Talking Dahlin and expansion draft options

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. ESPN’s hockey writers debated which team “deserves” to win the draft lottery, and Greg Wyshynski feels that the Canucks or Red Wings are most “deserving”…

Simply put: They’re both sort of directionless teams, even if the Canucks’ top line shows promise, with some good prospects and GMs who have lost the faith of their respective fan bases. What the Red Wings have that Vancouver doesn’t: a new arena that is in desperate need of an attraction like Dahlin. And, with due respect to Alexander Edler and Mattias Ohlund, the Red Wings also have already built a dynasty on the back of the best Swedish defenseman in hockey history. And Nicklas Lidstrom is already a fan of Dahlin, his young countrymate.

So to restore the glory of the Red Wings, and to fill a few seats at the Pizza Chain Arena, I’d say Detroit deserves Dahlin.

Will the Red Wings win the lottery? Of course not. We all know that the Chicago Blackhawks will, with Dahlin telling the assembled media at the draft how excited he is to join the Blackhawks because he loves playing outdoors. And then Gary Bettman winks at the camera. C’mon, you know it’s true.

2. And The Athletic’s Craig Custance weighed in on the likely 2020 expansion draft as it may affect the Red Wings’ roster:

Who does that leave for Seattle?: First of all, not much, which says a bit about what to expect from the Red Wings in 2020. There’s not going to be an overflow of talent to cherry-pick from Detroit. But that presents opportunity for the Red Wings. Assuming they continue to collect draft picks and prospects over the course of the next couple seasons, they’ll have more assets to work with in discussions with Seattle than they did Vegas. At that point it will make more sense for the Red Wings to move a draft pick to lure Seattle to take on a big contract. Abdelkader, for example, will still have three years (!) remaining on his deal at the time of the 2020 expansion draft.

It cost the Blue Jackets a first-round pick (24th overall) and 2019 second-round pick for Vegas to take on David Clarkson’s contract. The Islanders traded a 2017 first-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick to Vegas to move Mikhail Grabovski’s contract and protect key players. The Seattle GM is going to use those deals as the comparable when a team like the Red Wings tries to convince the Sasquatch to take Abdelkader. It really only makes sense if the Red Wings are at a point where that first-round pick isn’t a lottery pick or they’ve acquired another first-rounder through a separate deal.

Custance continues…