As of Monday morning, the Detroit Red Wings are 29-22-6 and have 64 points. They’re currently in the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 25 games to go.
The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline is in less than two weeks. And for the first time in a decade, the Red Wings are in position to be buyers. Today, we’ll dive into team needs, their trade chips, and other notes with the deadline quickly approaching.
Detroit’s Trade Deadline Needs
The Red Wings are far from a perfect team. That said, they have somewhat limited needs as we approach the March 7 trade deadline. Detroit needs to improve their:
- Five-on-five offense
- Penalty kill
- Defensive depth
These are the NHL-level needs right now. There are larger organizational needs, but they are better suited to be addressed during the offseason.
Improving five-on-five offense through a deadline acquisition might be the tallest task of the bunch. More on that a little later.
Addressing the penalty kill and blue line are more feasible objectives, though. In fact, the Red Wings could potentially improve both by acquiring one player – a depth defenseman who’s strong on the penalty kill. Both Brian Dumoulin and Olli Maatta come to mind as blueliners who fit the description. That’s right, technically Detroit can reacquire Maatta from the Utah Hockey Club since no salary was retained in the earlier trade.
Alec Martinez is another player who I’ve been advocating for. Ian Cole is potential target as well.
All four of these defensemen are solid options for a few reasons. Maatta and Martinez played under Todd McLellan and Trent Yawney in Los Angeles, so there’s some familiarity there. All four have won multiple Stanley Cups – clearly they can be counted on when games matter the most. And all four have been strong penalty killers this season, too.
Suffice to say, the Red Wings have options. Since there isn’t a big difference between the four, they should prioritize the player that will cost the least, which brings me to…
What Can the Red Wings Offer?
At this point in their rebuild, the Red Wings have accumulated a deep prospect pool. Still, one more long-term piece both up front and on the blue line are needed – quality instead of quantity.
Given this, Detroit should refrain from trading their 2025 first-round pick. This year’s selection will likely address one of those two organizational needs. Plus, there’s no guarantee the Red Wings make the playoffs – their pick could be as low as 12 or 13 depending on how the rest of the season plays out. You can still draft high-quality players in that range. Axel Sandin Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard are examples of that.
I’d argue that the Red Wings should hold onto their second rounder, too. Quality players can still be found in the 45-52 range.
Beyond the second round, though, everything should be fair game. Like I said, quality over quantity. The Red Wings have plenty of prospects in their pipeline. They don’t need to add more mid- to low-grade players just for the sake of it. In fact, they should deal from that depth—both in terms of draft picks and existing prospects—to address organizational weaknesses. There are plenty of expendable players already in the system.
To summarize, keep these prospects/picks:
- First- and second-round picks
- Axel Sandin Pellikka
- Nate Danielson
- Marco Kasper
- Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
- Sebastian Cossa
- Trey Augustine
Everyone else in the prospect pipeline, plus those in Detroit’s bottom-six forward group and bottom defensive pair should be considered trade chips. The same goes for draft picks in the third round and beyond.
This isn’t to say the Red Wings should trade Amadeus Lombardi for a rental third-pairing defenseman. It’s more so that there are only so many roster spots now and in the future. Detroit should feel free to deal from their depth to add high-quality or high-value players to address organizational needs.
Related: Red Wings Ready to Capitalize on Rising Salary Cap
Regarding the need for a depth defenseman, the Red Wings should consider moving out a lower-level prospect, such as Cross Hanas, Eemil Viro, or Antti Tuomisto. They can spare that kind of loss to improve the NHL roster, even if just for the short term.
And since it’s imperative for the Red Wings to hold onto their top prospects and picks, it’s fair to say that a splashy, top-six addition is out of the question – at least right now. It’s highly unlikely that a team would be willing to give up a difference-maker for mid-level prospects and mid-round draft picks.
Vladimir Tarasenko Rumor
On his 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman shared that Vladimir Tarasenko’s name is out there in trade discussions.
“I think there’s something going on there,” Friedman noted. “I think there’s an understanding that this has been a harder fit than everybody expected, and I’ve just been told by a couple of places that don’t be surprised if something happens, because there’s a lot of good vibes with the Red Wings, but there’s not in this particular case.”
Not that Friedman needs confirmation, but I’ve heard the same thing. And according to a source, the Tarasenko talk has less to do with his on-ice performance and more to do with his relationship with the coaching staff.
Remember, Tarasenko signed a two-year deal when Derek Lalonde was the coach. But with Lalonde no longer at the helm, things just haven’t clicked behind the scenes under Todd McLellan.
On the ice, Tarasenko has produced 11 points—three goals and eight assists—since McLellan took over. Detroit’s new coach even saw fit to promote Tarasenko to the second line when Patrick Kane went down with an injury and kept him there upon Kane’s return.
The Alex DeBrincat–Andrew Copp–Vladimir Tarasenko second line has been solid, too. They have positive high-danger chances-for, expected goals-for, and goals-for in 93 minutes of five-on-five time together. They’ve faced tough competition as well.
Ideally, there’s internal alignment and all parties move forward amicably. The situation can always be revisited in the offseason, too. Otherwise, there’s zero chance the Red Wings can move Tarasenko and his cap hit before the deadline without attaching a sweetener. And that’s not something they should be doing right now.
Red Wings Still Targeting Dylan Cozens?
Recently, Dylan Cozens was brought up again as a potential target for the Red Wings. But I think that ship has sailed, at least for now.
It appears that Detroit’s offer for Cozens took a backseat when the Vancouver Canucks engaged in talks with the Buffalo Sabres about Elias Pettersson. Cozens would have been part of the package going back to Vancouver.
Since then, the Canucks traded J.T. Miller and indicated that they’re no longer looking to move Pettersson this season.
My read on the situation is that, while Pettersson may be off the market at the moment, the offseason could be a different story. Given this, Buffalo has an incentive to hold onto Cozens for now and rekindle talks with Vancouver over the summer.
All of this to say, don’t count on a Cozens-to-Detroit trade happening anytime soon.
What would you do if you were the Sabres – see if you can swing a deal for Pettersson in the offseason or send Cozens to Detroit now for Michael Rasmussen plus picks and/or prospects? You’d choose the former 10 times out of 10.
Final Word
If you’re expecting fireworks at this year’s trade deadline, you may be disappointed. The Red Wings just aren’t in the right place to splurge. There’s still a chance they miss the playoffs, and the organization needs high-quality prospects to push the rebuild over the edge.
That said, small deals to improve the blue line and/or penalty kill would be wise. These Red Wings are determined to end the playoff drought – buying at the deadline could help boost the team’s confidence even more.
Data courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
