MLive’s Ansar Khan ponders the costs of adding player(s) to the Red Wings’ roster for the sake of adding at the trade deadline, and he inquired as to coach Todd McLellan’s take on what the Red Wings’ management might be thinking:
“Well, we would take (Wayne) Gretzky and Bobby Orr, but they’re not available,” coach Todd McLellan said.
He then illustrated the delicate balance teams face this time of year.
“It’s like Christmas right now and everybody has a wish list. But Santa doesn’t always answer the wish list,” McLellan said. “He’d love to deliver everything. But it takes other teams, there’s cap situations, There’s a lot that goes into that. And trust me, our staff is working hard. They’re looking and analyzing and it’s up to us to push, ride the horses, that are in the race. We can’t walk by the stables, and see that Seabiscuit’s over there and you just want to bring him in. You ride the horses that you’re on and you get the best race out of them. And right now, we have to get a better race out of some of our guys right now.”
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Moritz Seider said the team’s performance prior to this slide, including a pair of seven-game winning streaks, bolsters confidence in the room.
“I think there is so much belief in this locker room,” Seider said. “I think our fans believe in us. We believe in ourselves, and I think the organization does, too. And now it’s up to us to kind of send the message that we’re the right team, even though the trade deadline is ahead.”
Patrick Kane told Khan that the deadline never gets any easier from a players’ perspective, even if you’re not the one on the trading block:
“You never really know what’s going to happen, is going to be the group we’re going forward with (or) going to be additions or subtractions,” Kane said. “So, yeah, this week especially is always a little bit, it’s kind of like uneasy just wondering what’s going to happen. I think we’re confident in the group, we have confidence in the players in this room, and we’ve proved that throughout the last few months. But, yeah, we’ll see what happens.”
Continued (paywall)