Scott Burnside of The Athletic on what to expect from all 31 teams in the short offseason.

On the Wings..

So many holes in this lineup that somehow managed to compile a minus-122 goal differential in just 71 games. But you’ve got to start somewhere, right? Let’s start with the premise that this team is three or four years away from legitimately returning to playoff contention. So, this isn’t about signing a flashy free agent to plug a particularly gaping hole along the blue line or in goal, although both positions are woefully thin. Instead it would seem that with an abundance of salary cap space GM Steve Yzerman has to be amenable to making that cap asset work for the Red Wings in the hopes of at least incrementally speeding up the rebuild process. A year ago Carolina nabbed a first-round pick from Toronto in order to take on Patrick Marleau’s contract. Yzerman has to ferret out the kinds of deals that cap-strapped teams will be looking to make to free up space to stay in the playoff and/or Stanley Cup hunt. For instance, would Detroit take on Nino Niederreiter or Jake Gardiner if the Canes sweetened the deal with picks and/or prospects? What about Kyle Turris’ onerous deal in Nashville? Or Brent Seabrook in Chicago? There is hay to be made here for a Detroit team that is still deep in the rebuilding tunnel.

30 more ($$$) teams...