It’s Time To Act, Steve
I’ll keep this one short and sweet but I wanted to share my thoughts on why it’s critical that Steve Yzerman does not waste another opportunity to improve the Detroit Red Wings in the short-term.
For as much bellyaching as we’ve done about how much better the East is than the West, there is no clear cut 3rd best team in the East this year or moving forward barring what FLA does at the deadline.
Right now, DET is jockeying with BUF/MTL/OTT/NYI/CBJ/BOS/PIT for position behind TB and CAR. Moving forward, I’d argue that BUF/DET/MTL/OTT are best positioned to take a leap forward. This trade deadline offers the first opportunity to gain a leg up on your competitors.
With the cap going up and free agency drying up - the trade market is going to be where teams sort out who comes out ahead. Few teams are better positioned than DET to use their prospect pool/picks to do so.
In particular, Detroit has a surplus of B-level forward prospects. With Carter Bear, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Dmitri Buchelnikov, Eddie Genborg, Nate Danielson, and Max Plante all nearing NHL readiness in the next 1-3 years, the Wings aren’t going to have spots for all of them. It’s time to leverage this depth along with Detroit’s picks to make a splash and gain a leg up on Buffalo, Ottawa and Montreal. With no clear certainty on how Florida bounces back next year, the time is now for an Eastern team to cement themselves as the clear third best team behind Tampa and Carolina.
Montreal made moves last year to add Noah Dobson and then reacquiring Philip Danault in December. Ottawa made a splash last year adding Dylan Cozens and then Warren Foegele yesterday. Buffalo has gone even bigger, trying to land Colton Parayko before pivoting to Sam Carrick, Logan Stanley, and Luke Schenn. It’s time for Steve to play his cards and get this team into the race.
I am totally onboard with this idea that the RW’s competitive window is opening and at some point the RW should leverage future assets to maximize their opportunity set.
But, I can’t say I understand why there is such a strong belief that there needs to be urgency around this deadline or the next year for that matter.
Correct me if you think I am wrong, but two years from now we should be seeing real benefits from the maturation of Ed, Kasper, Finnie, ASP, MBN etc. We’re already really good getting below replacement value performance from all of the above except Ed. And what do we lose in the next two years? Kane. Maybe Gibson and Copp?
At minimum should we be positioning ourselves in case Quinn Hughes becomes available again this summer?