A potential Red Wings trade target off the board and headed to Pittsburgh

As Friday's NHL trade deadline approaches, we are beginning to see a lot of activity around the league. The Detroit Red Wings made a minor move on Wednesday afternoon, serving as an Uber driver, so to speak, as the third wheel in a deal between their division rival Tampa Bay Lightning and the Seattle Kraken, who, oddly enough, will face off with the Red Wings in Detroit on Thursday evening.

The deal was quite complex, but the Red Wings ultimately secured a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. They briefly acquired forward Yanni Gourde from the Seattle Kraken, with 50 percent of his salary retained, in exchange for defenseman Kyle Aucoin. Detroit then traded Gourde to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Gourde is in the final year of his current deal, and Detroit will eat roughly $1.3 million to help facilitate the deal. The Red Wings currently sit with about $12 million in deadline space.

The Red Wings will receive the earlier selection between Tampa Bay’s fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft or the Edmonton Oilers' fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft as compensation.

The entire deal is pretty insane. Check out the complete deal and focus on the return Seattle received. And you guys thought my returns from Detroit in my latest trade article were out to lunch or a significant overpay? The market suggests my hypothetical returns were far too low. This also suggests that Yzerman's deadline will disappoint many of you. Yzerman isn't going to pay these prices for a rental.

As you know, in my latest article, everyone aside from Pius Suter that hypothetically would be coming Detroit's way has term remaining on their current deal. I strongly believe that Yzerman values term, and if a deal of any substance is made before Friday's 3 PM EST deadline, it will need to be for a player with term or someone Yzerman believes he can extend. It will need to be a player Yzerman feels profiles as someone who fits Detroit's current window, or someone with term who he feels will be valuable in the locker room or serves as an immediate upgrade.

The other side of the coin is that Yzerman may be looking to offload a couple of contracts before Friday. It is an addition-by-subtraction type of transaction. Perhaps Yzerman is trying to fetch a late-round pick for someone like Christian Fischer, who they placed on waivers Wednesday to clear a roster spot to call up prospect Carter Mazur, who will make his NHL debut on Thursday night. Maybe Detroit will try to flip Vladimir Tarasenko to a contender, even if he needs to retain some salary. Yzerman must swallow his pride and admit that things didn't work out. As a general manager, you win some and lose some; the best win more than they lose.

All of this will make for a boring deadline in the eyes of many Red Wings fans. That said, the excitement should come this summer. The Detroit Red Wings are expected to have plenty of salary cap space to make a splash. There are a few key restricted free agents Yzerman will need to extend; beyond that, the only real significant unrestricted free agent will be Patrick Kane. Kane's future with Detroit is undoubtedly up in the air. However, he's proven to be a valuable asset still, and depending on how the summer goes, having him return on a one-year deal at a reasonable cap number, say $3 million or so with a few bonuses built in, will make for some valuable depth scoring.

A potential Detroit Red Wings trade target lands in Pittsburgh

It's a minor deal, but the Pittsburgh Penguins landed veteran defenseman Luke Schenn in a deal with the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night. In fairness, there is a chance the Penguins will flip Schenn for mid-level assets before Friday, but like Detroit, they continue to build. They may covet his leadership and low cap number.

The Penguins acquired Schenn and forward Tommy Novak from the Predators in exchange for Michael Bunting and a 2026 fourth-round draft pick.

Schenn, 35, is a rugged, defensive-minded, right-handed defender with one year left beyond this season at just $2.75 million. I added Schenn to my potential Yzerman trade targets, understanding that Detroit could use an upgrade on their right side. Schenn won't wow anyone, but he brings an element of toughness the Red Wings lack; plus, he can help aid the Red Wings' poor penalty kill. He would have slotted in nicely on the third pairing with Erik Gustafsson. Perhaps Yzerman will look toward Radko Gudas or Rasmus Ristolainen to fill the role.