Top 3 Names That Could Still be on the Red Wings Radar

The Detroit Red Wings may not be done this off-season. But, it won’t be in the free agency market.

The Detroit Red Wings have made a lot of moves in free agency. That was to be expected after a disappointing season. But, the thing that I feel really made the organization take a step back and re-evaluate where they are at in the rebuild process was the incredible season that Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond had.

Lucas Raymond

Lucas Raymond started the season being one of the front-runners for the Calder trophy. But more so than that, he started the year as one of the hottest players in all of hockey. Having recorded four goals and five assists for a total of nine points in his first nine games- there was obviously a lot to be excited for. But it didn’t stop there.

After being a point per game player in his first nine games in the NHL, it seemed almost too good to be true. So heading into November, everyone around the league expected to see him cool off. News flash, he didn’t.

In November he played in 14 games with the Red Wings and he continued to put up great numbers. In those 14 games with the Red Wings he recorded five goals and seven assists for a total of 12 points.

So, to put it in the big picture for you guys- In his first 23 games in the NHL, he was able to score nine goals and 12 assists for a total of 21 points. Almost a point per game. For a rookie, that’s pretty uncommon. But he wasn’t the only rookie showing out in the Red Wings uniform. Defenseman, Moritz Seider, really showed out in his first couple of games as well.

 Moritz Seider

Moritz Seider is one of the best prospects we have seen in quite some time. The selection, although surprising at the time, turned out to be one of the best selections we have had in some time.

Seider, who is coming off a Calder winning season, is only going to continue to get better and better which is hard to believe.

This past season, Seider is coming off a full 82 game season. In that, he recorded seven goals, 43 assists for a total of 50 points. It’s important to remember that, although 50 points doesn’t seem great, that  he did that as a rookie defenseman. That’s pretty hard to top unless you’re Cale Makar.

Seider really proved to be the Red Wings cornerstone defenseman for years to come. But the question that comes with everything now is where do they go from here?

This Season

After every signing that the Red Wings have made to this point, it had begun to feel like they may have overdone it a little bit. With the signings of Andrew Copp, David Perron, Ben Chiarot, and Dominik Kubalik, it doesn’t feel like there is a whole lot of room left the Red Wings top prospects.

Going into the season, I feel a lot of Red Wings fans thought they’d get the chance to see Jonathan Berggren, Simon Edvinsson, William Wallinder, and maybe another player or two. However, now that they have made many moves in free agency, there isn’t a roster spot for these players. And that leads me to the point of this article: Could they be looking to trade a prospect or two for a player still  on the trade block? Here are the three names that should be on their watch list.

Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, St. Louis Blues

The Detroit Red Wings have already taken Robby Fabbri, Oskar Sundqvist, David Perron, Jake Walman, and Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues- why not add another one, right?

Vladimir Tarasenko was one of the premier players in the league before having three surgeries on his shoulder. It was at that moment that his trade value went from being in the top 10 players in the league, to a role player at best. When we talk about adversity, Tarasenko knows a thing or two about it. But, he wasn’t going to live with it much longer.

Tarasenko was able to play in 75 games for the Blues this past season. In those 75 games, he totaled 34 goals as well as a career high in assists with 48. But it doesn’t stop there.

Between those numbers, he was able to also record a career high in points with 82. Which, is a point per game minimum if someone were to play every game, which he did not.

With the help of Tarasenko, the St. Louis Blues were able to make a run for the Stanley cup this past year. Additionally, they were able to give Colorado a run for their money which no other team really did outside of Tampa Bay.

Vladimir Tarasenko’s resurgence maximized his trade value. So, the price for him may be a little too rich for a lot of teams. But the Red Wings would be be able to add yet another superstar goal scorer, and a guy who already has terrific chemistry with all the other Blues players on the roster. Not to mention, the Red Wings have the prospect pool to make something happen and not get set-back.

Jakob Chychrun, LHD, Arizona Coyotes

The Arizona Coyotes is not the team that many people want to play for. Having all the stadium issues that they have, the low-end talent, there just isn’t a lot of people who view the Coyotes as a team worth going to. According to reports from last season, Jakob Chychrun could be one of those players.

Chychrun has been a top notch defenseman since coming into the league, but he has had to deal with injuries which have limited his growth as a player. Additionally, as I said above, I’m sure it’s hard for him to play with a team like the Coyotes.

When you are on a good team and the expectation is to win games, then you will always play harder to win said games. But, then you have the counter-effect. When you’re on a bad team, then the expectation is going to be not to get crushed every game. That’s why you see some players thrive after leaving certain teams. In this case, I think Jakob Chychrun will be one of those guys.

Now, I know the Red Wings just signed Ben Chiarot and Olli Maatta, but they still have a lot of assets that they have to figure out what to do with. I feel that these off-season signings are leading into the idea that they will target a big name and look to bring in a superstar to really round out the roster.