Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston offered a slate of potential landing spots for one Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames, and he includes the Red Wings, though I’m not certain…Well, we’ll get to that:
Detroit Red Wings: There is no reason why Steve Yzerman shouldn’t give the Flames a phone call and an earnest pitch. Detroit has an extra 2023 second-round pick they acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline and only a handful of players signed beyond 2024, including off-season additions Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and Ville Husso.
RFA Filip Zadina, the sixth-overall pick from 2018, needs a new contract before next season and could be a target, plus captain Dylan Larkin must be re-signed before becoming a UFA after 2022-23. Buffalo and Columbus are the only rosters younger than Detroit’s as of this week, so Calgary could expect some youth in return if a deal with the Red Wings presented itself and Tkachuk approved.
Johnston continues; I am 100% certain that the Red Wings’ quiet GM either will or already has made a call to Brad Treliving, but, in my eyes, Zadina isn’t nearly enough to whet the Flames’ appetite.
My theory for a probable Flames “ask” would be Tyler Bertuzzi or Jakub Vrana, Simon Edvinsson and a 1st round pick (with possibly more future picks), and I just can’t see the Wings giving up Edvinsson, even for a 24-year-old who posted 102 points last season, when they’d be blowing such a huge hole in their present and future roster.
Just my gut feeling. I’m sure other Wings pundits who know more than I do will be able to offer more comparable kinds of deals, but if I’m Calgary, I’m not making the deal without big Edvinsson as a part of the package.
Right now, I just don’t see Filip Zadina as much more than chopped liver in terms of his trade value.
