When Brian Rafalski announced his retirement in late May, it threw a gigantic wrench into what otherwise would have been a fairly quite offseason for the Detroit Red Wings. They were planning on returning essentially the same forward corps, with possibly the retirements of Mike Modano and Kris Draper creating room for Cory Emmerton and Jan Mursak. On defense, the only real question was whether or not Nick Lidstrom would be returning or not. With Rafalski’s unexpected departure from the lineup, there is now a $6M hole for the Wings to fill. General Manager Ken Holland said that he will explore the trade market, as well as free agency, to find Rafalski’s replacement. Coach Mike Babcock has also asked that Holland add a top 6 forward to his group up front.
So with that in mind, who are the Wings top 6 forwards?