Red Wings Trade Mrazek to Flyers for Future Draft Picks
By Daniel Garza
Late on Monday night, the Detroit Red Wings completed the move of Petr Mrazek to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The goaltender heads to Philadelphia for a guaranteed conditional fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2019 draft.
Bob McKenzie of TSN gives a breakdown of the terms of the trade.
DET guaranteed no less than a 4th round for Mrazek. If PHI makes playoffs and Mrazek wins 5 games for PHI in reg season, 4th becomes a 3rd. If PHI advances to CF, and Mrazek wins six playoff games, the 3rd becomes a 2nd. If PHI re-signs him next season, DET gets PHI 3rd in 19.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 20, 2018
Additionally, according to Craig Custance of the Athletic Detroit, the Red Wings will retain half of Mrazek’s salary.
Red Wings retaining half the salary in the Mrazek trade with Philly.
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) February 20, 2018
Mrazek leaves the Red Wings with a total of 176 appearances in net with a record 76-64-20. The 26-year-old Czech joined the organization in 2010 as a fifth-round draft pick. Shortly after, in 2011, he signed an entry-level contract.
During his time in the minors, Mrazek won the Calder Cup with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the 2012-13 season.
Mrazek produced some great moments during his time with the Wings. One of our favorites was this save against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2014-15 playoffs.
Trade Outlook
Jimmy Howard will now be the Red Wings outright no.1 option in net. The two goaltenders had been sharing playing time the past few weeks with Howard originally starting out as the Red Wings outright starter at the beginning of the season.
Now that Mrazek is in Philly, it will be interesting to see how this affects Howard’s game. There will no longer be the competition that existed between the two to become the outright starter. For the past few seasons, the two seem to have been constantly switching places at different points in the season.
The new backup will be no other than Jared Coreau who has not been a feature in the lineup this year as he was during the winter months last season. He has yet to make an appearance this season for the Wings but has been having a good season in the American Hockey League.
In fact, Coreau was just named the AHL’s Player of the Week. He posted a shutout in both of his appearances last week for the Griffins.
His call-up to the Red Wings was announced shortly after his recognition. Prospect Matej Machovsky was moved up from Toledo to Grand Rapids as a result.
UPDATE: @DetroitRedWings recall goaltender Jared Coreau from the #Griffins & reassign Matej Machovsky to the #Griffins from the @ToledoWalleye. https://t.co/Mg9ezLjyQZ
— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) February 20, 2018
So where does that leave the Red Wings draft outlook for 2018? Five draft picks will come in the first three rounds.
Red Wings currently have five picks in the first three rounds of 2018 draft. Those two 2nd-rounders have the potential to be pretty high. (@CapFriendly screen grab) pic.twitter.com/MEAGRadnDm
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) February 20, 2018
This could be a very good draft for the organization if they can play their cards right. The Red Wings picked up some great young talent in the 2017 draft and 2018 looks to be another crop of players to certainly be excited about.