Red Wings Trade Deadline Guide

I’m writing this after the misery that just occurred in Carolina. After a brief word with the higher-ups at Inside the Rink, I have been told I’m heavily discouraged from using the language I would like to use for describing the game I just watched. So if you’re looking for a post-game rant, you can find that on Monday’s Kicking Tires episode.

Instead, I’ll try to go bigger picture. With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, I think it’s time to look at what would be considered a success and what would be considered a failure for Steve Yzerman. Part of me is approaching this deadline with very little optimism. For one reason or another, in the post-rebuild era that Detroit is in right now, I don’t think they’ve had a single deadline that went well for them. But there’s always time to turn it around, and after what the Hurricanes just did, there is no better time than the present.

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What Would be a Deadline Failure?

I think it’s better to start here than to look at what would be successful. There have certainly been a lot of opinions on what Detroit should and shouldn’t do at this trade deadline. There have been some naysayers about chasing aging players or expensive players. There’s also been a more reserved crowd that is keen on not spending any major assets.

I don’t think that either of those ways of thinking is wrong. And believe me, I’m not going to come on here and talk about how the deadline was a failure if they don’t bring in a superstar. I’m fine with adding around the fringes as long as they are good additions. So what would I consider a misstep?

Lateral Moves that Block Development

I didn’t make a formal piece covering all of the Tyler Myers news. I know Yzerman is going to be checking on basically any right-shot defenceman, but the fact that a trade was in place that Myers vetoed does concern me with Yzerman’s pro scouting.

Of defensive pairings with 300 minutes or more played, Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson have the worst expected goals percentage in the entire NHL, handily. They also have the second-worst goals against per 60 of any defensive pair with those minutes. For reference, Chiarot and Sandin-Pellikka are also pretty bad, but their expected goals percentage is nearly 10% better, and they’re also over 0.2 goals per-60 better than them.

One of the biggest problems with this Red Wings team is that they commit money and minutes to average (at best) players who eat minutes that could be better used elsewhere. I understand Sandin-Pellikka has had a really rough season, and this Carolina game certainly hasn’t made that narrative any better, but Myers is barely an improvement on the third pair, much less the second pair.

Again, I don’t need Detroit to go add a superstar, but if they’re going to make a trade, it needs to be for an improvement. At best, Myers is a different build who will give Detroit a similar struggle to what they have with Sandin-Pellikka and Bernard-Docker right now. I’d rather let the young guys try and struggle instead of giving a veteran more minutes who isn’t much better.

It showed up last season, adding Petr Mrazek, who looked like he would be roadblocking Cossa without being an upgrade over their current goalie room. Fortunately, Detroit was able to parlay that trade into getting John Gibson, so the Red Wings brass gets a pass there.

Bringing in a Similar Archetype to What Detroit Has

The “Yzerman-type” has become sort of a joke in the Red Wings community. A 200-foot, defensively minded forward that plays with high motor. This type of player is exactly who Yzerman has been granting roster spots to. Don’t get me wrong, you need guys like that on the roster, but there is a limit to it.

How many Red Wings in the bottom six fit that build? I land on five out of the six, Van Riemsdyk being the odd man out. I wouldn’t say there are any power forwards, snipers, or playmakers in that group. To me, that shows just how repetitive this Detroit group is. The bottom six lack diversity. The only guy who has had a big impact at stretches this season is probably Van Riemsdyk. He is the one guy who separates from that similarity.

As much as I would love a guy like Robert Thomas or Jason Robertson, I know that those aren’t exactly reasonable asks. So if Detroit is to look to the bottom six help, it’s only going to be worth it if Yzerman can get a new flavour for this depth chart.

Standing Pat

If Yzerman is serious about this team, he’ll go acquire assets. Last season, it was a tough pill to swallow, but it was justified because he largely stood pat at the deadline. The prices were high, and the team hadn’t played well enough for the bulk of the season to warrant getting the team some help.

Now, while I largely believe that not helping the team because they “don’t deserve it” is cowardly from Yzerman, because if this team isn’t good enough in his eyes, it’s only because he built it to be that way, but I digress.

This season, even if the prices are high, Yzerman is going to need to pay up. Detroit’s list of prospects runs deep at pretty much every position, so any major draft pick is going to need to really kick the door down to have a clear spot in the NHL in the foreseeable future. Detroit’s first round pick isn’t going to have too much value this time around, they have a slew of prospects that likely won’t see NHL minutes for years but are very much NHL ready and they have young roster players that haven’t given them a reason to be married to them.

In other words, Detroit has so many assets that overpaying to get some talent on this roster has been earned by the team this season. If Yzerman opts to sit on his hands because he doesn’t view the market as favourable, it will make it really hard for Red Wings fans to defend his decision-making. The time is now.

What Would be a Successful Trade Deadline?

This is the first time the Red Wings can be pencilled in as definite buyers at the trade deadline in a while. There is pretty much no excuse for playing it safe or moving off of expiring contracts. Buying in this market has been viewed as one of the riskiest propositions in a while. Costs have never felt higher but ironically, the bolder the moves, the better they have seemed to work out recently. So with that being said, how can Detroit make some shrewd moves and come out of the deadline as a winner?

Catch a Big Fish

Yes, I know, don’t burn yourself with this piping hot take. But the trade deadline is probably Detroit’s only realistic avenue of bringing in an elite talent. I don’t want to sound negative, but it’s not like players want to come to Detroit by choice unless they have some serious ties to the area. Nic Ehlers wouldn’t even pick up the phone for Detroit this offseason, and Tyler Myers just used his no-movement clause to veto a deal to Hockeytown.

But getting one of the big names through trade takes it out of the players’ hands and gets them into a Red Wings sweater. There is a pretty solid class of players that are being floated out there this time around. Obviously, Thomas, Kyrou, and Trocheck are great forwards, and Faulk is a great option on the back end.

There is talent out there that probably wouldn’t pick Detroit if given the chance in free agency, but bucking up and spending assets sets a precedent. Just ask Quinn Hughes, who said as much after getting traded to the Wild earlier this season.

Don’t be Afraid to Take a Risk

I know it’s pretty much the antithesis of Steve Yzerman’s time in Detroit, but getting someone who can raise the ceiling instead of the floor is what this team has been sorely lacking in terms of their acquisitions. I hate to pile onto guys who have already been through the wringer, but getting guys like Tyler Motte, Christian Fischer, and Craig Smith or any other conventionally “safe” player isn’t what’s going to make this team any better.

I know there is some confirmation bias going on, but I think about some of the gambles that teams in similar positions to Detroit have made over the past few seasons, and I can’t help but think that’s the type of move Detroit should try. Obviously, these are to varying degrees, but Washington’s gamble on Pierre-Luc Dubois went well for them, and his coming back seems to be aligning with a push for the playoffs from the Capitals. The Canadiens took a pretty big swing on Noah Dobson after he had a pretty down year, and that looks fantastic for them now. Even Anaheim dishing out to get Krieder and Granlund have aged pretty well for them and have them on a pretty good run this season.

Elias Pettersson is a guy that I keep coming back too. The cap-hit isn’t pretty, and the play has been pretty awful at times, but I’d rather take a shot on someone like that instead of committing another five million to the J.T. Compher’s of the world when July comes around.

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