December 4, 2024 | 11:22am ET
TheFourthPeriod.com
RED WINGS TRYING TO JOLT ROSTER?
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Jeff Petry, defenceman
After falling 3-2 to the Boston Bruins in overtime on Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings remain third-last in the Eastern Conference with a 10-11-4 record and three points out of a wildcard position.
Speculation has already ramped up over possible changes the Red Wings may be exploring, including a potential coaching change, as TFP reported earlier this week.
Talk around the NHL seems to suggest the Red Wings are evaluating the trade market. Citing league-wide sources from other organizations outside of Detroit, TFP’s David Pagnotta reported on Tuesday that Wings GM Steve Yzerman is starting to evaluate options.
During Tuesday’s edition of “The Latest” on TFP, Pagnotta indicated that while the Wings do not have many options to sell off later in the season, closer to the March 7 trade deadline, if they do not gain any traction on a playoff spot, they seem to be looking for pieces they can add to their core moving forward.
“Talking to other people around the league, (Yzerman is) exploring a little bit,” Pagnotta stated. “The problem with them is they’ve got a lot of guys under contract, so outside of really Jeff Petry and I guess Patrick Kane that are on expiring deals, everybody else that they could potentially move or would need to move to free up some additional dollars, they’re under contract. So, it’s going to take some creativity from Detroit’s side to make some impact type moves.
“The type of moves we’re hearing, talking to people around the league, is they would like to make something more of a hockey type trade, so talent-for-talent type swap. But they’re not moving (Mo) Seider or they’re not moving (Lucas) Raymond. They’re going to have to get creative.”
The Red Wings have a limited amount of salary cap space to play with – they have just over $1.625 million in current cap space, per PuckPedia – so any significant addition to the roster will likely result in a player or two leaving town.
In addition to Petry and Kane, defenceman William Lagesson, goalies Alex Lyon and Ville Husso, and forwards Christian Fischer and Tyler Motte are also playing on expiring contracts.
Forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who owns a full no-trade clause this season, and blueliners Ben Chiarot, Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson each have one additional year left on their contracts after this season. Chiarot and Holl also each have a 10-team no-trade list as part of their deals.
“It has not gone the way they anticipated,” Pagnotta added, “but I am curious to see how Detroit manifests its roster moving forward because it certainly sounds like they’d like to make some adjustments to it.”