Équipe: 2016-17 Red Wings de Detroit

Date de création initiale: 6 juill. 2016

Publié: 6 juill. 2016

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

They have loads of defensemen in the system...Ouellet, Hicketts, Saarijarvi, Sproul, Russo, Renouf, Jensen, De Haas...not to mention Smith, DeKeyser, and Marchenko and the 4 they drafted this year.

But they don't have top end centers. Larkin isn't there yet. May be a year or two. Sheahan isn't. Period. Nielsen is a 2C unless he has a top end winger next to him (he doesn't). Athanasiou is unlikely to be a 1C or 2C, he's more of a 3C or 2W. In development is Turgeon, Aubry, Ehn, Pearson, Holmstrom, and Kadeykin. None of them are looking like #1 or #2 Centers.

So where can the Wings find a 1C....???

Well...to start, they could use Nielsen as 1C this year and hope that Larkin really is ready to be the 1C next year. We know Zetterberg isn't a 1C. But as I mentioned before, Nielsen needs a true 1W next to him. Zetterberg, Nyquist, Tatar, Abdelkader...none of them fit that. Mantha could if he could take that step, but like Larkin, not likely this year.

So there's 5 valuable trade chips...Nyquist, Tatar, Smith, DeKeyser, and, yes, Mrazek.

I don't believe they'll move Nyquist until the trade deadline. That's when his value is the highest.

I also don't believe they'll move Mrazek unless it was for a franchise changer like a Tarasenko, Kucherov, MacKinnon, Barkov or someone along those lines. Someone "untouchable."

Smith was (advanced) statistically the best defenseman for the Wings last year. But he's 27, not 25 and a UFA after next year. So his value isn't as high right now, but could be at the trade deadline.

DeKeyser was supposed to be the second coming of Nick Lidstrom. Defensively, he's solid. Offensively, he's lacking. Granted, he's been paired with Kyle Quincey (I am not a hater, he's just nothing special) for most of 2 years. Or he's bounced around on different pairings. It hasn't been easy for him to develop chemistry. I don't see him as a $5-6M defenseman. Smith is a smoother skater, plays with more of an edge and has more offensive upside.

Last but not least is Tatar. An enigma. He's a ball of energy, fun to watch, exciting when he's on fire and 1 goal short in 13-14 of 3 straight 20 goal seasons. But he took a big step back last year. Can he rebound after having a year to lear Blashill's system? He's not as defensively responsible as Nyquist, he doesn't have size, he doesn't have a canon shot like Pulkkinen, but he isn't afraid to go to the tough areas, he is elusive, he's quick, controls the puck well, and snipes fairly well too. But he's a 2/3W. Not a 1W or even a 1/2W.

So it comes down to this:

Trade Nyquist and DeKeyser for Marcus Johansson.

Yes, I'd probably prefer Monahan, MacKinnon, or Scheifele and Schenn and Rask put up more points. But Calgary, Colorado, and Winnipeg aren't going to move those guys. Philly needs Schenn more than they do a winger and defenseman. Carolina is young and Rask fits them well. There are others, but they don't fit as a 1C (Miller, Rakell, Killorn, Namestnikov), some would be very good 2Cs.

Why does Washington move Johansson?
- The upgrade for them is moving Orpik's money. Could they sign Johanson this year? Yes. But they'd lose Orlov or they could sign Orlov and lose Johansson. And then they couldn't sign all the free agents next year. Oshie, Kuznetsov, Burakovsky, Alzner and they'd have to start thinking of extending Eller and Carlson. So they could use the flexibility of moving Orpik. As for depth at center, they have plenty. Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Burakovsky are all capable of lining up in the middle. Backstom and Kuznetsov effectively forced Johansson to 3C last year.

So adding Nyquist and DeKeyser, even if they have to eat a bunch of Orpik's salary, gives them deeper lines.

For Detroit, having Johansson and Larkin as your top 2 forwards for years to come would give them a solid 1-2 punch. Add in Mantha, Athanasiou, Svechnikov when they all "grow up" and that's a threatening group of forwards. Is the defense young? yes. But they're well seasoned. Smith is ready to take the next step. Putting him with Marchenko reminds me off Kronwall and Stuart. Ouellet is an excellent partner for Green. Kronwall gets to mentor Sproul. Ericsson is there to give Kronwall a night off or Sproul or Ouellet when they hit a skid.

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