Steve Ott will be battling for playing time, while Teemu Pulkkinen and Tomas Jurco will also be attempting to assert their presence in the lineup.
- Dylan Larkin is the new face of the franchise, but it's probably too soon to expect him to serve as the top-line center.
Defense
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Danny DeKeyser | Mike Green |
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Brendan Smith | Alexei Marchenko |
- The state of the blue line could be the biggest reason why Detroit's playoff streak comes to an end.
Goalies
| G |
|---|
| Jimmy Howard |
| Petr Mrazek |
- Jimmy Howard is at the top simply because of his salary, but Petr Mrazek is the better option and will take over the starting job for good sooner than later.
NHL Depth Charts
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY
CAR | CHI | COL | CBS | DAL
DET | EDM | FLA | LA | MIN
MTL | NSH | NJD | NYI | NYR
PHI | PIT | OTT | STL | SJ
TB | TOR | VAN | WSH | WIN