On Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings made a much-needed trade for goaltender John Gibson. Now that it looks like general manager Steve Yzerman is finally interested in breaking the team's playoff drought, it's obvious that the Wings shouldn't be done making big moves.
This don't mean they need to go wild in free agency, even if that wouldn't be a bad idea. And if you're reading between the lines, it doesn't look like Yzerman's all that interested in making any memorable deals once July 1st rolls around.
And okay, fine, this team's proven they can more than hold their own until mid-to-late February. But it's still obvious that, at some point between July 1st 2025 and early-March 2026, something needs to be done if Yzerman and Company want to bust through this dry spell of 82-game seasons in the franchise's centennial year.
Red Wings have got to get it together in free agency this week
At the time of this writing, Vladislav Gavrikov stil doesn't have a deal to wind up back in the City of Angels. He's got a connection to bench boss Todd McLellan, and he's been part of what was one of the best defensive teams in hockey last season.
Gavrikov's just one of a few players I can use here. But if you're Steve Yzerman and you just brought in a good goaltender who showed last season that he can play, it means you did something right, but you need to do more.
The Wings blue line, while it got better in some aspects, still struggled last season. So bringing in a player like Gavrikov is required reading. You can't go without bringing someone into Hockeytown with top-four potential, and maybe even someone who'd be a surefire first-pairing blueliner.
Gibson was a good start, but a Gavrikov-like defenseman could complete the defensive rotation in 2025-26. Especially a proven player who knows Todd McLellan's system.
Be that sixth contender in the Atlantic Division race and grow
Here's the score - the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins are gonna be miserable this year. The Ottawa Senators are a solid team that will contend again, and the Montreal Canadiens are putting on a clinic of how to properly rebuild a hockey team.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, even without Mitch Marner, will be fine. The Tampa Bay Lightning are always fine, and it should go without saying that the Florida Panthers are legitimate three-peat contenders. That leaves the Red Wings as the ultimate wild card.
If I were to rank the team as they are right now, they're still sixth in the division. But solid execution in free agency can put that "distant sixth" quip to sleep if Yzerman's interested in bringing in a few more players from the outside.
And I'd like to have more optimism here. But, given Yzerman's track record of doing next to nothing in the free agency and trade markets over the past year, I'm not holding my breath. Either way, Yzerman can change the trajectory of what I'm thinking if he feels like it.
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