Now that enough time has passed that the sting of missing the playoffs has numbed, it is time to rip that scar right off and start the bleeding anew while howling “what if???” to the heavens, desperate for answers. As the Stanley Cup Final looms, the time is right to look at some what-if scenarios that could have landed the Wings a spot in the playoffs and, potentially, a shot at the Cup.
For these scenarios I am going to avoid going off the board with wildly intangible premises. So this article will not be exploring anything like “What if Detroit traded for Kevin Shattenkirk?