A closer look at the Red Wings

A suddenly young Detroit Red Wings team looked to be mismatched in the opening round of the NHL post season, brushed aside by the Boston Bruins in five games.

But the Red Wings made surprisingly few off season moves –actually nothing at all worth noting and there could be a pretty good ready for that.

First, the team was beyond nicked up. Injuries played a huge part in both the regular season as the squad found itself for a second straight season scrambling for a playoff season down the stretch with key players sidelined for most of the post-Olympics schedule.

While Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Daniel Alfredsson were available in the post season, none of them were likely at full strength.

Also, while the wings of the past two decades have generally replaced retiring veterans with superstars in their twilight seasons, the team found itself relying heavily on a group of 20-somethings down the stretch. Those players delivered for the most part and to that end, this is a group that should improve and benefit from that experience.

So, if the team can get some better luck in terms of injuries this season and see any kind of improvement from its younger group, there is no reason to think there needs to be any major additions.

But, key injuries on the eve of training camp have question marks already entering the campaign. First, the team has yet to sign Daniel Alfredsson and his status is unclear following a flare up of his back troubles and the team’s top pick, Anthony Mantha suffered a fractured tibia at the eight-team Traverse City Rookie Tournament.

Mantha was expected to have a real shot at making the Red Wings roster which would have been quite an accomplishment as the Wings do not make a habit of putting 18-year-old players on the ice.

At that tournament, the Red Wings started with a 6-5 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues, then fell to eventual tournament champs, the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3, the only loss the team would suffer at the event.

After wrapping up second place in its four-team pools with a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild, the Red Wings Rookies finished third overall with a 5-4 overtime edge against the other pool’s second place finisher, the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Wings opened camp, also at Traverse City, with a golf event on Thursday and a massive group of 66 was divided into three teams — Team Howe, Team Lindsay and Team Delvecchio as practice sessions began on Friday.

On Sunday the team has scheduled an Intra squad contest and the Wings will begin the pre-season at Pittsburgh with a game against the Penguins on Monday.

There will also be a game at Chicago against the Hawks on Tuesday night and early cuts will likely head to Grand Rapids to open the Griffins’ AHL  camp on Sept. 29.

Also in the Detroit affiliate system is Toledo of the ECHL.