Quiet Deadline Reflects Detroit's Long-Term Ambition
From The Silky Mitten State: This wasn't the season for the Red Wings to go "all in," and their deadline moves (or lack thereof) reflect an eye to the long-term future.
Mandatory Credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports - Quiet Deadline Reflects Detroit's Long-Term AmbitionFor a moment, let's disentangle ourselves for a moment from the pains of an ongoing five-game losing streak that has put the season's progress in jeopardy and instead consider the direction of the Detroit Red Wings in a bit broader context.
Detroit made just one move, sending Klim Kostin to the San Jose Sharks and declining to pursue either a one-year rental or longer term addition to its lineup for a playoff push.
“We're still trying to build,” Steve Yzerman said Friday when he spoke to the press after the deadline. “We’re not one of those top teams that's willing to give up — or at least I'm not willing to give up — first round picks, some top prospects to get in on some of those rental players or high-price free agents at the deadline.”
Yzerman also pointed out that, functionally speaking, Patrick Kane represented his team's deadline acquisition, just an acquisition that came in early December rather than March.
On the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State (which was recorded prior to the deadline), my co-host Connor Earegood and I discussed our inclination that this season was not the one in which it made sense to push all of the chips into the middle of the table. Instead, this was a moment where Detroit was well served to keep an eye on its long-term future rather than just a single playoff run.
The biggest reason for this is the imminent raise due for both Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond (both presently making under a million dollars a season on their entry-level contracts) and more than likely a raise for Kane as well (if that raise doesn't come, the Red Wings would then need to find a replacement). With that in mind, having quality depth on hand in the organization in the form of prospects currently toiling in the relative obscurity of Grand Rapids will become all the more important as the team no longer enjoys so much salary cap breathing room.
For an excerpt from that conversation (which again, was recorded before the deadline but proved prescient), take a look at the clip below:
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