from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

“We have a great, storied franchise and we’ve just found a way year after year to win, and we’re going to continue to do that,'' Babcock said Friday. “When I came here (in 2005-06), I was talking to some other teams and (general manager) Kenny Holland said to me at the time, ‘You’re coming here because of Mr. Ilitch (owner Mike), Kenny Holland and (assistant GM) Jim Nill. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, we’re just going to do it.’

“That’s what I think now. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, we’re just going to do it.''

To get to where they want to be, they need help on defense, where the departures of Nicklas Lidstrom (retirement) and Brad Stuart (signed with San Jose) leave a big void. They will add promising rookie Brendan Smith to the mix, but they still have only five experienced defensemen.

“On the back end, we don’t have enough depth,'' Babcock said. “You got (Brian) Rafalski and Stuart and Lidstrom all leaving the club in just over a year, that’s a chunk of cheese leaving. Now we have to replace them with people that step up. There’s opportunity for others.

“(Niklas) Kronwall and (Jonathan) Ericsson will do that. We think Smith has a chance.''

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