Forwards:
Detroit lost two key players over the summer. Team captain Steve Yzerman retired, and Yzerman was the Red Wings' heart and soul for 22 years. Then, free agent Brendan Shanahan decided to end his 10-year relationship with the Wings. Shanahan's last season totals were 40 goals, 81 points in 81 games.

The Wings signed center Greg Johnson, who had 19 points in 68 games with Nashville, and resigned center Johan Franzen, right wing Jason Williams and center Tomas Kopecky.

Returning is Pavel Datsyuk (87 points last season), Robert Lang (62 points), and Henrick Zetterberg (85 points). They’re still a very good team, but they will have to overcome their humiliation being ousted so quickly in last season's playoffs.


Defense:
Detroit resigned last season's Norris Trophy (NHL’s top defenseman) winner, Nicklas Lidstrom, over the summer. Lidstrom had 80 points in 80 games last season.

Also signed was Danny Markov. Last season, Markov played only 58 games with Nashville due to injuries, and had 11 points.

Chris Chelios (81 games last season), Andreas Lilja (82 games), Niklas Kronwall (27 games) and Brett Labda (46 games) are also back.


Goaltending:
The signing of Dominik Hasek has caused a lot of waves in Detroit, and I can easily understand why. Some love the return of a proven elite goaltender, while others feel he’s a waste of roster space due to him being prone to injuries.

Hasek will be their number one man in net, but expect to see a lot of quite capable and unerrated backup goalie Chris Osgood. The Wings will do whatever they need to do to keep Hasek healthy so when they make the playoffs, he’ll be there for them and not on the injured reserve.