After two tough losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets and just days before the NHL’s trade deadline, the Detroit Red Wings host a tough one tonight with the Carolina Hurricanes in town.
Trade chatter has picked up across the league with a handful of deals completed over the last few days. To no one’s surprise, there is not much word leaking out of Detroit, but tonight’s opponent, Carolina, is in a pretty interesting situation. The Hurricanes orchestrated one of the biggest moves in a few years, landing superstar winger Mikko Rantanen last month… but early talks of a contract extension haven’t amounted to much, and Rantanen’s name is swirling in the media as a candidate to be moved again.
It would be among the boldest flips in recent memory, especially with Rantanen coming at the cost of Martin Necas and then some, but they do hold the capability to entice contenders to get Rantanen for a bargain cap number, since they can retain (or find a third-party broker) on a contract that Chicago is already holding a piece of. Still, it’s hard to imagine a return that makes them better than Rantanen does by hanging onto him. GMs always need to be forward-thinking, but what’s more rewarding: a Stanley Cup, or stockpiling future assets? You can’t be reckless, but the Hurricanes are in their window right now, so I wouldn’t mess around.
For both the Red Wings and Hurricanes, each game represents more information that can be used to make these decisions. Still banged up at the center position, the Red Wings might be able to motivate the front office to bring in some reinforcements with a strong outing tonight against a Cup contender. At the very least, Detroit will want to see sharper play from the big guns, who haven’t been clicking the same way over the last couple of games.
How to Watch
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Red Wings Projected Lineup
Kasper – Larkin – Raymond
DeBrincat – Compher – Kane
Soderblom – Veleno – Tarasekno
Berggren – Motte – Fischer
Chiarot – Seider
Edvinsson – Johansson
Gustafsson – Holl
Lyon
Talbot
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Svechnikov – Aho – Rantanen
Martinook – Staal – Jarvis
Hall – Kotkaniemi – Blake
Robinson – Jost – Roslovic
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Andersen
Kotchetkov
