There’s nothing that the Detroit Red Wings could acquire at the NHL trade deadline that could immediately solve what ails this team.
Can a deal fix their pitiful, NHL-worst (11.4 percent) power play?
No.
Would a trade help the Wings, 11-14-5 when they don’t score the game’s first goal, to start games on time?
Nope.
The biggest problem in need of solving for the Wings can’t be fixed at the trade deadline, because teams don’t trade away top pairing defenders who can quarterback a power play and move or skate the puck safely out of the defensive zone.
The biggest thing the Wings could get rid of between now and the March 1 NHL trade deadline would be the false hope that they still have a realistic chance of extending their Stanley Cup playoff appearance streak to 26 seasons, because that simply is not happening.
It’s time for the Wings to give up the ghost and to begin operating like teams that regularly miss the playoffs. They should be looking to sell veterans in order to position themselves to bulk up the future.
Start with the club’s most valuable movable asset, left winger Thomas Vanek. This highly-skilled, creative talent is enjoying an excellent season, with 12-19-31 numbers in 38 games. Vanek will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, so he’s the rental player that teams covet. Chicago certainly has kicked the tires on Vanek’s availability, and the Blackhawks have also quietly enquired about the status of Detroit forwards Gus Nyquist and Tomas Tatar.
In the case of Nyquist and Tatar, successive off-years for both former 20-goal scorers likely means the return they’d garner in any deal would not be eye-catching.
Another significant problem facing a Wings team looking to part ways with some of their current roster - actually the most significant problem - is that general manager Ken Holland has locked so many of his players into long-term deals.
Mike Green might be attractive to a contender looking for a defenseman who could boost their power play but with another year at $6 million left on his current contract, he’ll be a hard sell.
Role players like forwards Darren Helm (five years) and Justin Abdelkader (six years) would also be the type of player a Cup contender might covet, but not with that kind of term remaining on their pacts.
Seven points out of the playoffs with 32 games to play, the Wings find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They can’t acquire what they need to get back into the playoff hunt, but through a variety of circumstances, there’s also not much they can move to build for a better future.
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