The Score’s Josh Wegman posted an article discussing “the 5 most interesting teams heading into free agency,” and the Detroit Red Wings made his list:
Are the Red Wings ready to make the leap from rebuilder to playoff team? Maybe not as much as the Devils or Ottawa Senators are, but they’re close. Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond were exceptional as rookies last year, and there are still plenty of other prospects coming through the pipeline.
All of the bad contracts GM Steve Yzerman inherited from Ken Holland are off the books, so the Wings have $31 million in projected cap space this summer.
Yzerman has already showed his aggressiveness with the addition of Ville Husso between the pipes, but Detroit still has plenty of needs up front and on the back end.
Some of the older UFAs, like Kadri and Giroux, may not be suitable, but somebody who could help push the team forward now and still fit the winning timeline would be ideal. Valeri Nichushkin, Andre Burakovsky, Mason Marchment, and Andrew Copp are all potential fits. Gaudreau can’t be ruled out, either. And even though Ondrej Palat is 31, he would make sense given the connections to Yzerman and new head coach Derek Lalonde.
