Red Wings Week in Review: Progress, Prospects, and Trade Rumors

The Detroit Red Wings turned the tide a bit at the end of the week. They finally snapped a ten year road winless streak against Tampa Bay. Prior to this, it didn’t look good for the Red Wings who were swept by Florida on Tuesday and Thursday, and then lost a tight one with Tampa Bay on Saturday. The 5-1 victory over Tampa Bay saw three goals in three minutes and a Red Wings team that in spite of being overmatched from a roster perspective, continues to gut it out. The week ahead doesn’t get easier as we’ll look at later in this piece.

Red Wings Trade Rumors

Here we go–the final week before the April 12th trade deadline. Based on who the Wings may trade, we took a look at the prospects pools in Vegas, Boston, and Pittsburgh, and investigated what the Flyers’ prospect pool could offer if they’re truly interested in Jonathan Bernier.

Just a week away from the deadline, here are some updates on the names that have continued to come up.

Luke Glendening – The Athletic’s Jonathan Willis was the latest to look at the Glendening to Edmonton angle. The findings weren’t exactly in the Red Wings favor, as Willis didn’t see Glendening as the best choice to step in with Edmonton. The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James lauds Glendening’s presence in the locker room as a reason he could be on his way out. If he’s going to go anywhere, it seems a reunion with Ken Holland is the most likely outcome. Of the names being floated around, his is one that seems the likeliest bet to be moved.

Jonathan Bernier – This move would certainly weaken the goaltending tandem as Bernier has been outstanding for Detroit. Nursing a lower body injury for the past week, Bernier still appeals to teams hunting for goaltending. MLive’s Ansar Khan opines that if Bernier is to be dealt anywhere, the top contenders are Colorado, Edmonton, St. Louis, and Toronto. Don’t forget Philadelphia either, whose recent slide might make them more desperate than the other teams. Bernier projects as maybe the most interesting trade chip. Yzerman could certainly pit teams against each other to maximize a return.

Anthony Mantha – St. James writes that Mantha is “on the bubble” when it comes to being untouchable in a trade. In the same breath, she mentions how he would not garner what he should since he’s appeared lethargic at times this season. The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman took trade offers from fans and targeted Mantha as one player the Los Angeles Kings should be zeroing in on.  She mentions Gabe Vilardi as a player who could be considered in a trade, interesting since many Wings fans were furious when Holland took Michael Rasmussen over him in the 2017 draft. She also ponders Alex Turcotte, which would be an interesting deal for Yzerman to make. Though I’m a self proclaimed Mantha fan, snagging either one of those players would make his departure easier to take. In spite of what seems like Mantha being more available than we think, I still contend that a deal involving him would happen closer to the draft.

Bobby Ryan – Ryan has been out with an injury, but it hasn’t cooled the speculation that he’s the top candidate to be moved. Though it won’t bring back a haul as it would have years ago, Ryan is still an affordable contract and a legitimate offensive threat. All eyes will be on his health as the week inches closer to April 12.

Red Wings Future Continues to Garner Praise

Via IceHockeyGifs on Twitter, this is a look at how the Red Wings prospects in the Swedish League are making the strides to make their way to Detroit and contribute (with commentary from Nick Lidstrom!):

Take your pick: Jonatan Berggren. Moritz Seider. Albert Johannson. Lucas Raymond. Joe Veleno. This doesn’t even cover a couple other prospects playing in Sweden right now. Within the next two to three seasons, it goes without saying that there could be a lot of optimism heading into Detroit. It remains to be seen who sticks and how long it takes for everyone to get into Hockeytown. But the days of free agent hold overs are hopefully coming to an end.

Red Wings Week Ahead

The Red Wings welcome the red hot Nashville Predators to Detroit, who are suddenly a playoff team. 8-2 in their last ten, the Preds are going to certainly give the Wings a tough go as they try to solidify their footing in the division.

Carolina waits for the Red Wings on Saturday, and sits in the same spot they did the last time these two foes met: division and league contender. Any hopes that the Wings had of an easier break to the schedule will be a while.

Tuesday – vs Nashville 7:30 pm EST
Thursday vs Nashville 7:30 pm EST
Saturday at Carolina  7:00 pm EST