Are we back?
It looks like we might be back.
I started mulling over writing something about the trade deadline during the Red Wings’ western Canada trip. With a March 8 deadline fast approaching, the height of rumor season is upon us. But following the 8-4 drubbing against Edmonton and a 4-1 decision in Vancouver, it looked like it might make sense to debate the merits of selling, buying, or standing pat.
It barely needs to be said, but the vibes are much different now. The Red Wings have rattled off five-straight wins and open this week sitting in the first Wild Card spot, one point up on Tampa Bay with two games in hand, and eight points clear of the next closest team. Beyond that, they’re still alive to climb even higher, having kept pace with perhaps the only team hotter than Detroit right now, sitting four points shy of Toronto.
Selling likely wasn’t in the conversation, anyway. While the Red Wings have some interesting rentals (David Perron, Shayne Gostisbehere), those are the types of veterans that return a mid-round pick. Even if the team was a little further back in the standings, it’s a nice reward for the players who have been around for a while to not have to bid farewell to friends and teammates for the whateverth year in a row. The Red Wings have stockpiled those second- and third-round picks for years now, and while they haven’t hit on all of them, at some point that feels like a strategy of diminishing returns.
So, we’re focusing on buying here, which is far more interesting as a fan, and also particularly interesting this year given some of the other goings-on around the league. Let’s get into it.
Making the most of current circumstances
Less than two weeks until the deadline and with Detroit in the position it’s in, it looks like the team is in a unique opportunity to be aggressive and take advantage of circumstances that are, finally, falling in its favor. This isn’t an overreaction either – while the comeback Chicago win was exciting, it featured a lengthy period where the Red Wings failed to generate significant pressure against a team constructed to lose (although getting a win on Chelios banner/Kane return night was probably their Stanley Cup). This is not recklessly charging into buying just because they beat a bad team. This is the product of a years-long process, influenced by the on-ice product of the past few months.
Patrick Kane is “found money” for the Red Wings. While the team never experienced lottery luck (were you aware of that?), Kane is providing a window into what landing a superstar looks like. He produces and generates chances every night, only hindered by age and a hip surgery most describe as “career-ending.” That’s no slight to Larkin, Raymond or DeBrincat, who are having excellent years and should be around the star player conversation all day long. But Kane’s accomplishments speak for themselves, yet he’s still playing with a fire to prove that the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated and, so far, he’s quite convincing. It’s not Hart Trophy Patrick Kane, but this version is still a game-changer.
This gives Detroit an extra reason to be aggressive, without significantly derailing the rebuild track the team was on. I believe the Red Wings will end up extending Kane, because I think he wants to be here. He wants to win, but he’s not a Ray Bourque, Jarome Iginla-type just chasing a Stanley Cup to cap off a Hall of Fame resume. He’s already won and probably would have happily retired a Blackhawk until they showed the extent to which they intended to tear it down. Staying in Detroit allows him to be on a team with a non-zero chance of a Cup, playing with a few players he knows, living in an area he’s comfortable settling his young family in, and not having to scout new cities every summer/trade deadline. I think he retires a Red Wing.
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