Detroit Red Wings Trade Deadline Chatter: Who is staying, who is going?

SAN JOSE, CA - JANUARY 25: Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (35) during the NHL All-Star Skills Competition at the SAP Center on January 25, 2019 in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - JANUARY 25: Detroit Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (35) during the NHL All-Star Skills Competition at the SAP Center on January 25, 2019 in San Jose, CA. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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(Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /

With teams starting to make trades prior to the February 25th trade deadline we look at who should be going and who is likely to stay as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

The Detroit Red Wings have found themselves in the confines of the NHL basement for the majority of the season. With other NHL teams starting to make moves we explore who should be staying and who could be on the move from the Red Wings.

Recently the Toronto Maple Leafs landed Jake Muzzin from the L.A Kings in exchange for a pair of prospects and a first round pick.  The Leafs may not be finished yet, and had interest in Kronwall, Jensen and possibly Trevor Daley.  Muzzin has a much higher upside at this point in his career than anyone the Wings had to offer on the back-end.

On Friday the Pittsburgh Penguins made a trade with the Florida Panthers.  The Penguins traded Derek Brassard and former Detroit Red Wings forward Riley Sheahan along with three draft picks (2nd,4th,4th) to the Panthers in exchange for Jared McCann and Nick Bjugstad.  It appears the Panthers are trying to free up cap space to make a run towards Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.  Two players the Red Wings should consider targeting this summer.

It looks like Ken Holland is a little late to the party, but he should be working the phones pretty vigorously now.  The Detroit Red Wings have pending unrestricted free agents that they need to explore trading scenarios for.

Gustav Nyquist and Jimmy Howard top the list of most desired Wings players.  Along with those two, the club has a few others that could be packing their bags and looking for a new short or long term residence within a new city.  We also look at others who could find themselves still as a member of the Wings as the trade deadline comes and goes.

(Photo by Scott Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Scott Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Jimmy Howard- Going

Jimmy Howard was the lone Detroit Red Wings representative in this year’s All-Star game in San Jose, CA.  Although Larkin has been the Detroit Red Wings top player each and every night, Howard hasn’t found himself too far behind.  He’s ranked third in the league with a .931% save percentage in the league during even strength play.

A lot of NHL teams are in the market for a starting goaltender, and Jimmy Howard can provide some stability in goal for a playoff team.  At the very least he can be an insurance policy for a club with only one reliable goaltender.  Howard is in the final year of his 5.25 million per season deal and will be shopped around heavily in the coming weeks.

Earlier in the season, Wings General Manager Ken Holland expressed his desire to land a first round pick in exchange for Jimmy Howard’s services.  Holland also expressed his eagerness to resign Howie.

It would make much more sense from an organizational point of view to deal Howard now and try and resign him on July 1st when he becomes a free agent.  The organization would potentially be able to acquire draft picks and or prospects and still have Howard in net next season.  It will be hard for Ken Holland and the Detroit Red Wings to land a first round pick for Howie but a second round pick isn’t the worst return for a soon to be a 35-year-old netminder.

In recent years Howard had started to break down physically and found himself sidelined with various injuries.  He’s been healthy this season and has posted excellent numbers.  Good enough to get the call for an All-Star appearance.  If Holland decides to re-sign Howard without exploring a trade, it will be a horrendous mistake.

I like Jimmy Howard and appreciate his effort every night.  He’s been a stalwart member of the Detroit Red Wings organization his entire career.  Sometimes moving a player is better for the franchise than being too loyal, in my opinion with the Wings in the midst of a rebuild, filling the cupboard full of prospects and draft choices is more important than a straight resigning of a 35-year-old goaltender.

In 34 starts this season Howard has a season record of 15-13-5 with a very respectable .916% save percentage and a 2.76 goals against average.

My potential landing spots: Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers.

(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Niklas Kronwall-Staying

This is expected to be the final season in the career of Niklas Kronwall. He similar to Jimmy Howard has played his entire career with the Detroit Red Wings.  Kronwall expressed his desire earlier in the season what it would mean to him to complete his career playing exclusively for one franchise.

He hasn’t said in stone that this is for sure his final season but had hinted that way on more than one occasion.  Kronwall is being forced to play many more minutes than he should be seeing at this point in his career.  He’s averaging just two ticks shy of 20:00 TOI minutes a night.

It seems he’s enjoyed his role with the team this season.  He’s been the leader of the team since the day his good friend and countryman Henrik Zetterberg had been forced to retire with a chronic back injury.  Although he doesn’t have a captaincy “C” sewn onto his jersey, make no mistake he’s been the Detroit Red Wings “acting” captain to this point in the season and will be for the duration of his Red Wings career.

