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Over a month has passed since former Anaheim Ducks forward
Bobby Ryan was traded to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a young forward (
Jakob Silfverberg), a well-regarded forward prospect (2011 1st round pick,
Stefan Noesen) and a 1st round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Prior to the NHL draft in late June, the Detroit Red Wings were often mentioned as a potential landing spot for Ryan if the Ducks were looking to move the 26 year-old winger due to the cap crunch Anaheim faced after extending the contracts of
Ryan Getzlaf and
Corey Perry.
At first glance, Ryan appears to be just the type of player Detroit could have utilized to augment their scoring amongst their top-six forwards. The Red Wings are clearly lacking when it comes to natural goal scorers on their roster, and Ryan you would suspect could thrive playing alongside a playmaker like
Pavel Datsyuk or an all-around pivot like
Henrik Zetterberg.
Despite Ryan not being seen as a puck-possession type of player, having "lightning quick" speed, there is no denying his skill level and production given his four 30+ goal seasons in the NHL. Although his mediocre playoff performance in the seven-game series versus Detroit this past spring may have cooled the Wings interest slightly, it is not everyday you can acquire an accomplished goal scorer like Ryan. With two seasons remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $5.1 million, the Red Wings could have made it work financially if they really had a desire to bring Ryan in.
So why didn’t
Ken Holland step up to the plate and make a similar type offer to that presented by
Bryan Murray of the Senators to
Bob Murray of the Ducks to make Ryan a Red Wing?
Let’s start out by clarifying we don’t know exactly what Detroit did offer. However, in order to attempt to match Ottawa’s offer that got the deal done, let’s examine what Detroit would have had to part with:
First piece of a deal:
Tomas Tatar or Gustav Nyquist – The key piece in the Ottawa deal was soon to be 23 year-old Swedish winger
Jakob Silfverberg. A rookie last season in North America after four seasons in the Swedish Elite League with Brynas, the 39th overall selection in the 2009 Entry Draft, Silfverberg impressed in his North American debut averaging close to a point per game with the Binghamton Senators of the AHL during the first half of the season (29 points in 34 games), followed by 19 points in 48 NHL games played for Ottawa.
By comparison, Tatar, who was the 60th overall selection in the 2009 Entry Draft, has played 27 career NHL games and tallied 8 points thus far. However, after four full seasons in the American Hockey League which culminated this past spring with Tatar winning the Calder Cup Most Valuable Player award, Tatar is expected to make the full-time jump to the National Hockey League this season.
If the Ducks weren’t fond of Tatar, perhaps they would have had more interest in
Gustav Nyquist being the key piece in a deal with Detroit. Nyquist was the 121st selection overall in the 2008 NHL Entry draft but in his two seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins, he averaged over a point per game in both seasons and was selected to both the AHL All-Rookie Team (2011-12) and AHL First All-Star Team (2012-13). He has 13 points in 40 NHL regular season games, along with five points in 18 NHL playoff games.
Either way, both players seem to be comparable to Silfverberg, based on their production thus far in North America.
Second piece:
One of Tomas Jurco, Martin Frk or Riley Sheahan
The Senators parted with their 2011 1st round selection (21st overall) in
Stefan Noesen. Detroit has a nice stable of forward prospects that could have been included in such a deal. Jurco (35th overall in 2011), has a full pro season under his belt in the AHL, and his play improved as the season progressed with Grand Rapids, in particular during the post-season.
Frk (49th overall in 2012) lit up the QMJHL this season alongside top 2013 draft choices
Nathan MacKinnon and
Jonathan Drouin in leading the Halifax Mooseheads to the Memorial Cup. He is expected to make his pro debut this season in the AHL, similar to Noesen.
Sheahan (21st overall in 2010) is someone I know the Red Wings would be extremely hesitant to part with. Despite his brush with the law last season, the Wings love his size and two-way ability at center. Anaheim, who does like their fair share of bigger forwards, may have been interested in Sheahan as the second piece if smaller wingers like Tatar or Nyquist made up the key piece of Detroit’s offer. If so, this could have proven to be a snag for the Red Wings management brass.
Third piece:
2014 1st round selection
Given Detroit’s strength in their current prospect pool across the board, the Red Wings would be in a situation where they could have parted with a 1st round selection next June and not destroy their future.
In addition, with the signing of
Danny DeKeyser last season, it essentially provided the Wings with the equivalent of a 1st or 2nd round selection that proved to be NHL ready almost immediately.
There are suggestions that the Ducks may have also requested DeKeyser as part of a deal for Ryan, which would have been a non-starter for the Red Wings. Given the loss of former 2nd round selection
Justin Schultz to the Edmonton Oilers via free agency, it is understandable if the Ducks targeted DeKeyser as a part of any deal with Detroit.
