Red Wings Lines To Start The Season
Holmstrom – Datsyuk – Franzen
Bertuzzi – Zetterberg – Cleary
Leino – Filppula – Williams
Draper – Abdelkader – Eaves (Maltby)
Its worth mentioning that Darren Helm would be listed as the 4th line center rather than Abdelkader, but he suffered an AC sprain in his shoulder and is expected to be out of action 2-4 weeks. Abdelkader would have likely started the season in the minors otherwise. Its also interesting that Kirk Maltby may see more than his fair share of time in the pressbox this season. A third line of Leino-Filppula-Williams would definitely be near tops in the league. Filppula was great in the playoffs and stepped up his game when Datsyuk was hindered by his foot injury. Expect Filpulla to be given a lot more opportunity this season.
The defence will look the same as how last season finished off:
Lidstrom – Rafalski
Stuart – Kronwall
Lebda – Ericsson
Looks like Derek Meech will be the odd guy out again this season.
Be sure to check back with DailyFaceoff.com throughout the NHL season as we will have up to date and accurate lineups for all 30 NHL teams including powerplay units. We will also let you know who’s starting in net for both teams in every game this regular season in our Between the Posts section.