from Max Bultman of The Athletic,

Look, there’s nothing rosy about this season’s outlook, but not everything needs to be doom and gloom, either. Yes, it seems pretty inevitable the Red Wings are heading for an early-April locker clean-out again. Yes, the contract situation up front is more than a year from resolving itself. And no, it’s not going to be easy for many of this team’s prospects to start the season in Detroit.

But things do continue to move in the right direction. This is the final year of contracts for Green, Ericsson and Daley, and while two of those three may be cause for consternation throughout the year, there will soon be all kinds of space for Dennis Cholowski (who showed heaps of promise last year), Oliwer Kaski and more — and, recalling last season’s injury-riddled blueline, it may not even take a year to materialize.

As for the idea of Mantha, Larkin, Athanasiou and Bertuzzi improving in vain — or worse, not at all — much of that could depend on context.

more (paid) includes the negative side too for the Wings...