I'm on the Flyers bandwagon. Full force. I want to see Giroux win the cup so we can have endless, endless Crosby vs Giroux debates...
Anyway, Hawks are pretty much stuck with who they have due to cap hits and I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing. Their core group is solid and locked down for a few more years at the very least. They could use an upgrade in goal and probably another good defenseman. Leddy's development path could increase or decrease the severity of that need so who they try to get really depends on where management thinks he's at probably. And then some of the fillers could be better, less old guys (sorry Brunette) and more prospects coming up. I'm not familiar with how deep the farm is for them but it would be more logical in my mind to be younger and quicker. Most the main guys have plenty of experience and I don't think leadership is an issue. Quenneville plays the shit out of his best players, if I'm not mistaken, so having a few green players wouldn't crush them. No worse than Crawford, anyway. Speaking of Corey, I think he's safe for the start of next season. If this year's version returns and Emery can't handle the load, they'll have to do something at the trade deadline. The only way the Hawks make a big offseason move is if they change course by trading away a core player (think one of Kane/Sharp/Keith/Seabrook). I don't think they're at that point just yet. Agree with Synre, expect a similar team back next season, coach included.
Sharks, on the other hand, need to trade away a core player. Not sure which guy that is, though. You'd think Marleau but his cap hit and inconsistent numbers would be tough to take on. Thornton could be a symbolic gesture considering he has the C but his cap hit is also large. Tough to find takers in the world of the cap. Havlat is stuck due to his injury history, cap number and added year on the contract. Big Pavelski could be moved I think, depending on what the return is, but it would really help this team to free up more than 4 mil. The D could get retooled a bit.. but Boyle is old and not likely to be moved at his current rate. Niemi is probably not the solution in goal but he's got a few more years as well. Yeah, he has a cup, but so does Chris Osgood. I will say one thing, the Sharks do have a pretty good cap situation coming up in two years when half the core comes off the books (Clowe and Couture raises will eat some of that up but...) so in theory next season could be the "one last try" season to see if it's really not going to work. Then just blow it up with trades of expiring contracts if it doesn't in 2013 offseason. The only problem with that is the prospect cupboard is bare... Sharks have a lot of issues if this current iteration really is "done."
Lastly, the Red Wings are in a bit of a different situation because, unlike the other two teams above, they at least have some cap space to work with in the offseason. Hudler, Stuart, Conklin, Holmstrom are UFA. Dump the first three completely and give Holmstrom a desk job or something with the team. Quincey, Helm, Abdelkader are RFA. Re-up Helm, trade Quincey at the draft, if possible, or else cut ties, I don't think he worked out that well, and re-sign Abdelkader only if the dollars make sense (hate to say that as an MSU guy). In goal, try to get a decent backup for Howard. If the money doesn't work or it can't happen, Joey MacDonald probably at least earned a shot with the decent job he did filling in this year (can't believe I just typed that). Then there's Lidstrom. I think he comes back for one more year, maybe even at an even lower rate (wishful thinking), because Detroit has the Winter Classic. Could be a good thing for Kindl and Smith to have one more year with the all-time great. If he doesn't come back, it's been a hell of a run and it will be weird without him. The positive is that I think Ken Holland could then be even more aggressive with retooling the roster. Been a while since Detroit's had that much flexibility. Now if the Wings can actually make use of that flexibility and pull in the big names on the open market this summer is another story..