Red Wings Rumblings
Happy Friday, friends. Not much to talk about — but Steve Yzerman will hold his pre-draft press conference today. Haven’t seen a time or details, but the team usually gives us a heads up on social media. This is standard procedure, so I wouldn’t expect any big news out of this, but who knows? Only Steve Yzerman, that’s who.
Meanwhile, an interesting free agent set to hit the market..
Anthony Mantha is poised to be a topic in the free agent frenzy. Should the Wings consider bringing back “Big Tony?” I don’t see why not — especially if you’re getting decent term (2-3 years).
The Hockey News has a fun little series of the best Wings players drafted by each round. This one is for the sixth round, and includes names like Gerard Gallant, Pavel Datsyuk, Randy McKay and Tony Horvath.
NHL News
Some big trades are already happening around the NHL. We’ll start with the “blockbuster” between Los Angeles and Washington. The two teams swapped forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and goaltender Darcy Kuemper in a one-for-one trade, zero salary retained by LA. PLD’s contract is, well, awful. One of the worst in the NHL, no doubt. There’s a chance PLD finds his stride with a new team, but we’ve been through this before. Odds don’t seem to be in Washington’s favor… and don’t forget that the Capitals will have some $15 million in cap tied up between Tom Wilson and PLD for the next several years.
The other big trade was between Calgary and New Jersey. The Devils picked up goaltender Jacob Markstrom in return for defenseman Kevin Bahl, and a top-10-protected first-round selection in 2025.
Game six of the Stanley Cup Final is tonight in Edmonton. Florida leads the series three games to two. Anyone else feeling like this may go seven games?
