There is absolutely no dispute, the Detroit Red Wings are one of the most successful franchises in NHL history. After all, they have won more Stanley Cups (11) than any team not named the Montreal Canadiens or Toronto Maple Leafs.
But in the here and now, the Red Wings have not won it all since 2008 and they are rebuilding with the hopes of once again hoisting the Cup in the not-too-distant future.
The question is, how long will Wings’ fans have to wait for their team to sit on top of the hockey world once again?
Well, Kyle McKenna of Sports Illustrated’s Fansided wrote a piece in which he predicts the exact year in which each NHL team will win their next Cup. If he turns out to be Nostradamus, Detroit fans are going to have to wait quite a while.
Here is what has to say about the Red Wings:
“The Detroit Red Wings were able to spoil Hockeytown with four Stanley Cup championships, plus back-to-back titles at one point, from 1997 up until 2008. Now, it’s time for Detroit to sit back and be patient, as general manager Ken Holland hopes that his rebuilding plan can turn out for the better.
Yes, the Red Wings have plenty of future draft selections and more than they’re normally used to when the Wings attend an NHL Draft, but Detroit also has 11 players on its current roster that are 30 or older. That factor isn’t going to cut it for a team that doesn’t have an identity, and isn’t close to being a Stanley Cup Playoff contender.
Detroit needs to get younger, and fast. The fact that the Red Wings have four defensemen over the age of 30 (Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall, Trevor Daley & Jonathan Ericsson) doesn’t make matters better for the Wings to compete for a Stanley Cup anytime soon.
There’s promise up front on offense with youngsters Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou, but is that trio worth building around; and once the Wings acquire more youthful assets will those skaters still be relevant?
The Wings proved at one point that they could draft exceptionally without having early and favorable draft picks, but that hasn’t been the case as of late.
Keep in mind that Detroit has two goaltenders that aren’t capable of leading a team to a Stanley Cup Final in Jonathan Bernier and Jimmy Howard, and don’t have any top goaltending prospects in the farm system, either.
2031 sounds about right for the Red Wings to win their 12th Stanley Cup championship.”
What do you think, Nation? Will the Red Wings have to wait until 2031 to win their 12th Stanley Cup?
