With the Carolina Hurricanes crowned the 2026 Stanley Cup Champions, the bow has officially been wrapped on the 2025-26 season, a year that saw the Detroit Red Wings shut out of postseason play for a 10th consecutive year.
The losing ways of Detroit has taken a toll on the franchise leader, as homegrown captain Dylan Larkin has requested a trade out of the only state he has played organized hockey in his entire life. While this puts general manager Steve Yzerman in a tight spot following three-straight March collapses that knocked the team out of playoff positioning, it could also be a blessing in disguise as Larkin’s request opens the chance to remake this roster into one that aligns better with the Red Wings’ younger core of Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson.
Detroit already needed to be aggressive to improve the roster’s postseason chances with Larkin. With the NHL Draft (June 26-27) inching closer and free agency (July 1) starting shortly thereafter, the time to Now that he has a foot out the door, here are three trades Yzerman needs to pursue before the beginning of the NHL Draft.
Trades the Red Wings have to make before the NHL Draft gets here
Trade a second-round pick for Mavrik Bourque’s rights
Detroit is already without a first-round pick from the Justin Faulk trade, which did nothing to prevent yet another March playoff collapse. Still, the team at least gets a serviceable Faulk for one more season (unless he too gets traded this summer).
Dallas is short on cap space ($10.1 million entering the offseason) and has elite scorer Jason Robertson hunting for a contract as a restricted free agent that will likely eat up all that space and then some. Mavrik Bourque is another restricted free agent and the 24-year-old former first rounder is coming off a 20-goal, 41-point campaign as a middle six forward. All but five of those points came at even strength and he is going to earn a pay increase that would put him in the second-round (maybe even first round) compensation range.
Detroit does not have a 2027 second-round pick after trading for John Gibson last summer. Even though the Red Wings are loathe to submit an offer sheet, they couldn’t even if they wanted to. With Dallas short on draft picks and cap space and Detroit needing young talent that could play center in a top-six role, offering their 2026 second-round pick to have the chance to ink Bourque and play him in the top half of the lineup offers a mutual benefit for both parties.
This would be a move I’d advocate for even if Larkin hadn’t requested a trade and it’s an important one for Yzerman to work out with Jim Nill pronto.
While it is tempting to hold onto their only top-50 selection (47th overall), this Red Wings’ regime’s track record in the second round leaves A LOT to be desired. Here are the team’s second rounders under Yzerman.
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antti Tuomisto | William Wallinder | Shai Buium | Dylan James | Trey Augustine | Max Plante | Eddie Genborg |
Robert Mastrosimone | Theodor Niederbach | Dmitri Buchelnikov | Andrew Gibson | |||
Albert Johansson | Cross Hanas | Brady Cleveland |
Of the 14 players Yzerman has selected in the second round of his drafts, only third-pairing defenseman Albert Johansson has played any NHL games. I could write a whole article about the scouting department’s struggles at identifying (or developing on a reasonable time frame) NHL talent outside of the lottery rounds, but a few factoids to drive the point home:
- Detroit had six second-round picks in the 2019 and 2020 drafts.
- Forty-six of the 62 second-round picks (74.2%) have played at least one NHL game.
- Twenty-three of those 62 picks (37.1%) have played at least 100 NHL games.
- Of the 16 who have yet to appear in the NHL, Detroit picked five of them (31.3%).
Even among the potentially “good” second-round picks Detroit has made in recent years, goaltending prospect Trey Augustine (2023 selection) is entering his fourth post-draft season and just now beginning his professional career, while Hobey Baker Award winner Max Plante (2024 selection) remains in college at Minnesota Duluth to begin his third season since being picked.
Plainly speaking, Detroit has made 14 second round selections under Yzerman and none of them are as good as Mavrik Bourque, who has had a relatively modest career to this point. Since Bourque is also still in his prime production seasons, turning a pick Detroit has shown no ability to turn into anything helpful on its own into a current NHL regular is a no-brainer.
