Brendan Savage of Mlive looks at a few options the Wings have in the coming days...
"What we're going to do is talk about it and the best guys are going to play," Babcock said after Sunday's 5-4 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers at Joe Louis Arena.
"It's not going to have anything to do with age, it's just going to be what have you done here lately. They're pushing real hard. Riley Sheahan, (Tomas Tatar), Jurco, that line was really good" against Florida.
To keep the youngsters around, the Red Wings could opt to expose some of their veterans to waivers, something they've already done this season with Cory Emmerton, Jordin Tootoo, Patrick Eaves and Mikael Samuelsson.
Potential candidates could include Daniel Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi, who have both struggled offensively this season.
Cleary, who was supposed to be a healthy scratch vs. Florida before Henrik Zetterberg missed the game with a back injury, has four goals and four assists in 51 games while Bertuzzi – who was a healthy scratch against the Panthers – has six goals and five assists in 44 games.
But the Red Wings might be reluctant to waive either.
Cleary and Bertuzzi are team leaders both in the dressing room and on the ice and the Red Wings might want their experience in the postseason if they can extend their playoff streak to 23 seasons.
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