General manager Steve Yzerman has seen his Detroit Red Wings show promise — and growing pains — over the past month.
That he will be a seller again at Friday’s trade deadline was evident Wednesday, when Yzerman flipped defenseman Filip Hronek to the Vancouver Canucks for a conditional first-round and a second-round pick.
The Wings were flirting with making the playoffs for what would be the first time since 2016, winning nine times in 12 games to climb into a wild-card spot. But one week later, they’re on a three-game skid headed into Thursday’s contest against the Seattle Kraken.
So more goodbyes may be coming, with Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana most likely to depart.
The Wings (28-24-8) were off Wednesday, a brief respite between finishing playing three games in four days and going right back into another challenge. The big news emerging on the off day was trading Hronek and extending captain Dylan Larkin for eight years, $69.6 million.
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There never was any danger of Larkin walking all the way to free agency, but that is not the case with Bertuzzi, who is on an expiring contract. Yzerman’s task is to put a competitive product on the ice, while prioritizing the future. If he doesn’t think he can get Bertuzzi signed to an extension, the best course is to trade him rather than risk Bertuzzi going to free agency and getting nothing in return. Trading his rights is a possibility, but that wouldn’t yield as good a return as moving him at the deadline, when buyers pay premium prices to stock up for the playoffs.
Bertuzzi, 28, is a goal scorer and a pest, but his significant injury history over the past two years (back surgery in 2021, surgery on both hands this season) has limited his availability and clouded contract talks. The Wings were looking for something in the mid-term range — around five years — while Bertuzzi’s side was looking for an eight-year commitment.
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The Wings came into the season having earmarked Bertuzzi and Vrana for 30 goals apiece, but both were gone in the first week. Vrana was placed in the NHL and NHLPA’s players assistance program Oct. 15, and reinstated two months later. Ever since Yzerman placed Vrana, 27, on waivers Jan. 3, it has been clear Yzerman is ready to part with the skilled forward.
There’s a year left on Vrana’s contract with a $5.25 million salary cap hit, but the Wings have the space to retain 50% of that if it helps facilitate a trade. Vrana has no points in the three games he has played since being called up by the Wings in mid-February, but rejoined the NHL after a four-month absence and that is a tough task.
Other players on expiring deals are forwards Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist, defenseman Robert Hägg, and goaltenders Magnus Hellberg, and, in the minors, Alex Nedeljkovic. Among those under contract, Filip Zadina could be one to watch — he has struggled to gain a foothold as a regular in the lineup, but has played better of late and could be part of a package.
Yzerman has been active as a seller since being named GM in 2019, trading away Nick Leddy and Vladislav Namestnikov in 2022, Anthony Mantha in 2021, and Andreas Athanasiou and Mike Green in 2020. We’ll find out his next move before the weekend.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
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Wings flip Hronek for picks
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman showed his eye remains very much on the future of the rebuild and traded veteran defenseman Filip Hronek.
The return from the Vancouver Canucks yielded a conditional first-round pick (it becomes an unprotected 2024 first-round pick if it is in the top 12 this year) and a second-round pick in the 2023 draft. The Canucks also got a 2023 fourth-round pick.
Hronek, 25, had nine goals and 38 points in 60 games this season. Two years ago, when the Wings were struggling to field a competitive lineup, Hronek was a workhorse who thrived being relied on as a shut-down defender and playing in all key situations. That changed last season with the arrival of Moritz Seider, and Hronek had a down year in 2021-22, posting 38 points and a minus-29 rating in 78 games.
The deal gives the Wings their own and the New York Islanders’ first-round picks in 2023.
The deal also gives the Wings three picks in the second round: Their own, the St. Louis Blues’ pick from last year’s trade-deadline deal, and the Canucks.