3 recently traded pending free agents who could ignite the Red Wings in 2024-25
Many players who were traded earlier this season were nothing more than rentals, but they could be short-term solutions for the Red Wings in 2024-25.
Recently traded rentals are often a good place to begin when looking for future players for a team that came close to playoff contention the previous season. The Detroit Red Wings fit that criteria, and while they don’t need to sign anyone flashy for the upcoming season, they do need to fill the lower portions of their depth chart with enough talent to help turn some major weaknesses into adequate areas of strength.
The following names aren’t all-stars by any means, but you may agree that they will, among anything else, empower the Red Wings defensively. That said, two players listed could more than generate offense, too, even if there are good odds one will re-sign with his current team.
Joel Edmundson would be an underrated yet valuable stopgap
Many wouldn’t think to sign Joel Edmundson as his game is beyond one-dimensional, but after a year when the Red Wings scored so many goals, let’s be honest with ourselves: They don’t need a two-way player on the blue line to help them win hockey games; they need someone who can help them stop allowing so many shots on net and goals.
Edmundson could be the best recently traded player entering unrestricted free agency who would help them with that cause. He’s well over the one hit and block per game mark - 80 hits and 65 blocks across 53 games this past regular season. But what impressed me was the way he played following his trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
His on-ice save percentage at even strength was a sparkling 93.8, and Edmundson was one of the most trusted players in the defensive zone down the stretch, with nearly two-thirds of his starts occurring there. His xGA at even strength sat at 6.9, but he was only on the ice for five goals allowed.
No, Edmundson’s play won’t wow anyone, and it even comes across as boring. But the Red Wings have enough high-octane excitement to where they don’t need to add another big-time scorer or two-way player. It is necessary, however, to add a no-frills blueliner like Edmundson despite his lack of productivity in the offensive zone.
Jason Zucker would be a sledgehammer on the fourth line
If the likes of Christian Fischer and David Perron leave in free agency, someone needs to step in and become a hard-hitting forward for a team that needs a little more physicality next season. In a previous article, I spoke about how Brandon Duhaime could step in and be that player, but Jason Zucker is an older player who wouldn’t make a bad consolation.
Zucker wasn’t as physical this past season with the Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators, but if he can be the player who landed 197 hits in 2022-23 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Red Wings will have struck gold. They have the scorers, and their blue line will get better, but they may need a replacement for Fischer and Perron, and few make for a better stopgap than a seasoned veteran like Zucker.
But Zucker isn’t just a hitter, and it’s another reason he’s on this list. If the Red Wings want someone with surprising scoring potential, he’s another good option. Not only did Zucker land nearly 200 body checks during his final season in the Steel City, but he also scored 27 times and finished the year with an admirable 13.7 shooting percentage.
He found the net five times in 18 regular season games with the Predators, so there is a depth scoring option there, along with a few others who weren’t traded this past season.
Casey Mittelstadt’s presence would ignite the lower lines
It could be wishful thinking to see Casey Mittelstadt hit the market and wind up in Detroit, mainly because the restricted free agent shouldn’t cost the Colorado Avalanche much to bring back into the system. But until he’s officially a member of the Avs for the next few seasons, let’s talk about Mittelstadt.
As a former member of the Buffalo Sabres, Red Wings fans should be familiar with the 2017 top-10 pick who looked like yet another draft pick who fell way short of expectations for the Blue and Gold. Then Mittelstadt figured out the NHL game, and he went on a roll in Buffalo and, later, Colorado.
Wouldn’t it be a best-case scenario to sign someone like Mittlestadt, who is young and proven to a lengthy deal at a fair price, where he can strengthen the Red Wings in all three zones while potentially acting as an even greater loss for the Sabres?
The downsides are that it would be tough to sign Mittelstadt to an offer sheet without the Avalanche matching it. Mittelstadt is also eligible for arbitration, and a new contract could come before a hearing even commences, so a lot must happen before it’s a strong possibility he signs with anyone else.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)