Red Wings must get defensive in their thinking

Buy PhotoDetroit — After losing a trio of defensemen who helped win Stanley Cups, the Red Wings have had a wealth of prospects in the organization.

Jakub Kindl, Brendan Smith, Nick Jensen, Xavier Ouellet, Ryan Sproul, Alexey Marchenko and Robbie Russo provided a septet of possible replacements who might help the Wings recover quickly from the significant departures.

Two of them remain in the organization. One plays regularly.

Three played mostly in the AHL, last season.

One played in the KHL.

Another played in the Extraliga, the top professional circuit in the Czech Republic.

None are stars.

A half-dozen seasons after the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom and the departure of Brad Stuart, and seven…