As the Trade Deadline Approaches, the Red Wings Remain in the Battle
Detroit has accomplished its objective of hanging around the fight for the playoffs as the deadline nears, so now what?
The NHL's trade deadline is less than a month away, and, for the first time in recent memory, the Detroit Red Wings are poised to be buyers. The Red Wings entered the season with elevated expectations after significant offseason upgrades, but given the reality of the rest of the Eastern Conference, the playoffs still felt like an uncertainty.
"I think every team would love to make the playoffs," general manager Steve Yzerman told the press back in September. "We'd be thrilled to make the playoffs. Is it playoffs or bust? When you say playoffs or bust, I guess you're prepared to trade all your draft picks and whatever you have to do. So, no, it's not playoffs or bust, [but] we're gonna try to win every game, and we're gonna try to make the playoffs. To me, it's not at the expense of the future...we're trying to build the nucleus of a team that can make the playoffs on an annual basis."
Instead, Detroit's primary objective was simply to remain in the playoff fight as long as it could. Now, as the deadline (March 8th) beckons, that means it's time to decide on the path forward.
If the playoffs began today, the Red Wings would be the eight seed in the East, four points ahead of the New York Islanders with a game in hand. That's hardly an assurance Detroit will remain in a playoff spot come April, but given that present position, it's difficult to envision a scenario in which the Red Wings fall entirely out of the playoff picture in the next month.
From there, the question begs: how should Detroit approach the deadline, and will they be buyers at last? My co-host Connor Earegood and I discussed this point on the latest episode of The Silky Mitten State, and you can see a sample of that conversation in the video above.
For full episodes, check out Apple Podcasts or Spotify:
Also from THN Detroit