Three weeks out, Detroit Red Wings project to have a quiet trade deadline. Here's why
Three weeks out from the NHL trade deadline, Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman may be best served by keeping quiet.
The team got off to a poor start on the trip to western Canada and Seattle, but Tuesday's 8-4 loss at the Edmonton Oilers doesn't define the season. Now, if that loss begets a slide in the standings, maybe something changes when the deadline arrives on March 8, but on the whole, the Wings have shown they are capable of contending for a playoff spot.
They righted themselves after banking just 11 points during a turbulent December to go 9-2-2 in January and won their first game out of the break — against the Canucks, who the Wings play Thursday in Vancouver.
The Wings (27-19-6) sit in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and three behind the Tampa Bay Lighting, occupiers of third place in the Atlantic Division. The Wings have two games in hand on the Lightning and play at Tampa Bay in April. Demonstrating just how tight the race is, the loss to the Oilers reduced the Wings' lead in the wild-card race to two points, with the New Jersey Devils giving closest chase and the New York Islanders threatening, too.
The Wings haven't played past the regular-season finishing line since 2016, and that seven-year drought has been wearisome. They've been sellers at the deadline, trading established players for future assets. Players who are pending unrestricted free agents (a group that this year includes forwards Patrick Kane, David Perron and Daniel Sprong, and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere) are always popular this time of year with contenders looking to acquire a so-called "rental" in expectation of a long playoff run.
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But with how well the Wings have played since the start of January, it doesn't make sense to part with those players. Kane and Sprong are both prime candidates to be re-signed, if anything, and Gostisbehere could be too, though the Wings need to consider they have to have room for defense prospect Simon Edvinsson on next year's roster.
Selling doesn't make sense, but neither, really does buying, barring injuries. Ville Husso suffered a lower-body injury in the Oilers game, but the Wings still have two tested goaltenders in Alex Lyon and James Reimer. If needed, they can call up Michael Hutchinson from the minors; he has appeared in 154 NHL games.
On defense, Justin Holl has been the reserve on most nights, and Olli Määttä on others. Derek Lalonde has expressed multiple times how much he likes the second-pair grouping of veterans Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry, who play heavy and can play against top opposing lines, reducing some of the wear and tear on the top pairing of Moritz Seider and Jake Walman. Gostisbehere is a key part of the power play.
Up front, the Wings don't need to get a scorer, not with Sprong and Robby Fabbri on the fourth line. Andrew Copp, Christian Fischer and Michael Rasmussen are clicking as the third line, good at grinding down opponents and capable of helping out offensively.
The Wings have a respectable roster, one that Kane said in January he thinks will make the Wings "a tough out in a seven-game series." Yzerman is unlikely to undo what he has assembled this season; again, barring a dive in the standings or injuries. The other thing to consider is that adding a player of significance usually costs an asset like a top draft pick or prospect. The Wings aren't in a place in the rebuild where they can afford to give up a first-round pick, or a top prospect.
Yzerman was busy at last year's deadline, trading away Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek, Jakub Vrana and Oskar Sundqvist. This year, the Wings have given him reason to think a playoff spot is on the horizon, and that may mean the best course is to stay his hand.
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.
Next up: Canucks
Matchup: Red Wings (28-19-6) at Vancouver (36-12-6).
Faceoff: 10 p.m. Thursday; Rogers Center, Vancouver, British Columbia.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings project to be quiet at 2024 NHL trade deadline
