There’s no questioning what the Red Wings were thinking when they traded goaltender Ville Husso for future considerations. But you need to ask what the Anaheim Ducks were thinking.
Unless Ville Husso steps in between the pipes for the Ducks and unseats the incumbent Lukas Dostal, the Red Wings won out on this deal. Easily. Yeah, even with future considerations in return, something that means the Wings basically gave him away.
But can you blame them? Of course not. That said, you have to question the Ducks and their logic. Supposedly, the organization wants to win an AHL championship so badly that they were willing to acquire Husso and bury his contract.
The Red Wings basically raided the Ducks in the Ville Husso trade
The last time I checked, there are a few players the Red Wings probably still wouldn’t mind trading away, even if it meant future considerations in return. Hey, they need to make a splash at the deadline so they can finally end this playoff drought, so yeah, are there any takers on someone’s bad contract?
San Jose? Chicago? Nashville? Seattle? Buffalo? Who knows? Maybe someone like Justin Holl will resurrect his career in San Jose, California should the Wings pawn him off for another round of future considerations?
Still, Steve Yzerman needs to be rather sly here, because in copycat sports leagues, you see one general manager trying this too often, others will follow. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t try it again to free up more cash should an NHL team find itself so irrelevant that winning the Calder Cup seems like a fine option to keep fans interested.
The burning question also arises from a trade like this
So, now that Husso’s long gone from Detroit, and rightfully so, what happens next? Well, the logical question is: What does Steve Yzerman have planned with the money he just saved regarding Husso?
It’s a bit of foreshadowing because you can expect that splash I mentioned earlier to occur. I would say a few more pieces to this Detroit-sized puzzle will also get moved around here, and you can expect, hopefully, a physical forward or defenseman at the very least, to arrive in Hockeytown.
If Yzerman dumped off another contract, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll see him make a big move for an acquisition here. And fans, who’ve grown so impatient with the lack of success the Steve Yzerman era has brought so far - let’s not kid ourselves - may finally get to cheer their team on when the games have the phrase ‘first round’ next to them.
So, let’s thank the Ducks for their donation, and again, San Jose or Chicago, there’s a defenseman whose contract you just might want to take a chance on. No guarantees he’ll be any good but if he is, then you just added a sound veteran to your rebuild.