Detroit Red Wings Trade Patrik Nemeth to Colorado

The Detroit Red Wings have started their sell off prior to the trade deadline:

The Red Wings also retained 50% of the contract according to CapFriendly.

So begins Steve Yzerman’s work in grabbing draft picks and possibly prospects and he starts with the veteran Nemeth, one of his first free agent signings when he took over as general manager.

Nemeth heads back to Colorado, where he played for two seasons before signing with Detroit during the summer of 2019. Brought in to provide stability at a weakness for the Red Wings, Nemeth had nine points last season (1-8) and eight this year (2-6). He was third in Wings defenseman in ATOI at 18:24.

How does this shift the Detroit Red Wings defense?

This certainly opens up a spot for either Dennis Cholowski or Gustav Lindstrom. Cholowski has needed a trade to open up a spot for him to finally get a longer audition as the hopeful top four the Red Wings envisioned back when they drafted him in 2016. His reception has seemed lukewarm at best with both Ken Holland and Yzerman as managers.

Lindstrom is the safer of the two, more adept at playing defense whereas the offensive minded Cholowski was known for getting caught up the ice or at times, not being aggressive enough when it comes to generating the offense he’s expected to do.

Red Wings racking up more Draft Picks

With the 2022 fourth round pick, Yzerman now has three in that spot and a total of nine for what is expected to be a loaded draft. Nemeth might be the first of many to be shipped out, as Marc Staal is another defenseman mentioned in trade rumors for the Red Wings. With Bobby Ryan being shelved for the remainder of the season due to an upper body injury, the trade signals that Yzerman will hardly be sitting quiet during the next few days.

It will be interested to see what Yzerman does in the next 72 hours in what could be one of the more exciting parts of the season for Red Wings fans.