Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is known for his patience, but patience does not mean passivity. His offseason makeover proved that he is ready to be more active in building this team into a playoff contender. Whether it’s for the future or for more immediate help, it’s not hard to imagine Yzerman making one or more trades this season.
Just how valuable are Detroit’s trade assets and who is in the most danger of being traded this season either at the trade deadline or even earlier? I’ve split the Red Wings team into seven tiers of value, and while I’m not going to include every single player in it, I’ll include three assets in each tier so you get a good sense of the value. My rankings are based on my best guess at these players’ value on the trade market, not just how much the Red Wings value them. Some of the factors that went into the rankings were positional demand, upside of a prospect/player, and the player’s cap hit.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the rankings!
1. The Untouchables
This tier is the nucleus of any good team, the players that you rightfully design your franchise around. If someone calls you about a trade for someone in this tier, you laugh at them and hang up the phone.
Moritz Seider
True franchise defensemen are not an easy thing to come by, they might actually be the second most valuable commodity behind only an elite goaltender. Lots of rebuilding teams neglect to build a top-tier defensive corps so having a number one defender who can take a massive workload in stride is massively valuable.
Every Stanley Cup winner of the last decade has had a truly elite number-one defenseman (Cale Makar, Victor Hedman, Duncan Keith, etc.), and Moritz Seider’s potential is sky-high. Could he become something like Hedman in several years? Absolutely he could, and the team will likely need him to if they want to seriously contend for a Stanley Cup in the next decade or so.
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If someone calls about Seider and isn’t offering something absurd in return (I’m thinking like Quinn Hughes and a 2023 1st round pick), that’s the easiest call to hang up on of all time.
Lucas Raymond
Lucas Raymond showed tons of potential last season and looks like he could be an All-Star and a long-term top-line player despite the slow start to his sophomore season. He has shown a very mature playmaking ability that I’m not worried about his lack of points early on. His skill and slow sophomore start remind me of Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks who has had multiple slow starts across his first few NHL seasons. Pettersson, like Raymond, has incredible vision to go with a high-end passing skill that makes him dangerous every time he enters the offensive zone. Pettersson always seems to figure it out and look solid by the end of the season and I expect the same from Raymond.
Despite playing on the second line at this point in the season, the chemistry that Raymond has developed with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi is incredibly valuable, as is his experience on the top line and top power play unit last season. For players as good as Raymond, slumps are always finite and it’s only a matter of time before he finds a way to work around all the increased attention he’s getting around the league.
Dylan Larkin
The top line center is one of the most valuable positions in the NHL, as every team dreams of having one who can score at a point-per-game pace while providing ample value on the defensive side of the puck. Detroit has that player in Larkin who provides even more value to the team as their captain.
Larkin would have insane value on the trade market, but a number one center who is also your captain is not someone that you move . . . ever. Larkin was tagged as a future captain several years ago and received all kinds of advice and support from Henrik Zetterberg, one of the greatest captains in the history of the Red Wings.
Lots of young rebuilding teams struggle because they’re missing a true leader who knows what it’s like to be a part of a winning team, but Larkin experienced that in his first few NHL seasons, playing alongside some of the greatest players in Red Wings franchise history. His experience and character make him incredibly valuable to the team even before you factor in his consistent 70-plus point potential and defensive acumen.
2. Extremely Valuable
These are the assets that, when brought up in trade conversations, aren’t an immediate cause for hanging up the phone. It would be difficult for another team to pry these pieces away from Detroit, but Yzerman could be convinced if the price is right.
Detroit’s 2023 1st Round Pick
I almost put this in the untouchable tier because the top end of the 2023 NHL Draft is already looking so good that the Red Wings will almost surely be holding onto the pick to add another difference maker. The reason I dropped it down a tier is that there is a world where the Red Wings shock the league this season and make the playoffs. If that came to pass, the team’s selection would be at best 17th overall and Yzerman has traded mid-first round picks before (such as trading the 23rd overall pick in the 2021 Draft, among other picks, to the Dallas Stars for the pick that Yzerman used to select Sebastian Cossa).
If the Red Wings hold a top-ten pick in the 2023 Draft once the dust has settled on the regular season, I would be shocked to see them trade it unless they were trading up or down a few spots on draft day. Trading down could present surplus value with so many excellent players available in this year’s first round.
Simon Edvinsson
Recent high draft picks who are developing well and look even better than they did when they were first drafted have a ton of value. It’s very uncommon for teams to trade their top prospect before even giving him a chance in the NHL, but it’s not impossible. There are 32 teams in the NHL and all of them would love to add a player with Simon Edvinsson’s combination of size and skill so there’s always a chance someone is willing to overpay to add someone like him.
Related: Edvinsson is Better off with the Griffins in the AHL
Edvinsson narrowly missed the cut to make the NHL team out of training camp and has been excellent early in the American Hockey League. He seems likely to be a full-time NHL defender next season who could probably handle a top-four role as soon as next September.
