Detroit Red Wings: can a Henrik Zetterberg captainship Re-Ignite Him Offensively?

Detroit Red Wings wizard forward Henrik Zetterberg can be next in line or the captainship position left vacant by the retirement of Nick Lidstrom last could.

If Zetterberg takes over, he would become simply the third Red Wings' captain since 1986-87.

Zetterberg may be a key leader on the team and is an apparent alternative for captain, not only for his success on the ice and within the room however conjointly due to his robust fluency in English—a should once reproof the media.

But the question for many Red Wings' fans isn't whether or not Zetterberg would be a decent captain, as fans probably already understand that he has been exceptional as associate degree "assistant captain."

Zetterberg may be a nice shut-down center and equally pretty much as good defensively at faction.

But as nice a defensive player as Zetterberg is, his best offensive days could also be behind him, statistically speaking.

At thirty two years previous, Zetterberg is not any longer the energetic goal-scoring forward that he once was. whereas he's still amongst the top-line forwards for the Red Wings, Zetterberg has hit eighty points just one occasion since the Red Wings' Stanley Cup championship in 2008.

That most recent 80-point season in 2010-11, port gave the impression to sacrifice defense for offense throughout that regular season and it very didn't look defensively sound at any purpose throughout the season.

If Zetterberg's best offensive days ar so behind him, all isn't lost.

When Lidstrom took over the captainship once the 2005-06 season once he place up eighty points, his purpose totals took a tumble consecutive season (62 points).

The Red Wings gave the impression to move seamlessly while not Lidstrom's offense, taking the Stanley Cup in 2008, simply 2 seasons once he became captain and nearly continuance as champs the subsequent year.

If Zetterberg's purpose totals fall to the 60-point upland, fans may begin to fret, however as he solely hit sixty nine points last season, he may not be ready to revisit to the 70-80 purpose level once more unless he and long-time wizard mate Pavel Datsyuk will get one another back heading in the right direction objectionably.

So will the captainship guarantee that Datsyuk can revisit heading in the right direction offensively?

By no means that, but Zetterberg isn't a player to take a seat around and watch his offensive game deteriorate. It took him a minute to urge going last season with simply seven points in Detroit's 1st eighteen games. Zetterberg unbroken at it and finished with sixty one points within the last sixty four games.

Rest assured, NHL resistance aside, Zetterberg is nice to travel objectionably whenever the season finally rolls around.

Captaincy or not, he can recover objectionably next season.