Detroit Red Wings: The Case For Acquiring Vince Dunn

The Detroit Red Wings need help everywhere on their roster–that goes without saying. If there’s one spot where Steve Yzerman likes to build, it’s the blue line. Look no further than his work in Tampa. Though he was gifted a head start with Victor Hedman, Yzerman didn’t waste any time adding pieces to the blue line that led to one of the more formidable corps in the NHL.

When news broke that St. Louis defenseman Vince Dunn could be made available, it perked ears up around the league. Detroit was named as a possible landing spot, and we all remember that Robby Fabbri was poached from St. Louis after they had tired of what they weren’t getting production wise from him.

Dunn checks off a lot of the boxes that the Wings need. Adding much needed offense? Watch below.

Another heavy presence on the blue line? Check again.

Dunn will certainly be in high demand if he is indeed on the block. This won’t be the same as trading for Fabbri, which was an out of the blue deal Yzerman made. The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (paywall) examined why the deal makes a lot of sense for the Blues, and one of the reasons that makes the most sense favors the Wings:

"It could create cap space for the club, which will need to shed some salary when Vladimir Tarasenko returns from long-term injury reserve and his $7.5 million goes back on the books. This could be accomplished by removing a forward from the roster, one who would be replaced by Tarasenko anyway, but clearing Dunn’s salary would give the Blues even more wiggle room heading toward the trade deadline."

Yzerman has the cap space to not only re-sign Dunn, but make him an essential piece of the rebuild. Not only would he help take some of the pressure off of Filip Hronek, but you have another solution on the power play. Not to mention the effect it would have when Moritz Seider is in Detroit full time. The Blues, according to Rutherford, would be angling for a first round

pick,

which is a tall ask for a team that is still knee deep in a rebuild. But Yzerman is deft when it comes to trades (look at his history) and flush with second round picks as well as intriguing prospects, a deal could be made that would afford the Blues their cap space while getting some higher end picks as well.

If there’s ever a player that makes sense for the Detroit Red Wings and the Yzerplan, it’s Vince Dunn.