Trade Alex DeBrincat to the Ducks for Mason McTavish
There would likely be more involved, but while Anaheim is flush with cap space, they have several restricted free agents who will command sizeable money. I have already written that with Dylan Larkin wanting out, Detroit should aggressively shop Alex DeBrincat, who is entering the final season of his deal with Detroit. The scoring winger is coming off his third 41-goal season, but also turns 30 when his next contract starts, which is likely to be a six-year deal north of $10 million annually.
With a Larkin trade looming, holding onto DeBrincat and then extending him would be an ill-advised decision. The Anaheim Ducks are flush with scoring wingers, so they may not even take this deal without some additional pieces, especially with McTavish signed long term as a center. The third-overall pick in 2021 has plateaued in Anaheim as a solid forward who has yet to break out. At 23 years old when next season starts, McTavish still has some growth potential and a path to being a first-line center again could convince him to approve a move to Detroit and he has five years remaining on his contract with a reasonable $7 million cap hit even if he doesn’t take another step forward offensively.
Since Anaheim has many scoring wingers, Detroit may need to take a veteran like Troy Terry back and also send 2023 first round pick Nate Danielson back to cover the roster gap. If Danielson still has any value on the trade market as the Red Wings have patiently waited for his offense to show up at the NHL level, now is the time to do so. Danielson is already a solid defensive forward and he has two years remaining on his entry level deal, that fact alone could convince Anaheim to part ways with McTavish as they back up the money truck on star center Leo Carlsson.
That may also create enough surplus value for the Ducks to throw in current restricted free agent defender Pavel Mintyukov back.
Trade Dylan Larkin and Sebastian to Utah for a lot
Now that the initial shock of Larkin’s hilarious three-team trade list has worn off and the list has expanded to reportedly include Utah, there is something to work with here. The Mammoth have the NHL’s sixth-best farm system, per The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, and a need for a veteran center like Larkin. There also appears to be mounting rumors that Detroit top goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa could be on the move. With that in mind, here’s the proposal:
Utah Receives: Dylan Larkin and Sebastian Cossa
Detroit Receives: Caleb Desnoyers, Sean Durzi, Barrett Hayton, Tij Iginla
Caleb Desnoyers, the fourth overall pick of last year’s draft, has signed his entry-level deal after yet another big season in the QMJHL and give Detroit a potential high-end center to replace Larkin with in the next couple seasons. With the Mammoth loading up on defense last summer, a player like veteran defenseman Sean Durzi could add further depth to Detroit, though it would create something of a blue line logjam.
Restricted free agent Barrett Hayton is likely a cap casualty for Utah and this gives Detroit a ready-made replacement for Andrew Copp, who is entering the final year of his contract. Meanwhile, Tij Iginla (sixth pick in 2024) would potentially add another high-end forward to plug into Detroit’s lineup and give their farm system more ammo to make a big swing trade.
Utah may very well balk and there are other particulars to work out in such a deal, it’s possible one of Iginla or Desnoyers would need to be replaced by Utah’s first round pick this draft, which is acceptable as well. Should the framework of that work, either with both Iginla and Desnoyers or one of them and a 2026 first, that would set the stage for one more big move.
Trade for Elias Pettersson
Now that Larkin has been sent away, there are some young centers infused into the lineup to compete for middle six roles and a lot of salary is shed while the farm system is bolstered a bit more, it’s time to find Larkin’s replacement.
Elias Pettersson has fallen on hard times and has a hefty $11.6 million per year cap hit. With the influx of players and some logjams, here is what I propose:
The Red Wings take their big swing and hope Pettersson bounces back. The acquisition cost goes down because Detroit takes every penny of Pettersson’s remaining $11.6 million cap hit over the next six years. Detroit provides an expiring contract in Justin Faulk to offset the incoming money and clears a logjam created by Durzi by sending Albert Johansson to the Canucks as well. The first round pick is table stakes and Plante after winning the Hobey Baker Award is at the peak of his value as a prospect.
With these types of moves, the Red Wings would get a lot younger and also take their best shot at a lineup that effectively replaces Larkin’s production and creates a lot of depth up and down the lineup with the prospects knocking on the door (or provide for ammunition for further trades).
That’s a lot to get done in less than two weeks, but all of these moves are possible and the point remains that this is the best time to be aggressive in reshaping the Red Wings for next season and the foreseeable future.
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