Trade Deadline coming at right time for Wings
If you are Ken Holland you probably have three thoughts running through your head right now: your team has a three game losing streak with the final loss coming against your biggest rival; the timeline for your #3 defenseman coming back from the IR continues to stretch out longer and longer; and you just lost your grittiest player, who is likely lost for the remainder of the regular season.
There’s no real question that the Red Wings need to make a move. The Ducks have turned their season around with the addition of Sammy Pahlsson, Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne to their lineup. They’re still going to have to fight to ensure they get a playoff spot but with the way they are playing right now they look like a reasonable bet to be one of the top eight seeds.
The Red Wings need a similar infusion. I pushed for making small moves like trading for Hal Gill to help out along the blueline and for trading to acquire Vaclav Prospal to add some scoring punch to the second line. But after how last season played out with injuries to two top 4 d-men [Kronwall and Mathieu Schneider], I think it’s likely that Ken Holland will need to up the ante and trade for a legit top 4 defenseman who can play on the power play and penalty kill.
Pete over at Yzerman is God supports going back with hat in hand to Danny Markov and trying to sign him for a playoff run. I’m not sure that’s gonna happen. Putting aside the issues with bringing a guy over from Russia who signed a two-year contract [a potential issue we’ll sidestep], do you think Markov’s bargaining position has improved just a slight bit? He turned down a two-year deal for $2.5mm per season. So do you add more money and/or more term to bring over a guy who is making $2mm per year tax free playing in his homeland? Doubtful.
Matt over at On the Wings disagrees that the Red Wings need a top four defenseman. He thinks a top four of Lidstrom, Rafalski, Lilja and Kronwall is fine. And it could be. But there are two big risks the Red Wings would be taking if they stand pat. One, Nik Kronwall could suffer another season-ending injury and Detroit would be stuck with two legit top 4 defenseman. And the second, of course, is that Andreas Lilja has struggled when paired with Brett Lebda who hasn’t exactly proven he’s capable of playing top 4 minutes himself. If that happens do you want Chris Chelios playing on the second pairing for the remainder of the playoffs? That Lil and Cheli pairing that lacks speed playing 3rd pairing minutes ain’t gonna get any quicker playing 2nd pairing minutes. And that’s a risk I’m not sure Ken Holland really wants to take.
If the Wings pick up a legit top 4 d-man here is how I see the pairings working out:
Even-strength
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-[trade]
Chelios- Lilja or Meech
Power Play
Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-[trade]
Penalty Kill
Lidstrom-Chelios
Kronwall-Lilja or [trade]
If Kronwall gets injured you can still bump Lils up and play him with a legit top 4 d-man, where he’s less likely to struggle. In this scenario I obviously have the Wings trading Lebda. I like him and he has nice wheels, but he’s not great at headmanning the puck [he just skates it into the offensive zone], he’s not much of an offensive defenseman, and he’s an okay defensive defenseman in his own zone but can struggle along the boards. Meech just seems to have more potential in my opinion as his game is more well-rounded than Lebda’s.
Andreas Lilja is simply too inconsistent, but you can minimize that by putting him on the third pairing or pairing him with a solid top 4 d-man if he’s forced to play on the second pairing. Lils ideally is perfect as a 6th d-man who can play on the penalty kill. I’m not one of the people who has been ripping on Lilja, I’ve actually said he’s a good fit for Detroit. But not as a regular top 4 d-man. Plus, if you do play him top four minutes he’s going to demand to be paid like a top 4 d-man. That might be why he hasn’t signed a contract extension. Last season was perfect, where he was scratched for many games but stepped in and performed admirably during the playoff run. But he’s NOT a long-term top 4 d-man.
Ken Holland has got to provide some insurance for his team in case Kronwall gets injured. He has the cap space and assets to do so. I don’t agree with Bill from Abel to Yzerman so much in terms of the bounty Holland is seeking [Bill thinks Mats Sundin is headed to Detroit], but I do think Holland realizes his team was in a great position to win the Cup last season before the season was derailed by injuries to Kronwall and Schneider.
Sure, the team still gave the Ducks their best series of the playoffs. The Wings had a great shot to win the Cup, and they have another great shot this season. Ken Holland, who has loads of cap space and some nice assets to trade, needs to make a deal sometime within the next two weeks to get a top 4 d-man who can play on the PP and the PK. It ain’t gonna be cheap but like Bill says, you don’t kick a Cup gifthorse in the mouth.
Dan Cleary Danny Markov Niklas Kronwall Red WingsNo Comments
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
