The Red Wings are in a wild-card spot, but the Rangers have a promising squad on paper. Andrew Copp and Ty Emberson [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjEyNzY3MjA4MDU1NTE0NzUy/usatsi_25305523_168400847_lowres.jpg] Andrew Copp and Ty Emberson The Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings are two clubs that could be active during NHL trade deadline season to push them closer to their goals. The Red Wings have not made the playoffs since 2016, and their struggles early this season forced GM Steve Yzerman to replace coach Derek Lalonde with former Oilers bench boss Todd McLellan. Since then, the Wings have gone 15-5-1 and are currently holding on to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Oilers made it as far as a club can go without winning last season, losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Florida Panthers. They are currently tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the Pacific Division. But after losing a pair of youngsters in Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to St. Louis in free agency, and with some of their off-season signings not meeting expectations, Edmonton relies more on superstars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Here are the main and secondary areas of need the Oilers and Red Wings could address before the March 7 NHL trade deadline. DETROIT RED WINGS MAIN NEED: TOP-SIX FORWARD The Wings' 2.86 goals-for per game rank them 19th in the NHL. Their main issue is scoring depth since four players – Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane – account for more than half of their 157 goals. Free agent signing Vladimir Tarasenko hasn't provided enough secondary scoring, which is why his name has popped up in trade rumors. GM Steve Yzerman may have to give up a future asset to boost their production instead of hoping Tarasenko can turn it around and youngsters Jonatan Berggren and Marco Jasper can break out. SECONDARY NEED: DEFENSIVE DEPTH [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/latest-news/what-will-the-trade-deadline-bring-for-the-red-wings] Detroit's goalies have done enough to win games under McLellan. Cam Talbot is 10-3-0 with a 2.91 goals-against average since Dec. 26, while Alex Lyon is 5-1-1 with a 2.18 GAA in that span. But the Red Wings' blueline could use some bolstering for a potential playoff run. The Wings have an excellent top-pairing defender in Moritz Seider, a solid youngster in Simon Edvinsson and veterans in Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry. But bottom-pairing options, such as Erik Gustafsson and Justin Holl, are not dependable. EDMONTON OILERS MAIN NEED: MIDDLE-PAIR DEFENSEMAN The Oilers average 2.75 goals against per game, which is the best it's been since the 2020-21 campaign and ranks eighth in the league. It can still improve. Evan Bouchard is a top-end offensive defenseman and power-play quarterback, Mattias Ekholm is an excellent defender. Darnell Nurse eats minutes as well, but the team still hasn't found the right player to pair with him. They've had eight different blueliners play beside Nurse, with Troy Stecher and Brett Kulak getting the most ice time with him, but the results haven't been amazing. GM Stan Bowman has to find another defenseman to improve on the bottom half of Kulak, Ty Emberson, John Klingberg and Stecher if they want to improve their chances of winning the Cup. SECONDARY NEED: SCORING DEPTH Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts Podcast that there was some talk [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/edmonton-oilers/latest-news/oilers-will-regret-not-trading-for-surging-goalie] about the Oilers and Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson. But Gibson carries a $6.4-million cap hit, and the Oilers don't have that kind of cap space, even with retained salary. What seems more likely to happen is the team addressing its depth scoring. Last season, the Oilers' dependence on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl was alleviated by Zach Hyman scoring 54 goals, Evander Kane potting 24 and Warren Foegele scoring 20. Although Edmonton is fourth in the NHL with 3.31 goals-for per game, Draisaitl and McDavid accounted for 62 of those. Hyman has returned to his normal 30-goal pace, Kane has been injured all season and Foegele signed with the Los Angeles Kings. Off-season replacements Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson have not met expectations with 20 and 18 points, respectively. Kane could return by the playoffs, but the Oilers may need additional secondary scoring to take some of the weight off of their two superstars. 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