From The Silky Mitten State: If Detroit is in the market for another forward at the deadline what player or type of player could make sense?
We are within a week of the NHL's trade deadline, which will arrive at 3 PM Eastern on Friday. In the last few days, we've gotten a few hints at the Red Wings' approach to the deadline.
First, on Friday, coach Derek Lalonde wondered aloud whether the most aggressive move for Detroit might be no move at all. Then, on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek of Sportsnet offered some educated guesses as to the Red Wings' thought process—noting that they expect Detroit to try to move out some cap space, that new deals for Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond may be in process, and that both a "snarlier defenseman" and another goalie may be in the cards. This morning provided a new wrinkle with the news that captain and top-line center Dylan Larkin will miss roughly two weeks with a lower body injury.
And, of course, it feels a bit as though the Red Wings' major in-season addition has already arrived in the form of Patrick Kane, who has exceeded every reasonable expectation since debuting with the team in early December.
There are of course lots of variable to consider there, but, on the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, my co-host Connor Earegood and I discussed the Red Wings' option, and in the video excerpt below, you can see a glimpse of the portion of that conversation that focused on forwards in particular (which feels especially salient given Larkin's injury).
We discussed whether it would make sense for Detroit to target one of the higher profile players available (most notably, Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel) who could add extra pop to the top six or more of a depth player who might free up some of the Red Wings' current depth players (specifically Joe Veleno) to assume greater roles.
For full episodes of The Silky Mitten State, go to Spotify or Apple Podcasts: