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Red Wings: Analyzing 3 Possible Trade Partners in the West Division

By Alex Faber

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 23: Adam Erne #73 of the Detroit Red Wings readies before a face off against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena on March 23, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 23: Adam Erne #73 of the Detroit Red Wings readies before a face off against the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena on March 23, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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The West is a division full of teams looking to sell at the deadline, but a few teams are poised for a deep run in the playoffs. The Red Wings have assets to sell.

We’ve already looked to the East and Central for potential trade partners – but what about the West?

If the Red Wings end up making a deal with a team out west, it looks like Vegas, Colorado, and Minnesota will be the most likely suitors.

Vegas Golden Knights

Cap Space: $165,516

Red Wings In Play: Jon Merrill, Adam Erne

If Vegas wants to make a deal before the deadline to bolster the roster, it’s going to take some maneuvering of the cap space. With such little cap left to work with, any sort of deal will require retaining salary, moving a big contract, or other sorts of cap magic (like the kind we saw the Lightning perform in the three team deal Saturday).

Vegas is now in a battle for the West with one of the best teams in the league, the Colorado Avalanche. If Vegas wants to lock up that spot on top, it’ll likely take some roster shakeups to do it. However, Vegas is a well built team. There are not a lot of major gaps in the lineup – any sort of trades will likely be an attempt to strengthen the team’s depth. That’s perfect for a team like Detroit, which has a pretty good selection of depth players marked as trade assets. Vegas is a team that needs depth scoring and depth defenseman – and Detroit has both.

Best Case:

Adam Erne: ’22 3rd rounder

Jon Merrill: ’22 3rd rounder

Vegas has two 3rd round picks in 2022, and they are a team that has a history of using their draft picks as trade capital. Based on the return that Steve Yzerman got for Patrick Nemeth (’22 4th round pick), a 3rd for Merrill is a very reasonable ask. Merrill is statistically a superior player to Nemeth, and is relatively cheap with a $925,000 contract. Adam Erne has had a breakout season, tied for the team lead in goals, with ten. A third is more than fair.

Realistic:

Adam Erne: ’22 4th rounder

Jon Merrill: ’21 4th rounder

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