The Red Wings have some decisions to make this heading into this offseason, as there are multiple players that are going to be restricted free agents. Will Detroit opt to sign them in the offseason, not tender an offer and let them walk, or maybe deal a few before the deadline?
The Red Wings’ Unlikely Moves
It’s hard to say that any move is unlikely with this trade deadline. Steve Yzerman has said as much, as word is he is willing to move anyone on the roster, except for Dylan Larkin and prospects Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond.
However, RFAs Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek, Michael Rasmussen, Christian Djoos and Givani Smith are five names that are unlikely to get moved out of Detroit by April 12th.
With the development that Rasmussen has shown in the last couple of weeks, the staff probably won’t want to get rid of him just yet.
Smith is too young and too much of a question mark to get any worthwhile return from.
Although his ability to quarterback a power play could attract a bit of interest, Djoos is ultimately not likely going to be an asset that a team will make a serious move for.
Hronek is definitely a more attractive asset, but based on the amount of ice time he’s given and the amount game deciding situations he’s on the ice for, he’s likely too valuable to this coaching staff to be moved for future assets.
There have been talks of Yzerman trading some core members of the current squad, especially the aging assets. At 26, Bertuzzi is not old by any means, but Yzerman could see him as too old for his current timeline. However, Bertuzzi isn’t the member of the Red Wings core with the most trade rumors – that’s Anthony Mantha. Bertuzzi doesn’t have the sort of raw talent that Mantha does, and if Detroit is going to move off of one of their star players, it probably won’t be Bert. Also of note, Bertuzzi has not played a game in over two months – a team is not going to overpay or even evenly compensate for a player that might not see the ice by the start of the playoffs.
The Red Wings Assets that could be Dealt
Evgeny Svechnikov and Adam Erne are the two RFAs that could be very real candidates for Yzerman to move in the next week.
Svechnikov has had a tumultuous career with Detroit, leapfrogging between the Griffins and the Red Wings since being drafted in 2015. It’s obvious he’s talented, he just hasn’t found a way to put his skills together consistently. It’s obvious the organization isn’t wild about Svech (he was put on waivers early this week), and he’s a player that could really benefit from a change of scenery. However, he wasn’t claimed off of waivers this week. If Svech get’s moved, it’ll likely be in a package deal to sweeten up a potential trade for the Wings.
Erne is Detroit’s best RFA trade asset. As fellow Octopus Thrower scribe Jeff Hawkins wrote, Erne will almost certainly attract a decent amount of attraction at the deadline. He’s a cheap ($975,000) fourth line grinder that can score. That’s the sort of player that gets picked up by a team looking to win a cup. Erne could end up getting the Wings a solid mid round pick at or before the deadline.
Besides Bertuzzi and Hronek, most of Detroit’s RFAs will be worth a mid-round draft (at best) at the deadline. However, like we mentioned in our analysis of Detroit’s UFAs, that benefits Yzerman’s trade deadline desire. The goal seems to be to gather as many picks as possible, and Yzerman could fulfill that if he moves some of his RFAs.