For some NHL fans, there are upsides and downsides to trades made at the deadline. Some fans don’t want to see certain prospects moved, and most of these fans are rooting for rebuilding teams. But the Red Wings, as they showed last season and through a good portion now of 2024-25, should be past that.
At this point, there shouldn’t be a single player in the prospects pool who Steve Yzerman needs to keep at the expense of a trade. For real, it’s time to move past the ‘rebuilding’ mentality and start to embrace the fact that the Wings are, finally, contenders.
This goes for players like Trey Augustine, Nate Danielson, and whoever else one might think shouldn’t be traded under any circumstances. Yeah, it’s a mentality Wings fans have had for years, and for good reason, and they’ve been losing so much that it’s hard to break.
I get it, but it should be a relief that fans don’t need to consider their team among the NHL’s most dormant franchises these days. That said, if the Wings traded someone like Trey Augustine, fans shouldn’t lose much sleep over it, at least in select circumstances.
What Red Wings fans need to be thinking instead…
Now, don’t take this article the wrong way: This isn’t saying that the Wings should trade someone like Sebastian Cossa, if you wanted another name, for a middle-six forward. No, that wouldn’t be a good trade at all under any circumstance, and fans have a right to be angry if something like that happens.
Instead, fans should be looking at each prospective trade and saying ‘Yeah, if the Wings wanted to bring in someone like Elias Pettersson or Mikko Rantanen, I should be fine with seeing them trade someone like Cossa or Nate Danielson.’
Why? Because, as contenders, it’s time to bring in proven NHL talent. Nobody like Sebastian Cossa or Nate Danielson are proven NHL players, even if it’s a given they’ll be fine contributors at some point. And that’s in a worst-case scenario. But, that’s the key phrase - at some point.
Red Wings are just a few solid moves from making several deep runs
Not only are players like Pettersson and Rantanen proven - and for the record, I’m just throwing some names out there - but they’re also young enough to be part of this team for the next half-decade. No, neither has performed exceptionally well this season, but that could be due to a few factors in both cases. Still there isn’t a single prospect I wouldn’t move to acquire either one of them.
Moving on to someone like Dylan Cozens or Trevor Zegras, I understand completely. No, I wouldn’t trade any of the players mentioned for them unless the Buffalo Sabres or Anaheim Ducks were interested in giving up more assets.
I know this one might draw some criticism, but the Red Wings should be done playing for the future. For them, the future is now, and general manager Steve Yzerman needs to act like it’s the case. That said, I wouldn’t chastise him for trading away a top-tier prospect, as long as it’s for a top-tier player.