As per my last post, I'm trying out a new feature here where you, the wonderful reader, send in questions or just general subjects you want to talk about during the dull days of summer. I've been very impressed with the input I've gotten. So much so that I'll need to divide the first set of questions I've got into two parts. I'll do some tonight and then finish up the rest in the coming days, but in the mean time, I encourage you to click that contact button under our beautiful banner.

And again, this isn't supposed to be me saying "this is the answer, I'm right." I'm just sharing my opinion and I want this kind of stuff to feed into offseason discussion that isn't just centered around Mike Modano.

First question comes from Eliott, who demonstrates a good grasp on the game despite admitting to being a new Wings fan.

I get into the habit of growing to like certain depth/younger players and then realizing there is a roster/cap limit. I realize that there isn't enough ice time/games to fit them all in. It seems that we have eight forward spots and five defensemen spots filled in, with the top two lines set and Hudler and Cleary occupying the third line wings. That leaves only four spots for ~6 players. Since we can't fit them all in, especially if Modano does choose to sign, I was wondering a few things about some of our depth players.

I've heard confusing and varying reports on Ritola. What role would he play on an NHL team, and what kind of potential does he have? When he was called up this past season he first held a spot on the second line, which seemed to indicated he was a skilled player with offensive upside, but he was dropped down to the third or fourth line a few games later. I've never heard of Ritola as a grinding type player, but I've also heard that he may not have enough skill to be a scoring player. I've always liked Ritola for some reason but I've never known what kind of player I was rooting for...

Mattias Ritola has definitely been the source of some confusing this offseason. Many people have heard he's skilled -- hence why they don't want to give him away and get burned ala Kyle Quincey -- but nobody knows his upside.

And that makes sense, because Ritola's been confusing to me as well, and I've watched him quite a bit over the past three seasons. When they drafted him in 2005, the billing on him was that he was "skilled, but lazy." Hakan Andersson built him up as one of the most skilled Swedes of his birth year, one that includes Nicklas Backstrom of Washington. Unfortunately, he never got going offensively playing mostly in the Swedish men's ranks, making it somewhat of a surprise to me when he earned a contract.

Then, said "lazy" player came over to North America and killed it in Grand Rapids, leading a team that had just three regular players in the postitive +/- ranks with a +10. Good things just seemed to happen when he was involved. He scored just seven goals, but it seemed everything that was passed through the grapevine was wrong -- he's actually a very smart hockey player who works hard at both ends of the ice. This quickly led him to get ice time in all kinds of situations and he was a big performer for the Griffins the past two seasons, recording 42 points each year.

In my opinion, he's a checker in the making who might offer some flexibility. Until late this season, I was never very high on him. He always looked much better playing in NHL pre-season games than he did with the Griffins. His creativity and hands seem to blossom playing with other highly skilled players, but he's also added a bit of an edge to his game as an energy guy while chipping in offense occasionally.

I think other fans have seen these peaks at his offensive ability and think he's a scorer. I don't really think he has much of a future on the top two lines -- regardless of how skilled the Wings are, two straight 42 point seasons don't say much for high end offensive skill, though he was red hot after his regular season call-up with Detroit. I don't see what Drew Miller offers that Ritola can't: a responsible two-way game as primarily a 4th liner and a penalty killer. The difference is that Ritola would offer a lot more on a 2nd line, though I don't think he has a permanent home there. Either way, I'm quite curious to see which Ritola makes a home in the NHL -- the skilled version he was in his teens, or the responsible two-way, but inconsistent offensively, version he is at the age of 23.

Eliott also has a question about Kris Draper.

Draper saw diminishing ice time last season. I am unfortunately a relatively new hockey fan, having started rooting for the Red Wings at the beginning of this past season, and have not been around long enough to truly appreciate Draper's contributions to the team in the past. However, I do feel like that gives me a pinch of objectivity (if that is at all possible in a fan of a hockey team) and am doubtful as to Draper's continuing impact. I know he can take faceoffs, I know he works hard. But isn't it time to let someone else start to fill in that role? I have heard of Draper as a leader in the locker room, but never understood what that meant. I guess that's why they call it an intangible.

