It looks like the Detroit Red Wings will need to find their center solution somewhere else. Today, the Nashville Predators acquired center Mavrik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a pair of second round picks.
The Red Wings have been poking around the Stars for quite some time in hopes that the team would make a move for soon-to-be-former captain Dylan Larkin. One of the pieces that could've served as a sweetener, Bourque, is now out of play.
As far as potential centers go, the Red Wings' market is growing thinner by the day.
Red Wings make baffling decision to not trade for Bourque
The price tag alone should have been more than enough for the Red Wings to make this move. They have three second round picks over the next four seasons and more than enough cap space to eat Lyubushkin's contract. Why in the world they didn't make this move is anyone's guess. It seemed about as low-risk as one can get for a young, promising center.
At 24 years of age, Bourque is just coming into his own. He finished last season with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points in 82 games. While those numbers don't necessarily leap off the page, Bourque showed that he's more than capable of taking on much larger responsibilities with the Stars and has a lot of potential to be a legitimate threat.
Red Wings need to find their center solution quickly
Unless Steve Yzerman has a secret trick up his sleeve, the only other center that would be enticing on the market right now is Elias Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks. Even then, his contract comes at a risk -- Pettersson makes $11.6M a year for the next five years. It's unclear what the cost would be to acquire him or how much the Red Wings would be willing to pay to acquire him.
Thus, the Red Wings will have to go back to the drawing board. There's no reason this team should enter next season with J.T. Compher or Andrew Copp as their first line center. That's borderline malpractice for a team that's preached patience for so long.
Fortunately, the offseason is long and Larkin has yet to be traded. We'll have to see where the chips fall, but, if the deal can recoup assets to trade for a younger center, the situation might not be so dire. While Seattle isn't on Larkin's list, any assets acquired from a Larkin trade could just as easily be flipped to the Kraken to acquire one of Shane Wright or Matty Beniers.
Beniers, a former Calder-winning forward, has yet to bounce back to form since his outstanding rookie year. Wright, on the other hand, hasn't been given the opportunity to break out and become the talent he's projected to be in the NHL.
Either candidate is promising. It's up to Yzerman to facilitate a deal, though.
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