I don't really buy into the idea of "losing for a decade" before winning again for every single rebuild ever. A big problem for teams that go through rebuilds is that they often had very few building blocks in place beforehand. You look at Edmonton, aside from 2006, what year were they even remotely respectable since the turn of the century? Toronto had Kessel, JVR, Kadri, Phaneuf, and a steaming pile of garbage around them -- and they'll honestly probably be good just 3/4 years into their specific rebuild--- although they probably have been considered a rebuild for half a century.
Detroit is a weird case because they have a lot of the pieces you're looking to get. They have two really solid goalies right now, one of which is young enough to potentially build around. Edmonton never had that, Toronto still may not have that. Carolina still doesn't realize that they don't have it. Rarely do teams entering a rebuild have a young + elite goaltender. Detroit has a lot of strong forwards - even if you don't give guys like Nyquist, Tatar, Abdelkader "elite" status, they are guys you can win games with. The team is built to be very deep, the Red Wings just don't have a legitimate superstar anymore. They want Larkin to develop into that, and he very well could do that, but he can't do it by himself and he definitely can't be expected to do it before he is even legal to drink beer in the US.
I think Detroit could falter for a couple years and pick themselves back up much quicker than a 10 year rebuild. And, if they continue giving so much ice time to a broken down Zetterberg and Kronwall, trade away guys with trade value that likely aren't long term pieces anymore like Green, Vanek, Howard (if teams want him after a hot half a year right now), Smith (lol), they could potentially draft pretty high without destroying the entire roster in the process and find themselves in a spot where Zetterberg can be ready to pass the torch in a couple years and they can have a group that is able to compete again.
Who knows. Maybe I'm crazy.
Detroit is a weird case because they have a lot of the pieces you're looking to get. They have two really solid goalies right now, one of which is young enough to potentially build around. Edmonton never had that, Toronto still may not have that. Carolina still doesn't realize that they don't have it. Rarely do teams entering a rebuild have a young + elite goaltender. Detroit has a lot of strong forwards - even if you don't give guys like Nyquist, Tatar, Abdelkader "elite" status, they are guys you can win games with. The team is built to be very deep, the Red Wings just don't have a legitimate superstar anymore. They want Larkin to develop into that, and he very well could do that, but he can't do it by himself and he definitely can't be expected to do it before he is even legal to drink beer in the US.
I think Detroit could falter for a couple years and pick themselves back up much quicker than a 10 year rebuild. And, if they continue giving so much ice time to a broken down Zetterberg and Kronwall, trade away guys with trade value that likely aren't long term pieces anymore like Green, Vanek, Howard (if teams want him after a hot half a year right now), Smith (lol), they could potentially draft pretty high without destroying the entire roster in the process and find themselves in a spot where Zetterberg can be ready to pass the torch in a couple years and they can have a group that is able to compete again.
Who knows. Maybe I'm crazy.