6/18 Wings’ notes
Speculation over the Joe Louis Arena lease has made the front page of The Detroit News with two articles in regards to the future of the Wings’ arena. Will they stay with the JLA and renovate it? Will the Red Wings play in a new hockey arena in the near future?
A decision needs to be made by August 16th if the Ilitch owners will pick up the option to extend the exclusive lease for another 20 years. Whatever the team’s decision, the articles made it clear that the Detroit Red Wings are currently getting a steal with their current lease.
Ilitch will decide whether to extend the lease — the city has no vote — and if the pact is extended, it will become even more favorable for him and the Red Wings.
Currently, the city imposes up to a 10 percent surcharge on tickets sold to events at Joe Louis and Cobo Arena; Detroit gets a cut of concessions and luxury suites.
If the lease is extended, the city will lose the surcharge — which brings in about $2.5 million a year — and, in five years, its share of concession and suite revenue. Council fiscal analyst Irv Corley, in a February report to the council on the lease, said the contract is “strongly in favor” of the Ilitch companies. He called it “convoluted” and questioned whether the city was receiving its fair share of concession sales.
The lease is much more lucrative than those of other teams. For example, the San Jose Sharks pay $1.6 million a year for the building and get a small percentage of ticket sales, but the team also chips in money for capital improvements and agreed to split with San Jose any profits from naming rights.
Season Review
TSN posted a solid end of the season look at the Red Wings on their website. Scott Cullen predicts who the Wings could sign to fill their roster spots this offseason:
With some veteran free agents set to hit the market, the Wings’ first choice may be to retain Todd Bertuzzi or they may turn to the free agent market to try and pick up another scoring forward or two, with Vyacheslav Kozlov, Scott Hartnell, Chris Drury, Mike Comrie, Ryan Smyth or perhaps a longshot like Peter Forsberg providing the kind of offensive ability to bolster Detroit’s second line. …
While that’s a decent starting point, the Wings are facing the potential loss of two valuable blueliners — Mathieu Schneider and Danny Markov — to free agency, so replacements will need to be found.
Top prospect Jakub Kindl may earn a spot, but that still leaves Detroit looking for one more veteran addition.
Craig Rivet, Andy Sutton and David Tanabe are a few options that might be able to fit in the Red Wings’ top four.
2007 NHL Draft
Hockey’s Future has a 2007 draft preview up for the Red Wings on their website now with talk about what the team needs, their organizational strengths and weaknesses, as well as draft tendencies the team has.
Hockey’s Future Mock Draft Result: Brandon Sutter, C/LW Calgary Hitmen (WHL). If he falls all the way to the 27th place then it would be a wise decision to select the 6′3 centerman who also can play on the wing. Sutter is a solid skater who has good hockey sense and solid hands. His work ethic and attitude are required on a team that wants to win. He also has grit and some offensive upside. If he’s not available, Red Wings could go with Grand Rapids native Patrick White. He also has solid size, but he offers more offensive upside at the cost of the defensive play.
Current Draft Picks
1st round - 27th
3rd round - 88th
5th round - 148th
6th round - 178th
7th round - 208th
FoxSports.com reviews the needs of each Central Division team including the DRW:
With the likelihood of forwards Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler along with netminder Jimmy Howard making the jump next season, the Red Wings farm system needs a shot in the arm. Although the Wings do a good job of finding talent in the later rounds under the guidance of assistant GM Jim Nill, they could have a lot of roster space to replace in the next year. With Chris Chelios, Nick Lidstrom and Mathew Schneider getting long in the tooth on defense the pressure is now on to have prospects to groom.
Although the Wings have some talent up front, none of them are projected to play on the top lines, but their could be one surprise. Adding forwards who have potential to play at an elite level is always a challenge.
Other than Jimmy Howard, they do not have any young netminders with the potential to play in the NHL on a regular basis.
Top draft pick: 27th overall
Draft needs: Defense, skilled forward, goalie
Strengths: They have some decent depth potential at forward that could fill out a spot or two on the third and fourth lines.
Weaknesses: Other than Jakub Kindl, they lack another potential top-three defenseman in the system. The Wings are missing a game-breaker on the wing and a potential top-line center, which will be tough to get picking at the bottom again.
According to CSTV.com, the Red Wings draft the lowest number of collegiate players out of any other NHL team between 2001-2005.
Countless young hockey players in the state of Michigan grow up dreaming of one day pulling on the Winged Wheel and skating out onto the ice at Joe Louis Arena as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
It goes without saying that few will ever get the chance, based on the long odds against most young players making it to the National Hockey League, but based on recent NHL Entry Drafts, the odds are particularly long in Hockeytown. From 2001 to 2005 (inclusive), the Red Wings selected only three college or college-bound players in the NHL Entry Draft, by far the fewest of any NHL team.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply