For Detroit Red Wings, this NHL trade deadline has different feel than last year
There's happiness and expectation in the Detroit Red Wings' locker room as they head into March, much different than the sad and sour vibes that dominated a year ago.
The Wings are solidly inside the playoff picture this spring, creating a scenario in which general manager Steve Yzerman may well stay his hand ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. To make a splashy trade costs assets, and the Wings already have depth players at every position. It's such a stark change from a year ago, when the Wings were coming off two beatdowns by the Ottawa Senators at the end of February and bid four teammates goodbye the first three days of March.
This year, they've played so well they could still potentially rise from a wild card berth to third in the Atlantic Division.
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"It’s a lot of fun," Lucas Raymond said. "It’s exciting and everyone feels it. We are determined and we are chasing it. I feel like we are in a great spot as a team and that comfort helps a lot. I feel like it’s just about sticking with it and blocking out outside noise."
A year ago, the noise could not be muffled.
The Wings had just risen into the playoff picture on Feb. 23, 2023, instilling a bit of hope that the playoff drought that began in 2017 might be over. They lost the next game, but played hard. Then they went to Ottawa, and lost 6-2, and that embarrassing loss was followed by a 6-1 humiliation the next night. That was Feb. 27-28. This year on Feb. 27, it was the Wings who were doing the routing, winning 8-3 over the Washington Capitals. On March 1, Yzerman pulled off a surprise move in trading defenseman Filip Hronek to the Vancouver Canucks. Hronek was signed through 2023-24, and viewed as part of the core rebuilding group, so that was one trade that caught players off guard.
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The next one, Tyler Bertuzzi, didn't: He was in the last year of his deal, and, with no common ground in contract talks, Yzerman had to trade Bertuzzi to avoid losing him for nothing. Oskar Sundqvist and Jakub Vrana, were also traded.
The returns on the Bertuzzi and Hronek trades were highlighted by two first-round picks, benefiting the team's future. It was the business side of professional sports, but that didn't make it any easier on those left in the locker room.
"You grow so close to the guys and you spend every day with each other, so when you lose teammates like that, it's never fun," Lucas Raymond said this week. "It's part of it, but it's never fun, and then add those two losses, that didn't make it great.
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"You learn from it, you grow from it, and you try to not put ourselves in that position again."
Yzerman did his part to ensure he wouldn't be a seller again this year by making numerous additions in the off-season: Goaltenders Alex Lyon and James Reimer (currently Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, with Ville Husso sidelined by a lower-body injury that coach Derek Lalonde described as week-to-week.) Defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere, Jeff Petry and Justin Holl. Forwards Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, among others, and then, in November, Patrick Kane.
Instead of being clear sellers at the trade deadline, Tuesday's victory marked the first time since Yzerman was named GM in April 2019 that the Wings won six games in a row. They've won in dominating fashion, and they've won by rallying, because they have the personnel to do so.
"I don’t know if I’ve ever played on a team with quite as much scoring touch," Lyon said. "The depth we have up and down the lineup to be able to put the puck in the net is something that is pretty self-evident, and that’s a great tool to have in the bag.
"The most important things are competing every day and bringing your best every day, but to have that kind of [depth], when it shows up, it’s super vital. As a goalie, I feel so appreciative to be able to be on a team like that. I always say, never apologize for a win, but there are going to be times when it’s just like, we got the ball rolling and it’s awesome for me. It’s a great feeling."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NHL trade deadline has different feel for Detroit Red Wings in 2024
