Red Wings Reportedly Listening To Offers On Some Defensemen.

For the bulk of the season, Detroit has had plenty of back-end depth. With a weak trade market, it appears they may be attempting to capitalise, as ESPN’s Emily Kaplan writes that the Red Wings are considering offers for some of their blueliners.

While Kaplan’s report does not clarify which players they are paying attention to, the shorter list may be those they are unlikely to contemplate transferring. Moritz Seider is certainly out, while Jake Walman is having a great year and is on a value contract, so GM Steve Yzerman is unlikely to be prepared to part with him. Beyond those two, however, all bets may be off.

Shayne Gostisbehere has been as effective offensively as predicted, scoring 36 points in 57 games to top all Detroit rearguards. He’s on a one-year, $4.125 million contract, and a postseason contender may look to add him. However, the Red Wings are already in the playoff race, and trading a significant player may not be the best course of action if they want to break their playoffs wait.

Among their other defenders, Justin Holl hasn’t had the season Detroit hoped for after paying him $3.4 million per year for three seasons. He’s frequently been the odd man out in their defence rotation, so it stands to reason that they’d want to attempt to get out of those last two years. Holl, a right-handed defender, could attract one or two suitors. Jeff Petry’s late-summer signing contributed to the back end logjam. With double retention on his deal, his price tag is dropped to a more reasonable $2.343 million through next season, making him someone a couple more teams could consider. However, he has a 15-team no-trade clause and may not be willing to leave.

As for their other left-shot blueliners, Ben Chiarot’s $4.75 million salary through 2025-26 may be difficult for many teams to swallow, and while he isn’t playing as many minutes as he did in Montreal, he remains a top-four option for them. Olli Maatta, meanwhile, is more inexpensive at $3 million through next season, despite the fact that he is only deployed on the third pairing; the AAV for that role is a touch high. With Simon Edvinsson making solid progress with AHL Grand Rapids, there’s less danger in moving a left-shot option now that the 2021 first-round pick is almost ready to enter.