Detroit Red Wings Training Camp Preview Part 2: Is the Defense Ageless or Aged?

September 12th, 2010 by Matt Hutter Leave a reply »
In part one of my Detroit Red Wings training camp preview, I looked at the depth at forward and the logjam developing for spots on the fourth line.

While the depth on the blue-line isn't quite what it is at forward, there should be some healthy competition in camp for a seventh (possibly even sixth) rearguard slot once camp gets underway in Traverse City, MI on Sept. 18th.

However, no matter how hungry youngsters like Jakub Kindl and Brendan Smith (more on these two later) are to prove themselves in camp, odds are they won't be wearing a Red Wings' jersey with any regularity for a couple of years.

This being the case, Detroit's defense for 2010-11 will be among the oldest in the league.

Now, when things go good, old players are called "experienced."  When things go bad, well, then they're over the hill.

Detroit's defensive pairings are essentially set at this point, and they should go, in order of depth: Nicklas Lidstrom/Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall/Brad Stuart, and Jonathan Ericsson/Ruslan Salei.

Set or no, how well each pair performs, and, more importantly, how healthy and energized they will stay is ...

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