The Detroit Red Wings traded center Joe Veleno to the Chicago Blackhawks on the NHL’s trade deadline day. The Red Wings drafted Veleno with the 30th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Detroit acquired goaltender Petr Mrazek as well as forward Craig Smith. The Red Wings drafted Mrazek with the 141st overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft out of Ostrava, Czechia.
The Red Wings went into the trade deadline losing four straight games. Prior to this losing streak, the team had climbed all the way back to four points clear in the wild card race. The Red Wings would wind up losing a fifth straight game to the Washington Capitals by a score of 5-2. This is despite having a 2-1 lead to start the third period. The Red Wings were on the power play to start this period but gave up two short-handed goals in this period.
General manager of the Red Wings, Steve Yzerman, believes that this is not an earth-shattering move, but it was a step in the right direction. Yzerman was not willing to give up draft capital to get the team into the playoffs just for them to fall short of the team’s ultimate goal. Head coach Todd McLellan relayed the message to the team that Yzerman believed in them and that they “shouldn’t be thinking that the cavalry is coming.”
What has happened is a familiar sight for the Red Wings. Last season, the team was in a wild card spot before Alex DeBrincat went into a cold streak regarding scoring. The Red Wings were eliminated from the playoffs on a tiebreaker after the Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime. This was the beginning of the end of the coaching tenure of the former head coach of the Red Wings, Derek Lalonde.
Craig Smith is a veteran forward who plays a 200-foot game. The Madison, Wisconsin native has scored nine goals and added seven assists in 40 games played for the Blackhawks this season. Yzerman said that he thought Smith could add some edge to the bottom six of the Red Wings lineup. “Historically, Craig has been a guy that’s been able to shoot the puck in the net a little bit, and we can use a little bit of that,” Yzerman said. “I think he’ll be a guy that can generate a little bit of offense, create some chances, and hopefully they go in not only for him, but the guys he’s playing with.”
With seven years of hindsight to look back on, the 2018 draft turned out to be a pivotal one for the Red Wings. With the Veleno trade, only one player who was drafted in 2018 is on the Red Wings at this time. The Red Wings drafted Jonatan Berggren with the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. This was the last draft of former general manager Ken Holland before Yzerman took over in 2019. Holland was the architect of the Red Wings that made the Stanley Cup finals 25 seasons in a row. What has happened in the recent past is the result of this.
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