Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin lists the Red Wings as one of 8 potential destinations for Philadelphia Flyers trade target Rasmus Ristolainen:
Detroit Red Wings
Why he makes sense: Did anyone aside from Steve Yzerman actually think Justin Holl was going to cut it on the right side of that blueline when he signed in 2023? He’s been every bit the disaster we knew he’d be. Erik Gustafsson has never been a big minute muncher, either, and has played the left side of late anyway, so Detroit badly needs to upgrade at right defense. This team desperately wants a playoff berth this season, but the extra years of Ristolainen at least make him less of an “all the eggs in one basket” target. It’s never a bad thing for a bubble team to secure help for more than one season. Having missed the playoffs eight consecutive campaigns, the Wings also have an incredibly deep pool of prospects to dangle Philadelphia’s way, including plenty in the right price range to include in a Ristolainen deal.
Gustafsson’s come alive of late, and has been actually competent on defense while producing offense. And, of course, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson have played particularly well together.
Fly in the ointment: The Wings rank among the worst defensive play-driving teams in the NHL. Would throwing Ristolainen at the problem actually repair that? It’s debatable whether he’d be enough, even though he’s improved defensively. I get that Detroit wants to halt its postseason drought, but is it worth paying a significant price just to nudge a middling team into the final Wildcard spot and get bulldozed by the top seed in the East in Round 1? More of a cautious buying posture would make more sense. As an example: you could pay less and target someone like Will Borgen. The Wings would also need to send some money the Flyers’ way to fit Ristolainen’s cap hit onto the books; I see no reason why the Flyers would need to retain money on Ristolainen given their strong bargaining position.
Continued; the fact that the Red Wings and Flyers are competing for the same Wild Card spots rules out this kind of deal as far as I’m concerned, never minding the cap concerns–and Ristolainen earns $5.1 million for the next two years.
