Ansar Khan answers a few questions frrom the fans...
Q: How on earth does this team get any better outside of winning the draft lottery (make that next year’s draft lottery) with all the horrific contracts they currently have? (Justin) Abdelkader, (Darren) Helm, (Frans) Nielsen, (Jonathan) Ericsson: these are all bad contracts. Realistically, the Wings are going to have to ride these contracts out, as it seems unlikely they will be able to trade or will chose to buy out (a bad idea) any of these players. Is there any realistic possibility of improvement with these anchor albatross contracts on the books?
A: They could improve. A better power player and stronger goaltending would help. Continued growth from younger players like Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi, coupled with contributions from potential incoming prospects Michael Rasmussen, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Hronek would be a boost.
But unless they make the playoffs, they’re better off not improving, record-wise, to enhance their draft lottery odds in the next couple of seasons as they rebuild. Coaches and players don’t want to hear that because they’re not focused on the future like the front office is, they’re trying to win each game.
I doubt any of the players you mentioned can be traded now, not without the Red Wings retaining a large portion of their contracts or taking a bad contract in return, and I doubt anybody on the roster will be bought out.
read on for more Q & A...
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