Marco Kasper
Ditto. But for real, Marco Kasper has looked like someone who maybe should have been considered as a top-five pick in the 2022 Draft as he’s excelled as a top-six center in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He currently has nine points in 13 games (0.68 points per game) which is remarkably good production for an 18-year-old. For the sake of comparison, Raymond scored 18 points in 34 SHL games (0.53 points per game) during his Draft+1 seasons (the year after being drafted).
Some people questioned Kasper’s offensive potential in the lead-up to the 2022 NHL Draft, but Kasper has been silencing those doubters by showing off some impressive skill, confidence, and determination. When Yzerman was asked following the first round of the 2022 Draft why the team loved Kasper so much, he mentioned that he thought Kasper had a lot more to give offensively than he had shown so far. Was he ever right.
3. Very Valuable
These are some of the team’s assets that would need to be the centerpiece of a trade if they were to be dealt at all. The acquiring team would need to fork over something of serious value to land someone of this caliber.
Alex Nedeljkovic/Ville Husso
Starting goalies are very valuable and the Red Wings arguably have two of them this season. Neither of the goalies cost Detroit all that much to acquire, but that was because they took advantage of the tight salary cap situations that both the Carolina Hurricanes and the St. Louis Blues were faced with and exploited it to gain two solid goalies.
If Cossa continues to impress and establishes himself in the AHL this year, the Red Wings could theoretically move on from Alex Nedeljkovic who is in the last year of his deal, trading him at the deadline to a team in need of some goaltending depth. Nedeljkovic would be a really good backup goalie on a good team so I think he could net Detroit a 1st round pick at the trade deadline if that was the route they wanted to take.
Detroit’s 2024 1st Round Pick
The top prospects for the 2024 NHL Draft look good, but the Red Wings will likely be picking somewhere in the 15-20 range so a pick in that part of the first round isn’t quite as essential to hold onto.
Related: Early Look at the Top 2024 Draft Prospects
Those types of picks are worth a lot and could return a useful roster player, however, the Red Wings aren’t in “win now” mode yet and probably shouldn’t be a year from now either so I doubt they’d trade it at this point.
Sebastian Cossa
The Red Wings would probably place Cossa a tier higher in their organizational rankings as the team’s clear top goalie prospect, however goaltending is incredibly volatile, and his development hasn’t been super linear or simple thus far. Other teams would likely be a bit hesitant paying too much for him at this point because of his shaky track record over the last year or so.
Early returns on Cossa in the pro levels look solid with two wins in two ECHL games and one win so far in two games with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. He is being given every chance to earn a full-time spot in the AHL as the backup and if he manages to hold down that roster spot for most of this season, the excitement surrounding Cossa might be as high as it has ever been.
4. Valuable
This tier consists of players and prospects that could be easily traded (meaning opposing teams want to add them) but won’t net the Red Wings all that much in return.
Tyler Bertuzzi
Unless the market for scoring wingers corrects itself soon, Tyler Bertuzzi has very little value league-wide (Max Pacioretty was a cap dump traded for Future Considerations despite scoring 37 points in 39 games last season, and Oliver Bjorkstrand was traded for a 3rd and 4th round pick in the 2023 Draft). Don’t get me wrong, Bertuzzi is still a very valuable asset for the team, but not on the trade market. His value will surely be increased by his feisty, physical game, but then it will also be lowered again by his persistent injury troubles.
I think the gap between Bertuzzi’s value to the team internally and his value on the trade market makes it incredibly unlikely that he does anything this season other than re-sign in Detroit or leave in free agency. At this point, I would be shocked if he were traded.
William Wallinder
The Red Wings have plenty of solid left-defense prospects (Wallinder, Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Donovan Sebrango, Emil Viro, Jared McIsaac) and not enough space for them at the NHL level.
They won’t trade good prospects who don’t fit until they know that the logjam of prospects has reached the NHL. A prospect logjam in the AHL breeds competition and the best players will make the NHL. However, if more make it and they can’t fit all their good players in the NHL lineup, they’ll likely make a move.
Aside from Edvinsson, I would expect that William Wallinder has the most trade value out of the players on that list. He is a great puck-moving defender with impressive size, and he was named the top junior aged player in Sweden last season. Behind Ben Chiarot and Edvinsson, the largest role Wallinder could earn in Detroit over the next few years is likely on the third pairing and I expect he will outplay that role quite handily, which could lead to a trade request on his part.
Andrew Copp
Andrew Copp is tasked with being Detroit’s second-line center until Kasper takes over. Center is a premium position, but Copp isn’t expected to be a top-end 2C on this deal, not even in the first year or two. He is a super versatile player who can adapt his playstyle to whoever he’s playing with which makes him an asset to any team.
Copp was traded to the New York Rangers by the Winnipeg Jets last season for a 2022 1st rounder (Winnipeg selected Brad Lambert), a 2023 2nd rounder, and a prospect at the trade deadline so he could theoretically net that sort of value again considering his modest salary and the few years remaining on his contract. Though, I doubt the team plans to move him before Kasper (or another prospect) pushes him down the depth chart.
