The Hockey News’s Jacob Stoller posted an article which discusses three possible destinations for Steven Stamkos, who’s going to test the free agent marketplace on Monday, and he includes the Red Wings in his list, alongside the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators.
I don’t really see Stamkos-to-Detroit happening, but stranger things have happened…
Coming off a collapse that saw Detroit lose its playoff spot and miss the post-season for an eighth straight year, GM Steve Yzerman ought to be feeling the pressure.
While the Red Wings have a decent core in Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, they still look like a mushy-middle team, even with a few tweaks here or there.
They need someone like Stamkos. And for a player who might be signing his last contract, depending on the term, the fit outside of hockey may be one of the most important things as well. Detroit is just four hours away from Stamkos’ off-season home in Toronto.
Detroit recently cleared up cap space when they traded Jake Walman to San Jose, leaving them with roughly $31.87 million in salary cap space — though the impending extensions to Raymond and Seider will shrink that figure.
Continued; I would imagine that Steve Yzerman is always feeling pressure to some extent, but we’re working on his timeline to slowly build a playoff contender, not the other way around…
And if the Wings attempt to re-sign Patrick Kane, Shayne Gostisbehere and/or David Perron, I’m not certain that there would be salary cap room left to snag Stamkos on a cap-friendly deal. He’s also 34 as of July 1st, so there aren’t any 35-plus contract bonuses that could be squeezed in to reduce his cap hit.
From what the “insiders” are saying, I think that Carolina, Nashville or other places are much more likely landing spots for Stamkos, but again, one never knows, regardless of his relationship with Yzerman.
