The Athletic asked its NHL beat writers to grade their respective teams’ offseason trade and free agency performances, and Max Bultman gives the Red Wings a surprisingly solid grade:
Detroit Red Wings: B-
It’s hard to quibble with anything the Red Wings did, and in adding John Gibson, James van Riemsdyk and Mason Appleton, they probably improved the overall roster. The middling grade, though, is because while those moves should help, they’re also not major needle-movers. In a weak market, that’s not totally unexpected, but for a team trying to snap a nine-year playoff drought, it’s also not particularly exciting. — Max Bultman
Continued; in hindsight, the Red Wings could have done worse in the free agency market, and I’m not certain how much better they could have done in attracting marquee free agents to a rebuilding team.
