ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton posted an Insider-only article which discusses the trade deadline plans which they believe each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams should follow, and here’s what they have to say about the Red Wings:
Detroit Red Wings
Deadline status: Optimistic adders
Cap space: $7.84 million
Players, picks in play: Amadeus Lombardi, Alex Lyon, Carter Mazur, Jeff Petry, Vladimir TarasenkoDetroit has pushed its way into the playoff picture this season, and GM Steve Yzerman would be well-served in helping the team stay there by making a few key additions at the deadline — namely, another center and a defenseman.
Yzerman could target players on expiring contracts such as Jake Evans, or even guys with some remaining term like Ryan Strome or Connor Murphy. Regardless of which players Yzerman brings on board, his strategy should be to see the Red Wings get better by March 7 and take advantage of their impressive surge.
Detroit has waited a long time to be in this position again, and it would behoove Yzerman to give his players confidence in their ability to stay in the hunt through April.
Continued (paywall); Mazur is practically a unicorn in terms of his combination of grit and scoring ability, so I don’t see the Wings moving him, or Lyon, frankly. I know that not everyone is an untouchable player, but I just wouldn’t mess with those two…
And I guess that the Wings are probably buyers on the secondary market, but that’s okay. Again, rentals aren’t a great idea in terms of spending assets–instead, as Yzerman himself has suggested, adding players that will be part of the long-term plan would be much more useful.
