Three Trades the Detroit Red Wings Wish Were April Fools Jokes

Back in 2014, the Detroit Red Wings acquired David Legwand from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Calle Jarnkrok, Patrick Eaves, and a 3rd Round Pick (Justin Kirkland). There may not be a lot of huge names thrown around here, but this one stings if you really look more in-depth.

This trade struck me as a move to offload a veteran from Nashville’s perspective, and a move to bring a hometown veteran home to help a team that was struggling with injuries. In the few games he was here, only 21, he only managed 4 goals, 7 assists, for 11 points and was a minus-9 on the year with Detroit. This is not good, simple enough he did not produce as well as he was with Nashville.

The reason this trade was included is mostly because of Legwand’s lack of production and Calle Jarnkrok’s development. Jarnkrok has never had a full season where he has produced great numbers, but even in the 12 games from the 2014 season, he managed 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 total points.

Jankrok saw some good development in the 2017-2018 season where he notched 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points on a shortened season where he only played in 68 games. Jarnkrok’s 2019 has brought him a recession assuming he does not finish out the remaining games with some fantastic point numbers, but the fact of the matter is, he could have had that break out season with Detroit and found it.

On more of a personal bias note, Jarnkrok had a lot of upside when traded to Nashville, and was supposed to be useful for Nashville which he has, but has just never posted those breakout numbers. Giving up Jarnkrok, Eaves who was a good grinder for the Red Wings, and a third round pick which turned out to be no issue seems like a lot for a player who was a member of the team for only 21 games.