Red Wings Rumblings
Pretty frustrating weekend for Red Wings hockey, depending on who you ask. I didn’t get to attend the Stadium Series game in Columbus, but I imagine people who went had a good time, despite the loss. Not the case for those who watched at home — in addition to a gutting loss thanks to some questionable officiating, the coverage on ESPN for the Red Wings-Blue Jackets game at Ohio Stadium was about as bad as you could ask for. If you could move past the fact that ESPN completely boned the NHL in favor of college basketball, then the in-game broadcast was pretty poor. Forgettable all around.
So yeah, bad for the Wings — back-to-back losses against CBJ, a team right there with them in the wild card race. Despite all this, Detroit is still holding the second wild card spot in the East. Gotta take care of business with Carolina, Utah, and Washington on the schedule this week.
NHL Trade Deadline Approaches
The NHL Trade Deadline is set for this Friday at 3:00 PM ET. We’ve already seen a few big trades.
Florida Gets: D Seth Jones (25% cap hit retained), 2026 4th Round Pick
Chicago Gets: G Spencer Knight, Conditional 2026 1st Round Pick
Nice deal here for Chicago — they get out of Seth Jones’ horrendous contract only having to pay a fraction of the cost until his deal expires in 2030. Still, $7 million is still an overpay for Jones, but perhaps he can find his game playing for a stacked contender like the Florida Panthers.
Predators Get: 2026 2nd Round Pick
Wild Get: F Gustav Nyquist
Nice addition for Minnesota here, bringing aboard an old friend and proven scorer in Nyquist. I feel like Minnesota got decent value here.
Rangers Get: D Calvin de Haan, C Jusso Parssinen, 2025 2nd Round Pick, 2025 4th Round Pick
Avalanche Get: D Ryan Lindgren, LW Jimmy Vesey, rights to prospect Hank Kempf
Find more over at ESPN on their NHL Trade Deadline Live Tracker.
I like this trade more for the Rangers than I do the Avalanche. It should make the Avs a better team, but I like the draft capital NYR got is pretty decent all things considered.
Still not clear what the Red Wings will do before the deadline, if anything. A center is needed, but those are top-dollar assets that will come at a cost. I think we might see a minor depth move from Steve Yzerman that will move the needle just a little, if at all. That’s my gut feeling. Andrew Copp is out for the season, so the only relief they will get will come from a trade or Grand Rapids. Let’s see how the Wings do before Friday — that should shape Steve Yzerman’s deadline strategy.
