Red Wings front office doing lots of scouting during lockout

Although the Detroit Red Wings may not hit the ice anytime soon, a number of key decision-makers in the front office will be seizing the rare opportunity to scout players outside of the NHL in the coming weeks, according to The Detroit Free Press.

General manager Ken Holland will keep tabs on the Grand Rapids Griffins and the future of the team as the labor dispute persists, while scout and former Wings player Kirk Maltby plans to oversee the team's evaluation of prospective AHL players in the region. The 39-year-old Maltby took a job with the Red Wings immediately following his retirement from the sport in October of 2010, and continues to pay dividends for the organization.

Special assistant Kris Draper will also take on a broad scouting focus of the OHL and Team USA's U-18 squad, in addition to taking in as much of the upcoming NCAA season as possible. And while he will not be personally evaluating any players outside Detroit's organization, goaltending coach Chris Osgood will continue to sharpen the skills of youngsters Thomas McCollum and Petr Mrazek in practice as the lockout drags on.