With poor defense and limited free-agent options, the Red Wings face tough choices to strengthen their blueline.
The Detroit Red Wings were able to narrowly beat the Boston Bruins Tuesday night, prevailing in a tight 5-4 victory with the main focus of the win being the continued poor performance with preventing goals.
Over their last 13 games, the Red Wings lead the NHL with 50 goals allowed and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman noted in his podcast "32 Thoughts" earlier this week, that defenseman are going to be hard to come by next Summer in free agency. Most of the notable blueliners left available are older veterans that a young Red Wings team won't be able to hold on to or expect consistent results from long term.
"Some of these guys are really good players who can help us you're maybe a bit, nervous about giving them term," Friedman explained "So if you're looking for a short stop gap kind of situation one of those players could be your guy if you want someone for a bit longer, you're not so sure."
He would go onto explain how younger defenseman will be looked at as a premium this offseason with some teams being able to ask for a lot in return due to the lack of options on the market.
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The most notable defensemen to hit free agency next July will be Jacob Trouba, Ryan McDonagh, Jamie Oleksiak, Connor Murphy, Matt Dumba and Carson Soucy, who are all over the age of 32. There's other notable names like Cale Makar, who will likely re-sign before hitting the market and Calgary's Rasmus Andersson is expected to be traded with the Flames currently sitting with the worst record in the NHL.
There are a few potential targets on the restricted free-agent market, including New Jersey’s Simon Nemec, Philadelphia’s Jamie Drysdale, and St. Louis’ Philip Broberg, but acquiring any of them would require a sign-and-trade. Detroit has the draft capital to make such a move, aside from its 2027 second-round pick, although sign-and-trades for RFAs are uncommon. Still, given the limited options available, it is a route the Red Wings should consider. They also must keep cap space in mind, since defenseman Simon Edvinsson will need a new contract when he becomes a restricted free agent this offseason.
This puts the Red Wings in an intriguing position as they want to build a defensive core capable of contending soon, especially with their top prospects finally arriving at the NHL level. Detroit can pursue a pending free agent and commit to them long-term like Vancouver's Quinn Hughes, or wait and reassess later. However, with few viable options and little sign of internal improvement on defense, a trade increasingly appears to be the best and most realistic path forward to improving their backend.
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