Dan Rosen of NHL.com answred some mail for the fans and one question was about the Wings and how far off are they from being a consistent playoff team.

His response...

Let's say for the purpose of your question that Detroit gets the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and selects Lafreniere. The forward would be a game-changer for the Red Wings, who have had the No. 6 pick the past two years and selected Seider, a defenseman, in the 2019 NHL Draft, and Zadina, a forward, in the 2018 NHL Draft, after they chose Rasmussen, a center, at No. 9 in the 2017 NHL Draft. But even if they get the No. 1 pick, they would have a long way to go.

Yes, the Red Wings would have the makings of a solid future core with Larkin, Bertuzzi, Mantha, Zadina, Veleno, Rasmussen and Lafreniere up front, and Hronek, Seider and Cholowski on the back end. But you're talking about seven players 22 years old or younger, including Seider, 19, and Lafreniere, 18. They're not all guaranteed to be in the NHL next season. And if they are, Detroit is going to be in line for another long season because it would have a lot of players still developing. The Red Wings also need a goalie; I'm not sure if they have one of NHL caliber in their prospect system now. That's another major task ahead for general manager Steve Yzerman.

I think Detroit is looking at least two more seasons of full-on rebuilding, with the hope it starts to become a dangerous opponent in 2021-22 and can become a playoff team the following season. Lafreniere would be 21 at that point, Larkin would be 26. That's an optimistic plan.

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