The Wings have not had a highly ranked farm system for 15 years and yet is still produces about as good as anyone elses. Lidstrom is certainly an all time great, but he already taken a step down from where he was several years ago. Even If Lidstrom retires the Wings still have Rafalski, Ericson, Stuart, Kronwall, Lilja, Meech, Kindl and Lebda. Plus it frees up their biggest contract, so signing a player like Bouwmeester would be very reasonable. He is a step down from Lidstrom but Ericsson and Kronwall will still be improving. I think the Hawks still have plenty of places to improve and may pass the Wings, but I dont think the Wings are going to drop down too much in the near future There's one thing the Hawks have that the Wings cannot match nor have an answer for - Scotty Bowman - I believe that's going to translate to them making the best and correct decisions when to comes to future contracts, etc. Basically, the Hawks are young and talented along with a management that's not going to eff it up.