I think most fans will side with you in that Draper's role on this team is diminishing with his ice time. In my mind, Darren Helm is his heir apparent and started to do everything Draper did for nearly a decade. Most people realized that Draper and Kirk Maltby were officially surpassed by Helm and Patrick Eaves as the top penalty killers, but not as many realized Draper's role as the #1 faceoff man was severely reduced. He only took 19 faceoffs in the entire playoffs -- just one or two per game. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Helm, Abdelkader, and Filppula all took more draws than he did. He was also fifth in the regular season, taking just one more faceoff than Abdelkader despite playing in 31 more games. He's clearly no longer a regular center and only seems to take faceoffs when someone else gets kicked out or when there are injuries.

Draper still has a use, and I think he looked way better this season alongside Helm and Eaves than he did the previous two seasons. His speed is still there, and I think the three of them make up an excellent line that's very good at, if nothing else, controlling the puck in the other team's zone and wearing them down with relentless cycling along the boards. Unfortunately, that cycling doesn't often lead to huge offensive numbers as none of them are very good at finishing, but it's a better checking line than Maltby, Draper, and the 3rd member flavor of the month that the team had for the past few seasons.

To answer your question -- Draper's role has already been severely diminished. I think Draper is a valuable mentor to both Helm and Eaves and can teach them how to play good, responsible defensive hockey while still generating offensive chances.

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Next up comes a name most of you should be familiar with, because he's been a regular commenter on BDS for a long time under the name "waltdetroit."

Having read everything on MLive on the prospects camp, Evgeni Ryasensky was not mentioned, though I think he attended. With your contacts, can you get a read on his performance there? Also, what's the word on Sergei Kolosov next year in GR (or in Detroit for that matter)?

The Ryasensky story was very confusing for me, if you refer back to my post on the matter. He talked to Russian media as if he signed a contract with Detroit and was ready to report to the AHL. Quickly, Jim Nill stated that his agent had only told Detroit they were interested, and they did not make a contract offer. And that was the last anything heard of it.

So as far as I know, it was a fluke. Ryasensky is still a free agent, and I think Detroit would have gotten the deal done if they wanted him to come over to camp. I don't think he's in the system. But his comments are even stranger, he seemed sure that he had a contract. Maybe he'll just show up in Traverse City in September, even if Detroit doesn't want him there.

As far as Kolosov goes, it seems like he's re-signed with Detroit. The only place reporting that is the Russian Red Wings blog at Red Wings Grinder, who claims to have talked to Kolosov on the phone. I don't have any reason to doubt him, so I think it's only a matter of time until Detroit announces it. He'll head back down to Grand Rapids and he should continue to grow and get more ice time, but a lot depends on the two rookie defensemen, Brendan Smith and Brian Lashoff, as well as the two second year pros who don't have much AHL experience Sebastien Piche (9 games) and Travis Ehrhardt (42 games). There are a lot of players competing for very few jobs. Kolosov is reliable and he's a great penalty killer, but it's really uncertain if Detroit has plans for him. Defensemen like him are pretty easy to find in the free agent market, but the only thing Kolosov has going for him is he moves the puck more like an Andreas Lilja (which is to say, good but not great), while a lot of the bigger guys just have hands of stone.

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The last one of the day comes from Jacob, who I know likes to hang out on the Twitter machine. Funny story: he knows my girlfriend personally and I found this out because he wrote on her Facebook wall and said that it was funny/weird that she is "dating BDS." I have it under good authority that he regularly objectifies me by not using my name, and I encourage it. I also have a rough idea where he lives and I'm willing to sell this information. Anywho..

