Future Wings?

Now that I have moved back across the state and recovered from the finals week/graduation hangover, I can actually fulfill my duties here at Ab(r)andon Inge (which by the way, with him gone should we update the name?).  Since the Wings were eliminated in the first round, they will have a pretty lengthy off-season when compared to years past.  Although this sucks from a fan perspective, I'm sure some of the older players might benefit from it (Lidstrom especially).  Due to this early playoff exit it is pretty clear the Wings are going to use some of their estimated $22 million in cap space to lure in some big names this off-season.  Although two have been floated around, Parise and Suter, there are some other possibilities that the Wings may be interested in.  So, once or twice a week I will be typing up a profile of one people that the team might try to be in.

Up first, Zach Parise.  With the injury to Helm, it was pretty clear that the Wings lack depth up front.  Just imagine Parise lining up to the left of Datsyuk with Franzen as the top line.  Parise played in every regular season game this year, while amassing 31 goals, 38 assists, and only 32 PIM.  He also has more than 30 goals in 5 out of the last 6 seasons.   With Parise able to score or set someone up, this should be one of the top priorities this off-season (at least until Brad Stuart does the obvious and goes to California and we need a defenseman not named Kyle Quincey to replace him).  Another added benefit of adding Parise, he's 27 (28 as of July), so they can get several good years out of him, especially as the team continues to age.  I'm not really a gambling man, but I think the Wings do pretty much everything they can to get Parise, or Babcock might falcon punch Holland.  Here's to hoping the Wings can land one of the top free agents this summer.

Next profile will be: Ryan Suter