Talking Trades for the Red Wings
With the Wings firmly in the lead for the President’s Trophy and all but assured of another Central Division title, the only real question to consider at this point in the season is which players they will trade for at the deadline to improve their chances of winning the Stanley Cup.
Detroit gained valuable momentum and experience last season with Mike Babcock as head coach, as the team made it to the Western Conference Finals and had a great shot at winning the Cup. The last thing the team needs is to regress by having an early playoff exit on the heels of a regular season campaign where they destroy the league. The good news is the team has loads of cap space, with just over $5.3 million of available cap space to spend on salaries. So if Ken Holland is ready and willing to deal he can acquire a couple of very high-end players who could make the Wings much better than they are right now.
With Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood both looking very solid in net the key areas of need are a top 6 forward and a defenseman capable of playing top 4 minutes and who is also a very good PK’er. The obvious trade partners at this time would be the Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning. Those are the only teams that look like real longshots to make the playoffs right now, although Edmonton, Florida and Chicago could join their ranks in short order.
Let’s look at the D-men on each of the three teams that look to be out of the playoff picture. I’ll stick by looking at players who are in the final year of their contract.
Rob Blake - $2.9mm cap hit
Brad Stuart - $1.7mm cap hit
Hal Gill* - $1mm cap hit [$2.1mm cap hit next season]
Blake is the best of the bunch as he’d easily fit into the top 4 and is a very solid PK’er. He’d also add a physical dimension Detroit will need if they are going to make a long run during the playoffs. The downside is that Blake is probably the #1 D-man likely on the trading block at this time so some team is likely to grossly outbid the Wings for his services. If the Red Wings can get him in a trade they will have greatly bolstered their chances of winning the Cup.
Stuart is the second best target although it’d be strange seeing him in a Red Wings sweater after the number he did on Henrik Zetterberg’s back. Z still has recurring back problems due to that two-hander Stuart delivered to Zetterberg’s lower-back last season. Stuart isn’t quite as polished as Blake but he brings much of the same qualities as Blake would: he’s a very good all-around top 4 D-man. He doesn’t play the hard minutes on the PK that Blake does as it looks like he’s on the second pairing. The upside is he isn’t likely to be as pricey as Blake and at 30 he still has a lot of hockey left in him.
Toronto has all of their defensemen signed to long-term contracts at obscene dollar amounts. Hal Gill is a relative bargain at $2.1 million and only has one more year left on his contract after this season. He’s huge at 6′7″ and while he wouldn’t be able to play in the top 4, he’d be an excellent PK’er [logs nearly 5 minutes per 60 mins short-handed and is only -5.89] which is exactly what the Wings need along the blueline. Right now they have three very good PK’ers in Lidstrom, Chelios and Lilja [don’t laugh, Lils is solid]. Adding a guy like Gill who could clear the crease would be an excellent addition that likely wouldn’t cost a ton in terms of assets sent Toronto’s way.
The Lightning have all of their solid D-men signed beyond this season and the truth is they need as much D and goaltending as they can get. The area where they have assets to trade is amongst the forwards. Let’s take a look at the forwards who are impending free agents on each of these three teams.
Vaclav Prospal - $0.92mm cap hit
Chris Gratton - $0.74mm cap hit
Mats Sundin - $2.46mm cap hit
Ladislav Nagy - $1.76mm cap hit
The best of the bunch is obviously Mats Sundin, but he has a no-trade clause which would complicate matters. I was a big fan of signing Peter Forsberg but with his continued injury situation I’d consider him a plan C if general manager Ken Holland can’t trade for a guy who has proven himself at the NHL level this season. There are simply too many question marks with Peter the Great. Signing him would be similar to acquiring Todd Bertuzzi last season - a last ditch resort that doesn’t cost a ton and that you hope works out.
The next best player? I’d bypass Nagy and try to get Vaclav Prospal. He plays a gritty game that suits Mike Babcock’s style of play nicely and he’s a solid scorer with the potential of scoring 20-30 goals per season. Gratton could fit on a Babcock coached team but he has no offense to speak of. Prospal is the Hal Gill option amongst forwards, reasonably priced and he’d provide exactly what Detroit needs.
Okay, with that out of the way it’s time to spend Mike Illitch’s money. Expect Ken Holland to spend up to the cap so long as he can find trades that the franchise can live with. For instance, if Detroit sent at least one roster player to Toronto and/or Los Angeles, they could hypothetically afford to trade for Mats Sundin and Rob Blake [$5.36mm salary with $5.33mm in cap space]. That would be an awesome haul and would no doubt make the Wings prohibitive favorites to win the Stanley Cup.
But the cost to acquire both players would be steep. Toronto needs offense [146 goals thus far] so they’d likely want Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula in return in addition to a prospect and 1 or 2 draft picks. The Kings are second only to Atlanta in most goals allowed so they’d need a goaltender who’s ready to backstop the team. Is Jimmy Howard interesting to them, and if so are the Wings willing to trade their best goaltending prospect since Chris Osgood?
Deals for Hal Gill and Vaclav Prospal likely wouldn’t cost much and would strengthen the areas where Detroit needs help. They’d only eat up just under $2mm of Detroit’s $5.3mm in remaining cap space. They also wouldn’t be the kind of moves that scream out Cup-winning trades. But sometimes those are the kind of trades that end up putting a team over the top.
So right now with Toronto, LA and Tampa being the most likely trade partners I’d say go for Gill and Prospal. They aren’t home runs but they’d add some nice depth to Detroit’s roster and would be valuable additions come playoff time.
Brad Stuart Hal Gill Mats Sundin NHL trades Peter Forsberg Red Wings Rob Blake Vaclav Prospal1 Comment(s)
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