In our last two cup final series the big up and comers were Helm and Abdelkader. I'm curious what your thoughts are on their outlook for the future, which has a higher ceiling, where they'll end up with the Wings, etc. Specifically I'm interested in whether you think Helm is basically a grind line player with energy, as Babcock has mentioned before, or if he has a future as a top line skill player with his speed and puck handling.

Well sir, I'm a big fan of Helm. And from the bit I've seen of him from his WHL days and the bit more I've seen of him in the AHL, I really doubt he has the future Babcock has laid out for him. I think Babcock's trying to be optimistic and trying to encourage a player who frequently overskates the puck, hesitates whenever he can pull off a finesse move, and love to shoot the puck a foot wide and a foot high. Helm wasn't a top line skill player in the AHL and he never looked like he would be. He did have an impressive 41 goal campaign in the WHL, and closed out his career there with two successive season scoring over the point-per-game barrier, but that happens a lot in major junior hockey. A player with one dominating skill -- size, shot, smarts, or in Helm's case, speed, can really tear it up. Frequently, that just doesn't translate to the next level.

That said, I've noticed that a lot of people are calling Helm overrated this offseason and the novelty of having the fastest human to ever put on skates is wearing off. I've noticed he has some flaws, but there's something special with him. I think he can be counted on for the big goal, dominating shift, or incredible moment, and has that true big play ability because of his relentless work ethic and love of the game. There's a lot of room for improvement in his game, and I think he is capable of scoring 12-15 goals a year if he can get stronger without sacrificing speed, as well as more confident that he can carry the puck in the NHL. If he doesn't do that, I expect more seasons around the 10 mark like this season. But he is one of the most dangerous players on the ice at any given time just for the simple fact that, if he's even close to the last man back and there's a puck headed toward the other team's goalie, he's going to be the first one there. So far, his shot is way too uncontrolled and his finish is questionable, leading me to believe he's going to be a faster version of Draper who can hopefully show more consistency. I can't imagine that he'll get a chance on the top line with so many high skill scoring prospects like Tatar, Mursak, Nyquist, Ferraro, Coetzee, Nestrasil, Jarnkrok, and Pulkkinen anywhere from 1-6 years away.

Abdelkader has more to offer offensively. When he's in the AHL, he looks like a dominating player. When he's in the NHL, he's on a short leash and I don't think he's had the chance to show off his game as anything more than a checker. This season, especially if they don't sign Modano and he ends up between Jiri Hudler and Danny Cleary, he's going to get a chance. Abdelkader just has more smarts and patience than Helm. He's a little more creative and even though he has underrated speed, he can find room for himself through stickhandling and an above average shot. I really expect Abdelkader to end up a lot like Cleary. Someone who can play in any situation, but you wouldn't necessarily put on a healthy powerplay unit. Abdelkader will probably end up with a little more sandpaper in his game, possibly even like an Alex Burrows or a (way, way) more skilled Steve Ott, but I think a lot of the tenacity you saw this season was the result of his role as a 4th line player and he wouldn't do that as much on the 2nd or 3rd line. But from everything I saw from him at other levels, it'll still be more a part of his game than it's ever been with Cleary.

In terms of the glut of young players that are in the mix for our 4th line right now, I'd rank the offensive potential like this: Abdelkader, Eaves, Ritola, Helm, Miller. I don't see any of them as top line players, but if they work hard enough and pay their dues, any of them will be able to find a home on the 2nd or 3rd line. Cleary only had four goals his first year here and now if he's healthy, he can be counted on for 20. If the Wings can get even two of these guys to hit that mark on a regular basis, with the high skill guys coming up who I just mentioned, our offense is going to be set for a long time.

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Thanks for the questions everyone. And again, there are more on the way so don't be upset if I ignored you this time around. I just don't want this post to be any longer right now. I'll get to the other ones as soon as I can, but until then, keep them coming! And feel free to debate or discuss any part of these questions, that's why I'm doing them.