Steve Yzerman explains quiet trade deadline: Detroit Red Wings comfortable with own depth
TEMPE, Ariz. — Ultimately, the state of the Detroit Red Wings led general manager Steve Yzerman to let the 2024 NHL trade deadline pass quietly.
His one move was to ship out Klim Kostin, a forward whose inability to make an impact made his $2 million salary cap hit through next season untenable. Otherwise, the team Yzerman has built already has a path towards the playoffs, and he is comfortable that the organizational depth in the minors will sustain it, especially when weighed against giving up draft picks in order to bring in somebody from the outside.
"I like to think part of why we weren’t very active this year at the deadline is, we like the depth that we have within the organization," Yzerman said Friday afternoon, about an hour after the deadline passed. "We have some good players in Grand Rapids, players that we signed last summer, some of our young prospects that are playing there — they provide us good depth."
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"It’s like OK, if we can make moves that help us get in the playoffs — but we’re still trying to build. We’re not one of those top, top teams that’s willing to give up, or at least I’m not willing to give up, first-round picks and top prospects, to get in on some of those rental players or high-priced free agents, at the deadline. Whoever is coming in, someone has to come out of the lineup, whether they are getting traded or they are a healthy scratch. And that affects the locker room."
Yzerman expressed his unwillingness to alter the chemistry of a team that has climbed inside the Eastern Conference and looks poised to end a seven-year drought. Rather than add an outside skater, Yzerman pointed to a Grand Rapids depth chart headlined by forward Jonatan Berggren and defenseman Simon Edvinsson.
"The things we were looking at, or felt we could do, to give up first-rounds and second-rounds, and what we consider good prospects, for guys that aren’t filling holes, that are going to sit in the stands for them — let’s stick pat with our group, and if we get injuries or what not, we’ll go to Grand Rapids. We feel those players are comparable to what we were able to do unless we were willing to give up prime assets."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings' roster depth leads to quiet NHL trade deadline