5. Trade Deadline Rental
These are players who have contracts that end in either the 2023 offseason or the 2024 offseason and who would be valuable additions for a contending team that is willing to give up draft picks and/or prospects. This isn’t necessarily the fifth most valuable tier because the value varies a ton from player to player, these are just the top trade bait contenders on the team at the moment.
David Perron
David Perron is an NHL veteran who has a proven track record of succeeding with several different teams. He’s still a productive player in his 30s who can be trusted to score 50-60 points and be a positive defensive player as well. The Red Wings also have the option to either trade him at this year’s deadline while he has one full year plus the final few months of the season left on his deal, or they could hold onto him for the season and move him at the 2024 Trade Deadline.
Perron’s modest salary makes his deal relatively easy for a playoff team to manage, meaning he could be worth a ton to a team desperate to add a top-six forward for a playoff push. His value would take another jump if Detroit is willing to retain a portion of his salary and possibly even take some inefficient salary back in return. His good play early on this season makes me think that, at worst, Yzerman bought a future first-round pick by signing Perron in free agency.
Dominik Kubalik
Dominik Kubalik is off to a torrid start to the season in Detroit, but if Red Wings management doesn’t see him as a long-term fit with the team, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him moved at the deadline. A bruising sniper who can be trusted to produce offense in a depth role would be valuable to a deep team looking for one more addition at the deadline. If he maintains the scoring touch he’s shown so far, he could net the Red Wings quite the haul.
Olli Maatta
Olli Maatta has proven to be a serviceable top-4 defender who plays even better in a depth role against weaker competition. If a contender is worried about injuries or could use his help to bolster their third pairing on the left side, Maatta will likely be traded
I think the Red Wings would be happy to trade him since he signed a one-year deal this offseason and his departure would likely open up a spot on the NHL roster for one of the team’s many LD prospects to fill.
6. A Numbers Guy
These are the players who are added to a trade simply to make the numbers work out, either in terms of salary or roster spots. Players who aren’t going to make a serious impact in the NHL, but could fill a depth role if necessary.
Steven Kampfer, Adam Erne, Jordan Oesterle
None of these players are likely to factor into the team’s long-term plans so they wouldn’t mind moving them if it helps facilitate a trade they would like to make. They are all serviceable depth pieces that likely wouldn’t hold much value on the trade market, but would be valuable in the AHL or as depth pieces in case of NHL injuries.
7. Negative Value
Ben Chiarot – 4 years at $4.75M
Firstly, I want to say that it’s not fair to consider any sort of Chiarot move as a cap dump at the moment because he has only played eight games with the Red Wings. Secondly, his cap hit isn’t nearly as bad as some make it out to be, especially because cap space isn’t really a huge concern for Detroit over the next four years.
Now, that doesn’t mean that his four-year deal would have positive value on the trade market right now. That’s a long deal for a cap hit that large and most teams avoid trading for deals with so much salary remaining unless it is a player they believe very strongly in and I doubt that will be Chiarot.
Pius Suter – 1 year at $3.25M
Pius Suter’s contract status could make him fit as a rental if he shows well enough before the deadline, but his salary might make it difficult and lower his value to the point that Detroit has to retain a considerable amount of his salary in order to net anything of reasonable value in return.
Suter was the team’s second-line center last season, and he was a healthy scratch for Detroit’s opening night lineup. Whether you think that’s due to his poor play or the greatly improved forward depth is up to you, but it’s not a great sign for Suter either way. He has played well in a bottom-six role when he has made it into games so far this season, so perhaps he’s rebuilding his reputation and value a bit, which could help facilitate a trade to a team that would offer him greater opportunities.
Filip Zadina – 3 years at $1.825M
The year is 2042 and Filip Zadina hasn’t proven himself to be an NHL regular yet. Fans think this might just be the year that he blows up for 20 goals.
I’m beginning to thinkZadina is like Detroit’s version of Jesse Pulljujarvi in Edmonton who does everything right, looks brilliant through the advanced stats lens, but just can’t seem to bury his chances and rack up the points.
Zadina looked stellar when the NHL’s preseason began, but the shine began to fade as opposing teams began to ice lineups closer and closer to their full NHL teams. He has looked good in five games so far this season but has yet to register a point despite being given regular minutes and good linemates. He has a cheap deal with three years of term, so another team would likely take the chance to see if a change of scenery helps him reach his potential in exchange for a similarly underperforming prospect.
I am by no means saying that it’s time to give up on Zadina, but a 22-year-old with zero points in six games and a minus-3 rating isn’t exactly valuable around the league except as a reclamation project.
Trade Season Incoming
The Red Wings are a very exciting team this season as Yzerman and Derek Lalonde work to find the ideal lineup going forward. Especially once players like Robby Fabbri and Jake Walman return from injuries mid-season, the team will have many important decisions to make about the future of their depth and prospects. Hopefully, we’ll see some exciting trades, and at least one or two more added to Yzerman’s list of victories.
Logan is a sports writer for the Detroit Red Wings as a member of The Hockey Writers team. He loves reading about statistics and advanced analytics, and discovering how they can enrich his hockey analysis and writing. Logan also writes about more general hockey topics on his blog https://www.crashthecrease.blog.