From here on out, ranking teams will be done not only from the number of points accumulated, but how they finished in the postseason. That’s right: Welcome to the Playoffs! Each team from here on out made it to the big dance, but most have gone home early. One of the earliest departures was Detroit, out in five games against Tampa Bay.

Detroit came in having lost their coach, and replacing him with Jeff Blashill. While Blashill is a great coach, he’s not Mike Babcock. The Red Wings 25 year streak has felt empty the last few years with every first round exit, and it may be ending soon.

What can the Red Wings do to get back to the playoffs, and not only that, to get past the first round?

1. Revamp the System

The Red Wings have no truly great prospect. Having called up Gustav Nyqvist and Tomas Tatar within recent years, the Red Wings have a broken farm system. It seems like Anthony Mantha, their best prospect, is not wanted in Detroit. Athanasiou, Ouellet, and Bertuzzi are all questionable prospects. Svechnikov looks good, but will need a few years in the AHL.

In the meantime, the Red Wings are an aging team, one that will perhaps lose their greatest player in the 37 year old Pavel Datsyuk, and that is not getting better. Having drafted no earlier than 16th within the last ten years, it’s understandable why they don’t have anyone elite within the system. And yet, why hasn’t Ken Holland followed Bowman and other GMs and recruited from the KHL?

The Red Wings need to get younger. If they rely upon their farm system to do that, it will be a downgrade. Perhaps a fall out of the playoffs is not only impending, but necessary. It may be time for a rebuild in Detroit.

2. Defensive Re-Engineering

The Defense for Detroit just isn’t what it was when the Red Wings were perennial cup threats, when they had the Niklases, Kronwall and Lidstrom, when they were a dominant force.

Detroit has started down the right path by cutting cords with Kyle Quincey, but they have a long path to tread. Their only playable prospect is Xavier Ouellet, and in five games with the team this year he had one assist and a -2. That’s not great numbers while playing with a goaltender who posted a .921.

They need players who can help out Petr Mrazek, because as Detroit’s proclaimed goalie of the future, Mrazek looks good. A .921 is not a bad SV, and it’s actually higher than other goaltenders we’ve talked about in previous posts. Mrazek isn’t the problem. And yet along with that .921 came a 2.33 GAA. That’s on the defense.

The Defense is old. The only three players under 30 are Brendan Smith, Danny DeKeyser, and Anthony Marchenko. The last two need to be re-signed out of restricted free agency. DeKeyser has what it takes to be a mediocre first pairing defenseman. The other two are depth. But it’s not enough to build around. Ouellet may end up being top 4, but he’s not top 2.

Detroit’s a hard team to look on the bright side for. Their biggest plus: the defense was okay enough to help Detroit return to the playoffs. Not hard in the weak Atlantic. Detroit’s biggest accomplishment this year was being able to beat out Boston for the last playoffs spot.

3. Pavel Datsyuk Replacement

Datsyuk is reportedly looking to go back to the KHL. This is so probable that when a rumor that he signed with Jokerit a few weeks ago emerged, it wasn’t even questioned, until Pavel’s agent said it wasn’t real.

Which leaves the question, is Detroit ready to be post-Datsyuk? The answer is no. Dylan Larkin looks like the likely replacement, but then the question is who becomes Henrik Zetterberg’s replacement.

This team has aged rapidly. While Datsyuk and Zetterberg have together been good enough to get the Red Wings to the playoffs in the past, that’s not the case anymore.

Larkin needs his own Pavel. He’s the Zetterberg replacement, because before his contract ends Zetterberg will likely be center depth for the Red Wings and not the main guy anymore. The Red Wings need to focus on getting a center whether in the draft or in free agency.

And he needs to be young. This is a team in desperate need of a youth injection. And that’s why it’s easy to see why they could be players in the Steven Stamkos raffle if Datsyuk leaves.

They have the cap space. But the next issue they’re facing may reduce it. If a bidding war starts, I don’t see Stamkos taking a discount to sign with a team on the decline.

Which means they may need to look elsewhere. Expect Ken Holland to find and target his guy. There will be a big move coming from Detroit this year.

4. Petr Mrazek Re-Signing

All of these had R’s. I didn’t even do that on purpose (though I will in the future).

Petr Mrazek is Detroit’s goaltender of the future. They need him to remain on board, as he could be great for any team in the League. He’s one of the goaltenders least likely to be impacted by the change in pads, and he’s been excellent for Detroit over the past year (except in the playoffs, but seeing how far the Lightning went, can you blame him?)

And that’s why he should have been extended last year before he became the true starter of this team, and Jimmy Howard fell off a career cliff.

Now, he could ask for as much as he wants from Detroit. They’ve got no other big free agent to re-sign, and they have 15 mil in cap. The Red Wings aren’t going to find another goalie like him on either the trade or free agency market.

They need to re-sign this guy. He knows it and he should use it. And in the end, re-signing him earlier could cost the Red Wings an elite free agent like Stamkos.

Jeff Blashill may be young and exciting, but the Red Wings are not. It’s time for the franchise to re-build instead of continually pushing for shallow first round exits. Gone are the days where the Red Wings could take one of the best teams of all time in the 2012-2013 Blackhawks to 7 games. Now are the days where the Red Wings are looking old and out of place when the Canadiens, Senators, Bruins, Maple Leafs, and Buffalo Sabres all inevitably get stronger.