So if you are a Red Wing fan, would you have wanted Holland to be bold and aggressive and part with young talent to acquire an accomplished 26 year-old power forward capable of scoring goals?
Would the Ducks have been just as interested in Detroit’s offer consisting of a combination of the players above compared to Ottawa’s offer that was successful?
Bottom line, I would have loved to have seen Holland at least make a strong offer to enhance his odds of getting a deal done, while still acquiring free agent centre
Stephen Weiss. Even signing
Daniel Alfredsson from Ottawa could have remained a possibly, as he seemed intent on leaving the Sens and improving his chances of winning a Stanley Cup while playing alongside several of his countrymen.
The Red Wings acquired a 27 year-old
Brendan Shanahan back in the early stages of the 1996-97 season. Although a more accomplished player at the time of his acquisition compared to Ryan and a player who played with more snarl, Ryan could have provided an impact similar in nature to Shanahan by coming to Detroit. He may provide that impact in Ottawa instead.
Detroit stunned everyone in the summer of 2008 by signing
Marian Hossa to a one-year deal and making it work from a cap perspective, the opportunity appeared to be there for Holland to make a similar summer splash this time around. Perhaps Alfredsson is that "splash", but he isn't a 27 year-old Shanahan or a 29 year-old Hossa either.
Barring injuries to Datsyuk, Hossa and
Nicklas Lidstrom that substantially hindered their play in the 2009 Finals vs. Pittsburgh, the summer signing of Hossa would have likely brought Detroit their fifth Stanley Cup in twelve seasons. Despite the injuries, it still brought them to one game of winning it.
From a cap perspective, could the Wings have made it work? It wouldn’t have been easy, but as the old saying goes, "when there is a will, there is a way."
For starters, in addition to the compliance buyout of
Carlo Colaiacovo, the Red Wings could have used their 2nd buyout on forward
Mikael Samuelsson’s final year of his contract at $3 million per season.
For the sake of argument, let’s suggest Tatar is moved to Anaheim over Nyquist. That would lower Detroit’s payroll by $840,000 for the upcoming season. However, that would be offset by the likely $900k to $1M cap hit needed to sign Nyquist, as
speculated recently could happen in short order, possibly on a one-year deal.
With the buyout of Samuelsson, even after acquiring Ryan, Weiss AND Alfredsson the Wings would likely been left in a situation very similar to their current dilemma of having to attempt to move a forward out like
Jordin Tootoo. Furthermore, the Red Wings would have had the flexibility of going into training camp knowing both Nyquist and/or DeKeyser could have been sent down to Grand Rapids on a short-term basis, if absolutely necessary, to remain cap compliant until moves were made to allow them to return to Detroit.
Darren Helm’s back issue remains a mystery and he could be placed on the long-term injury reserve, opening up a roster spot and relieving some cap pressure in the interim as well.
Any way you cut it, the Red Wings could have provided
Mike Babcock with mouth-watering options to play around with over the course of an 82 game regular season, which could have opened with the following forward lines in Detroit:
Franzen-Datsyuk-Ryan
Zetterberg-Weiss-Alfredsson
Abdelkader-Helm-Miller (Bertuzzi)
Nyquist-Andersson-Eaves
The other thing to consider from Detroit’s perspective is the wealth of prospects in the Red Wing system. Although losing two premium prospects and a 1st round selection is no small dent to any team’s prospect pool, the Red Wings have enough depth within their stable to not lose much momentum in continuing to develop young talent. Given that situation, it appeared to be an optimum occasion to parlay that depth into an established top-six forward, something Babcock has been craving ever since the departure of Hossa following his one-year stint in Detroit.
Granted, he is happy with the signing of Alfredsson and the replacement of
Valtteri Filppula with Weiss. However, the addition of Ryan could have provided Detroit with a chance of solving their issues on a long-term basis compared to just relying on a soon to be 41 year-old Alfredsson for perhaps only one season.
All this and I have not even mentioned the league-wide expectation that the salary cap is expected to jump back to previous levels and likely higher despite the one-year reduction this season. That alone should have assisted in making a Ryan deal even more palatable to Holland, as re-signing him beyond his two remaining years should be made easier given an increasing salary cap in future years.
Opportunity squandered? Only time will tell. They say that some of a general manager's best moves are the one's you don't make. However, one thing is for certain. The Red Wings will now have a front row seat on the impact
Bobby Ryan could have had wearing the famous Winged Wheel watching him play several times a year with their newest division rival in Ottawa.
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