Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen posted a set of power rankings today, examining each team’s most complicated contract situation, and he feels that the Red Wings might be questioning whether they ought to trade Vladislav Namestnikov:
22. Detroit Red Wings: 7-5-2
A first-round pick in 2011, Vladislav Namestnikov has been inconsistent as a player and his career-best 22 goals and 48 points from 2017-18 seemed a distant memory. He scored eight times in 53 games with the Wings last season and is already one off that total in 2021-22. He’s bound to slow down somewhat as he’s outshot his expected goal rate (and it’s hard to visualize him as a 40-goal scorer anyway) but he’s filling a third-line role and producing for this young team, which could either be a decent and relatively cheap piece to move forward with if the Wings extend him, or perhaps more likely, a pretty good trade chip for teams seeking scoring depth at the deadline. How that plays out either way will depend on what level Namestnikov can keep producing at this season.
Continued; it’s too early for me to think about disassembling the team.