Kronwall’s CF% 49.1% isn’t where he’d like it to be, but part of that is the Wings being a bad team as a whole and the other part of it is Kronwall should be playing 16-17 minutes a night rather than 20.  Also, let’s face it he isn’t the player he once was now at the age of 38.  Although his knee has held up to this point in the season, you never know if that injury can creep up on him once again.  He played all of last season with a bad wheel.

I expect Ken Holland and the Detroit Red Wings to keep Kronwall for the continuation of the season and allow him to ride off into the sunset and retire as a member of the Wings.  Everyone is chasing a Stanley Cup, that is the ultimate goal for these players.  If Kronner hadn’t won one in 2008, he would likely be more eager to move and chase a title.

I initially thought there would be a small possibility Kronwall would consider a reunion with Mike Babcock and anchor the Toronto Maple Leafs third defensive pairing, but they’ve recently added Jake Muzzin.  They could still be possibly interested in adding a player or two but would be reluctant to move the picks Holland would want in return for Kronwall after they’ve already dumped their first-round selection.

Holland wouldn’t expect a first-round pick, but a 3rd would definitely need to be on the table for the organization to be interested in moving him.

Through 48 games this season Kronwall has achieved 2 goals, 12 assists totaling 14 points. He’s still an effective penalty killer even at 38 years old, and although his CF% is under 50, he’s a plus 3 on the season.

My potential landing spots: None

(Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Martin Frk-Staying

This one is a bit of a mystery to be completely honest.  I’ve always liked Martin Frk, but he’s struggled to find his niche with the Detroit Red Wings especially this season.  We’ve put the “staying” tag on him not because he’s coveted by the Wings, but rather there isn’t much of a market for his services.

Frk has never been a favorite of head coach Jeff Blashill and finds himself in his head coach’s dog house more often than any other player on the roster.  Frk is a “one trick pony” type player.  He has a massive slap shot that explodes off his stick when he has the time to unleash it.  The problem is half the time he has no idea where the shot is going.

He’s found himself scratched on a regular basis in favor of much less offensive gifted players such as Wade Megan and Christoffer Ehn.  Although the offense this season hasn’t translated his effort on the ice has been acceptable.  While skating on the fourth line, he doesn’t shy away from getting in on the forecheck and banging the body, something he never showed on a regular basis in years past.

Frk’s days are all but numbered with the Detroit Red Wings.  He was a restricted free agent at the end of last season, and the organization decided not to qualify him.  They ended up agreeing upon a one-year deal for this season for a hair over 1 million dollars.  He made the final roster after Filip Zadina proved he wasn’t quite ready for the NHL and Evgeny Svechnikov needed knee surgery.

His lack of production this season leaves the franchise somewhat limited.  He’s played in 24 games this season only recording 1 goal and 3 assists.  Last season Frk notched 11 goals and 25 points in 66 games.

For Frk to have any interest, a team would need to be willing to take a flier on him and looking past this season’s struggles.  The right team would need to be interested in adding a fourth line depth winger who has some previous scoring ability and can play in the shooting dot on the power-play.

I don’t expect Frk to be in the future plans for the Detroit Red Wings. It wouldn’t take much for a team to acquire him; I think the Wings would be willing to part with him for even a 6th or 7th round draft pick.

My potential landing spots:  New York Islanders (Top team in the Metropolitan with the 23rd ranked PP).

(Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Gustav Nyquist- Going

Gustav Nyquist is expected to be the most desired rental skater the Detroit Red Wings possess.  He’s thrived this playing as a set-up man in the absence of Henrik Zetterberg, rather than a sniper.  His goal scoring production has been down, but his point production remains solid.

Nyquist is on pace to produce 70 points this season which would be a personal career-high marker for him.  His previous career high was 54 points in 2014/15.  While he’s only notched 12 goals thus far this season, he has a chance to achieve 20 or more goals for the fourth time in his career.  His season CF% is respectable especially playing on a rebuilding team at 52.4%.

Gustav Nyquist is still only 29-years-old and will draw a lot of interest from teams looking to add a rental top-six forward during the playoff stretch.  He would provide terrific depth to any team already stacked if he gets bumped to the third line.

Say a team like the Boston Bruins or the Toronto Maple Leafs find a way to add Gus; he’d likely play on the third line and PP.  He brings security to Cup contenders being able to play either wing on any of a teams top three lines.  Injuries can always occur and having a guy comfortable in all situations is a wonderful asset to have.

Gustav Nyquist has the Ken Holland “special” attached to his contract.  He has a no-trade clause and would need to be willing to waive it in order for the Detroit Red Wings to move him.  Similar to Jimmy Howard, Ken Holland had expressed earlier in the season it would take a first-round pick to acquire Nyquist.

Holland, a General Manager with a reputation of resigning his own and being loyal to a fault, needs to right the ship and piggyback off what most consider an exceptional draft and continue to fill the cupboard with young prospects and future draft picks.

