The NHL’s trade deadline is Friday, March seventh at 3 p.m. The Detroit Red Wings are currently in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 66 points. The Red Wings lost their last two games against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the second of which ended with some controversy. The Blue Jackets are in the first wild card spot following these two games with 68 points. Following this game, the captain of the Red Wings Dylan Larkin said that he thought the team “deserved better.”
The Red Wings will play one more game prior to the NHL trade deadline. In that time the general manager of the Red Wings Steve Yzerman must decide whether to buy or sell at the deadline. The Red Wings will play their final game before the deadline against the Utah Hockey Club who have a record of 27-25-9.
Yzerman is notorious for being tight-lipped when it comes to roster moves. However, the head coach of the Red Wings Todd McLellan may have tipped Yzerman’s hand. He was quoted as saying that Yzerman believes in this team going into the trade deadline. He added that the team “shouldn’t be thinking that the cavalry is coming.” Perhaps this is because Yzerman does not want to give up draft picks to improve the Red Wings’ roster only for them to be eliminated from the playoffs early.
The Red Wings have already traded goaltender Ville Husso to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations. This was not particularly surprising given Husso’s injury history. Husso started the first game of the 2024-25 season for the Red Wings who lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 6-3. Husso had recently been playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate. Recently Husso became the first goalie in San Diego Gulls, the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, to record a shutout in his team debut.
This trade deadline is a familiar place for the Red Wings. In January and February of 2024, the Red Wings had a record of 16-5-2. In January and February of this year, the Red Wings have a record 15-5-2. The Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the 2023-24 season after the Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime. The players know the situation and are working to not let the season end similarly.
“Everyone in here is very determined and very aware of the situation, and very focused on completing the task,” said Lucas Raymond. Raymond is coming off showing very well for team Sweden at the recent Four Nations Faceoff. Despite team Sweden being eliminated after round-robin play, Raymond had three assists. Larkin also played well for team USA at the Four Nations. Team USA lost to team Canada in the final and before this game, Larkin was thought to be a front-runner for the most valuable player in the tournament.
I have written that Yzerman vetoed a trade for Dylan Cozens of the Buffalo Sabres. Cozens is a 24-year-old center who would help the Red Wings with their lack of scoring. In 58 games played so far this season, Cozens has scored 11 goals and added 19 assists. Cozens is the 13th-best available player on The Athletic’s trade board. Red Wings right-winger Alex DeBrincat leads the Red Wings in scoring with 29 goals in 60 games played this season. Cozens scored a career-high of 31 goals in 2022-23.
This could be the first trade deadline where the Red Wings should buy instead of selling. Yzerman has had to remake the team’s roster in the past six years. Currently, Yzerman has $13.565 million in salary cap space to work with on trade deadline day. With that in mind, what will the Red Wings do as the trade deadline approaches? Before these back-to-back losses to the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings had won eight of their last 10 games.
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