In October of 2020 Vladislav Namestnikov was signed by the Detroit Red Wings to a two-year contract worth $2 million per year. It was a perfect fit for Namestnikov as he had been a Red Wings fan since he was a kid and spent some time living in the Detroit area. His uncle is Slava Kozlov and he hung around the Wings locker room when Kozlov played for the team. It seemed like a match made in heaven and had the potential to be a long-term partnership.
I remember being a fan of Namestnikov and the way he played during his time with the Wings, so I looked back at his stats on hockey-reference.com to get the facts. In the 20-21 season, he played 53 games for the Wings and had 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points. Next season, he scored 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in the 60 games that he played before being traded to the Dallas Stars at the trade deadline for a 4th-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The Wings used this pick to select goalie Landon Miller.
Namestnikov was moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who he had previously played for, to start the 22-23 season and he had some mild success there before being moved to the Winnipeg Jets by way of a deal with the San Jose Sharks. Since then, he has played two full seasons with Winnipeg and has been a solid bottom forward for the team. This makes Winnipeg the 7th NHL team that he has been a part of. He was recently signed to a two-year contract extension with the Jets that is worth $3 million per year.
Since playing for the Jets, Namestnikov has been in playoff games all three seasons. The last two seasons, the Jets have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. Namestnikov has been a solid player each year in the playoffs. This season they made it to the second round before being knocked out by Dallas, and he was able to score 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points. He put up good numbers against some of the best teams in the league. A solid player that the Wings could have benefited from having on the roster these last 3 seasons.
The Red Wings should have re-signed Vladislav Namestnikov instead of trading him.
Back in 2022 I wrote an article proposing that the Red Wings try to re-sign Namestnikov during free agency after the season was over. He was a solid forward who wasn't costing the team a lot of money. Since he has left the team, there have been a few players who have had less of an impact than he had. A couple of names that come to mind are Joe Veleno and Vladimir Tarasenko.
During the last two seasons, Namestnikov has scored 37 and 38 points respectively. Although those numbers don't set the world on fire, it is worth noting that he is playing on one of the best teams in the league, making it harder for a bottom-six player to get points, in my opinion. This year, Namestnikov had as many goals as Austin Mathews at the time of writing this article. I'm not trying to say he is as good as Mathews, it is just a good point of reference.
I still feel like the Wings letting Namestnikov go was a mistake by Steve Yzerman and the front office. He is a solid forward with ties to the city and the franchise. The quality hockey that Namestnikov has played shows that he could have continued to be an asset to the Wings and would have likely improved over time as he settled into the franchise.
I enjoy seeing former good guys from the Wings do well after they leave, unless they're playing for a team like Pittsburgh. I just can't bring myself to think anything positive about the Penguins. My hope is that the next two years in Winnipeg continue to go well for Namestnikov and can keep improving. You never know, he might find his way back to Detroit somewhere down the line.