The Detroit Red Wings are almost certainly seeking to upgrade across the board this offseason. Their main targets will focus around rounding out the top-six and finding a trade candidate for captain Dylan Larkin.
Despite this, NHL insiders insist on including the Red Wings in talks around defense and goaltending.
As of right now, defensive upgrades don't appear to be a priority for Detroit. The top pairing of Simon Edvinsson and Moritz Seider was among the top pairings in the NHL last season. The second pairing of Ben Chiarot and Justin Faulk appears to be all but set in stone as well with Chiarot's extension.
That said, if the Red Wings do want to upgrade their defense by signing Anaheim Ducks defenseman John Carlson, there's only one reason they'd move forward with the deal.
Why the Red Wings would sign John Carlson
For those unfamiliar, John Carlson is the Stanley Cup-winning defenseman that held down the blue line for the Washington Capitals for well over a decade. During last season's trade deadline, the Anaheim Ducks acquired Carlson for a conditional first round pick and a third round pick. Carlson, now 36, looks to be due for a multi-year extension making up to as much as $8M per season.
With that in mind, why would the Red Wings want an aging defenseman?
Well, it's not for lack of production. Last season, Carlson finished off his campaign with 60 points in 71 games between the Capitals and Ducks. It's clear he's still got some gas left in the tank offensively. He'd be an instant boon to the team's second pairing, providing more than his fair share of offense to the lineup.
But there's only one way this would work.
First, the Red Wings would need to determine what to do with Justin Faulk. Sure, they could play Faulk on the bottom pairing, but doing so would be admitting that general manager Steve Yzerman traded a first round pick and a higher-end prospect for a bottom-pairing defender. Second, signing Carlson to a longer term deal would signal a much larger deal in the works:
It would mean the Red Wings plan on trading Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
How the Red Wings could make the NHL's next blockbuster deal
Trading Axel Sandin-Pellikka (and committing to John Carlson) would mean the Red Wings are committed to the present over the future. It would mean much larger returns if Sandin-Pellikka were packaged with, say, Sebastian Cossa or Dylan Larkin for a much larger deal. The duo (or trio) could net anywhere from a slew of younger players to a player as valued as Auston Matthews.
That said, this doesn't seem like the likeliest path ahead.
Steve Yzerman has never been known as the kind of general manager to make a quick decision. Rarely, if ever, does he trade or sign a player without proper rationale. Signing Carlson, while providing an immediate upgrade, doesn't seem like the best course of action moving forward for the Red Wings. If anything, the move is shortsighted and opens up another brutal rebuild timeline if Carlson falls off any time in that period.
Like Darren Raddysh, the Red Wings should avoid putting any money down for John Carlson.
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