Niklas Kronwall offered an interesting take on the Red Wings’ trade deadline departure, Tomas Tatar, as it pertains to the state of the Red Wings. DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner offers Kronwall’s comments:
“First and foremost, he’s a good friend of ours,” alternate captain Nik Kronwall said. “He’s been here for a long time. You get that kind of bond between guys. Definitely, his presence, will miss it for sure. Luckily we’ve been in a good situation where we’ve mostly gotten pieces (at the trade deadline). Very few times have we had to say goodbye to people. Tats and Petr (Mrazek) two weeks ago, those are guys that have been here for a long time. Of course, you’re going miss them. Definitely going to miss Tats’ laughter and just the way he is, a guy that everyone enjoyed being around.”
Wings general manager Ken Holland told reporters on Monday’s conference call after the Tatar trade was made, it’s always difficult to move a player like Tatar, a career Wing who had given everything to the organization, but the fact is the Red Wings’ play dictated a move had to be made.
Kronwall agrees with Holland, it the Wings had been better, Tatar would still be in Detroit. When a player like Tatar is moved, the team feels responsible.
“There’s no doubt about that,” Kronwall said. “That’s a message to everyone. Had we played up to our potential, he’d still be here and we’d be in a completely different mode. We’d be buyers instead. The past is not something that we can do something about right now.
“All we can do is change the future. That’s something we can do something about, make sure that we come in ready to play every night and give ourselves the best chance we can to make the playoffs.”
Update: Here’s Kronwall on video:
“He’s been here for a long time. You get that kind of bond between guys. Definitely, his presence, will miss it for sure.”#RedWings move on from emotional day: https://t.co/85gXLTLy51 pic.twitter.com/KgKWZruupz
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 27, 2018
“That’s a message to everyone. Had we played up to our potential, he’d still be here….”
I guess there is a way to keep veterans eyes on playing well.