Custance: for the Wings it’s ‘no’ on Karlsson, ‘yes’ on competing for 2019 free agents

According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, the Red Wings are not part of the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes, but their abundance of cap space during the 2019 offseason means that the Wings will be bidding for top free agents next year at this time:

According to an NHL source, the Red Wings are not currently involved in Karlsson trade talks. They’re just now getting to the point in the rebuild where they’re assembling the kind of young talent necessary to successfully turn things around. They don’t have the desire to give up a huge package of those players for a crack at Karlsson.

The preferred plan is to stockpile picks and prospects and when the cap space is created, try and lure a high-end player without tapping into that collective talent pool.

As we’re seeing, that might be the hardest part of the plan. When a player of that caliber reaches free agency, the competition to land him is off the charts. Just look at the John Tavares sweepstakes. And that’s in the rare case a player like him becomes available.

But a look at the Red Wings’ cap situation as it stands now reveals that they should be well-positioned to make some noise in free agency on July 1, 2019.

Custance continues (paywall)…

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.

4 thoughts on “Custance: for the Wings it’s ‘no’ on Karlsson, ‘yes’ on competing for 2019 free agents”

  1. Karlsson way too young to thought about by the Wings. 8 Years from now he will be perfect!

  2. Ugh. I just need to fork over some money and finally join The Athletic, don’t I?

    1. I think it is worthwhile, yes. But I would also see if there is some kind of deal for signing up.

      Turn off your auto renewal, too

  3. My subscription falls off in 10 days. The more sports and teams you follow the more it’s worth.

    As far as the Red Wings, IMO there are definitely some good informative articles and detailed information surrounded by a fair amount of average material. Definitely more professional and knowledgeable than beat writer material but still conservative and writers will come and go..

    Not sure if I will renew. I mean, If I refer you I get a $10 Amazon Gift certificate. haha

    Look for a free trial if they still offer them.

Comments are closed.