In Red Wings Land

Off-Season Game Plan: Detroit Red Wings | Scott Cullen

Scott Cullen, formerly of TSN and now at The Athletic, is running his Off-Season Game Plan series over on his own personal blog. His latest entry is the Red Wings.

Maybe they try for a home run on Artemi Panarin or Erik Karlsson but it might be more reasonable to expect the Red Wings to grab a skilled scoring winger like Jeff Skinner, Jordan Eberle or Ryan Dzingel. They come at different price points, but they are three of many free agent forwards that would help Detroit immediately.

Not sure if I’d want to see Steve Yzerman using up a decent chunk of cap space for any of the names above. Obviously, if the price is right, I wouldn’t complain, but guys like Panarin and Karlsson are going to be super expensive. The other three players won’t be cheap either.

I’d rather give Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou another season to grow together and see what Filip Zadina and maybe Joe Veleno can do. If everyone progresses nicely, then next offseason make a splash and start pushing for a real playoff run.

Around the League

31 Thoughts: Why navigating Phil Kessel trade won’t be easy for Penguins | Sportsnet

The always enjoyable 31 Thoughts.