Nyquist is in line for a hefty payday come July 1st, and there is no guarantee the Detroit Red Wings will be willing to spend what it will take to retain him.  Detroit currently has a number of young forwards expected to break out over the next couple of seasons and are more likely to spend money this summer on a defenseman rather than a long-term deal with a forward.  They also need to budget themselves to resign AA, Mantha, and Bertuzzi in two summers from now.

My potential landing spots: Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins,  Nashville Predators, Colorado Avalanche

(Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Thomas Vanek – Going

Thomas Vanek is a well-traveled veteran forward who probably loathes this time of year.  It must get old being in trade talks leading up to the trade deadline year after year.  This is his second stint with the Detroit Red Wings, and he’s played for eight different NHL franchises to this point in his career.

Last season Vanek went from the Vancouver Canucks to the Columbus Blue Jackets as a rental for Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen.  That is an underwhelming return and earlier this season while Vanek continued to struggle it didn’t look like the Wings would be able to get much if anything for Vanek in the way of a rental.

Leading up to the bye week which included to All-Star break within it, Vanek started to get hot.  He recorded 7 points, 3 goals over his last six contests.  He’s been able to salvage 10 goals on the season and has potential to reach 20 if he can continue to produce on a regular basis.  His 24 points in 44 games aren’t anything to write home about, and either is his -12 rating or his ugly 46.9 CF%.

Vanek, like Nyquist, has the ability to write his own ticket for the remainder of this season, he owns a Ken Holland special (NTC), and if he decides he doesn’t want to be a rental player again this season he will ride out the season with the Wings, and they won’t be able to acquire even a late-round draft choice for him.

I have no idea what Holland was thinking giving Vanek an NTC this past summer, understanding his team is rebuilding. I have no problem with the signing with the intention of flipping him for something at the deadline. People will say, — maybe he wouldn’t have signed without the NTC.  Well if that is the case Holland needs to learn how to say “no” from time to time.

Vanek has proven of late to be a good leader; he spoke up in the room just before the All-Star break helping inspire the Wings to a win.  His teammates seem to really like him, and these actions may lead to improving the Detroit Red Wings luck at finding a trade partner as a rental for the pending unrestricted free agent.

My potential landing spots: Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins,  Nashville Predators, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames

(Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Nick Jensen – Staying

I believe the Detroit Red Wings are extremely interested in bringing the pending unrestricted 28-year-old free agent back.  Nick Jensen started the season as the odd man out even with all the early season injuries to the Wings back-end.  He was passed over by the Wings in the first game of the regular season after an underwhelming preseason performance.  The Wings opened the season with Filip Hronek, Joe Hicketts, Dennis Cholowski and Libor Sulak in the lineup while Jensen watched from the press box.

Jensen is in his third season with the Detroit Red Wings, his second as a full-time player.  He’s built good chemistry playing alongside Danny DeKeyser playing like the Wings second pairing.  Jensen has struggled to find any sustained offense with his game having only recorded 2 goals this season and none last year.

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Jensen is an above average skater; he can really skate when he gets the motor going but is reluctant to pinch in the offensive zone.  Some defenders don’t have that offense nose for the game even if some of the tools are in the tool chest. Just because you own a saw and a hammer doesn’t make you a carpenter.

Jensen leads the Detroit Red Wings 67 blocked shots.  He logs 20:49 TOI on average per night for the Wings and is second on average ice-time during the penalty kill only to Trevor Daley.  His play has been surprising, and he’s been one of the most underrated Wings this season.  I lobbied earlier in the season for the Wings to give a youngster a chance over Jensen and Ericsson.

I was dead wrong about Jensen, he’s earned his spot on this team and is likely to be resigned before the conclusion of the season unless a team is hunting for a third pairing, penalty killing, right-handed defenseman.  He isn’t worth a top round draft choice but it would probably take a third-rounder, or multiple late round picks to entice Ken Holland to move him.

The Detroit Red Wings currently have too many veteran defenders nearing the end of their careers rostered.  When the dust settles over the next two years and Kronwall, Ericsson, Daley, and Green have all moved on it would be nice to have Nick Jensen and Danny DeKesyer (no choice), as their third pairing (hopefully) and mentoring a handful of younger up and coming defenders.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were linked to Jensen earlier in the season, but the chances of that move have gone down significantly since they’ve acquired Jake Muzzin.  There is still an outside chance the Leafs come calling as he would be nearly a free rental with the majority of his 813k season salary already paid by the Wings.

Next. Potential Landing Spots for Jimmy Howard. dark

Jensen will be reasonably priced and likely won’t command a long-term deal.  The combination of both should bode well for him to be resigned by the Wings franchise.

My potential landing spots: None, Toronto Maple Leafs (outside chance)

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