Of Red Wings-related note this morning:
1. Via Kukla’s, TSN’s Cabbie Richards spoke with Dylan Larkin, Trevor Daley and Justin Abdelkader about a potential “Nostalgia Night” at Little Caesars Arena:
Bob McKenzie is confident that the Tampa Bay Lightning will be buyers ahead of the trade deadline with an addition to their blueline.
“I will make this prediction right now, Tampa will not go by the deadline without picking up what they believe to be a significant top-six defenceman,” McKenzie added on TSN Radio 1050’s Overdrive. “And I don’t know whether it’s Mike Green or Ryan McDonagh, or Jack Johnson, or Cody Ceci. The point being is Tampa, for me, is as close to being all-in as they can be and they’ve got the draft picks and prospects to move. I don’t think they’re too worried about what they would have to give up to get a guy.”
McKenzie added the price for Green from the Red Wings could be a first-round pick and he believes Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman would be willing to pay that price.
McKenzie also spoke about Mike Green during last night’s Insider Trading segment:
Detroit Red Wings defenceman Mike Green is one of the most sought after blueliners on the market but he has a full no-trade clause. Is he driving the bus on his future?
Bob McKenzie: There’s not much question about that. He decides when he’s traded, where he’s traded, or if he’s traded. There’s no question the Red Wings want to get a return on Green and Green is okay with that. But I would suspect the list of teams that he’s prepared to go to is relatively short. The price that the Red Wings are asking for is somewhere between what St. Louis got for Kevin Shattenkirk last year, a first-round pick and a prospect. Or between what Brendan Smith fetched last year as a rental for the Detroit Red Wings, that was a second-round pick and a third-round pick. Tampa Bay is the team that is often linked to Green. They certainly have a need for defencemen but they’re considering all their options at this point. One would have to think that Tampa might be an aggregable spot for Green but we’ll have to see how this one plays out.
3. The Athletic’s Prasanth Iyer used zone entry tracking to discuss the Wings’ offensive issues:
The data presented above makes it clear Detroit’s offensive attack is inconsistent. Outside of the Zetterberg line, the team struggles to consistently generate shots in the offensive zone. The Red Wings have been able to hang around the playoff race largely because of unexpected scoring from their bottom six. However, given the relative lack of dangerous passing plays, it’s hard to imagine that scoring persisting.
Similarly, it’s hard to imagine the Zetterberg unit scoring only two goals on 66 shots, which may make up for the drop-off in scoring from the bottom six. The lack of effectiveness from the Larkin line has been surprising. Even though it has outscored the opposition, the line has been heavily outshot. Given that, the Red Wings’ team offense may benefit from splitting it up and spreading out its talent through the bottom three lines.
