from Sam McCaig of The Hockey News,

This season has been a dark one for Detroit, the darkest since the days of the ‘Dead Things.’ But don’t despair, Hockeytown, there’s at least 10 reasons to be hopeful for the future:

1. Steve Yzerman. The biggest reason for optimism is the return of the franchise legend, this time as GM. Yzerman, in his first year back in Detroit after nearly a decade as Tampa Bay’s GM, built a powerhouse with the Lightning and now he’s charged with resurrecting the Red Wings. He’s been loath to make any significant moves this season, choosing instead to accept the team’s last-place fate and evaluate the on-ice personnel is the process. Yzerman’s only notable acquisition was Robby Fabbri from St. Louis in November, with Jacob de la Rose going to the Blues. Fabbri has 11 goals and 27 points since the trade, de la Rose has one goal and five points. A few more moves like that, please....

3. Filip Zadina. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 draft gained instant notoriety for his brash prediction that he’d punish the teams that had passed on him by “filling their nets with pucks.” Then he had a decent-but-not-great 2018-19 season in the AHL, causing some to wonder if he might be more talk than action. But he got off to a better start with Grand Rapids this year and was called up to Detroit in late November, and he was a regular in the lineup until being felled by a week-to-week injury in early February. He was showing off his net-filling potential, too, with eight goals (and 15 points) in 28 NHL games. Zadina has a big shot, big skill and big confidence. And at 20 years old, the Wings are betting big that he’ll be a goal-scoring pillar for a future contender.

8 more reasons...