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The Detroit Red Wings get ready for a big test over the course of the next four days within the NHL's Atlantic Division as they headline NBC Sports' "Rivalry Night" this evening when they host the struggling Boston Bruins (8:00pm ET, NBC Sports Network), followed by a home-and-home series against the resurgent Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday and Saturday nights.
Coming off the disappointing and controversial 3-2 regulation loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at the Joe, the Red Wings have had a couple days to stew over the blown third period lead and the late no-call on Ducks forward
Ryan Getzlaf, which led to the Ducks winning goal with less than 24 seconds remaining in the third period and robbing Detroit of a point in the standings
Nevertheless, the Red Wings should feel good about their play thus far through their opening 120 minutes of play. Despite the regulation loss, their play against the Ducks provided a good litmus test of where this club stands and coach Mike Babcock has expressed his satisfaction thus far with his team's play.
Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins have fallen to 1-3-0 on the young season, incurring two more losses since last week's visit to the Joe for Detroit's season opener. A pair of home losses (4-0 to Washington and 2-1 to Colorado) has the Bruins reeling early on and asking questions as to how to kickstart their offense which only has four goals in its opening four contests. The return of
David Krejci to the lineup on Monday afternoon, should eventually aid the club's ailing offensive production.
As for the Red Wings tonight,
Pavel Datsyuk continues to skate during practices, but will not play tonight and is unlikely to return this weekend against the Maple Leafs. Meanwhile,
Daniel Cleary and
Stephen Weiss continue to practice in their gray jerseys, indicating they are expected be healthy scratches.
Up front, it appears
Gustav Nyquist is expected to play alongside his fellow countrymen in
Johan Franzen and
Henrik Zetterberg to create a true top offensive line for the Wings in Datsyuk's absence.
Justin Abdelkader slides down to play on an interesting third line alongside
Darren Helm and rookie
Andrej Nestrasil.
Once Datsyuk does return next week, the Red Wings will have to make a roster decision to free up a roster spot for #13, barring any further injuries.
Sending Nestrasil back down to Grand Rapids could come with some risk as he would have to clear waivers and the Wings could lose him and gain nothing in return. That makes it unlikely he is sent down this early in the season.
Despite playing on the apparent second line,
Tomas Jurco is the club's only current waiver-exempt player. Much to
Mike Babcock's chagrin, this option might be
Ken Holland's short-term option until another injury flares up in the lineup.
As expected,
Jimmy Howard will get the start in goal for Detroit versus the Bruins.
***
This morning, Sportsnet's
Elliotte Friedman posted his popular "30 Thoughts" blog and provided a couple of opinions regarding the Red Wings interest in the trade market.
2. If the Oilers think Jeff Petry is not good enough to dress in Los Angeles, it is time. He’s unrestricted at the end of the year. He’s not going to stay; there is no point in keeping him. Get what you can, end the distraction and move on. Detroit is the obvious candidate, but I can see Anaheim wanting a shot at him, too. Both are looking for right-shot defencemen.
I fully agree with Friedman that Petry to Detroit makes plenty of sense from the Red Wings perspective. The 26 year-old right-handed shooting rearguard is an unrestricted free agent next summer, but has 238 NHL games played under his belt and experience playing hard minutes against some of the league's best forwards given Edmonton's lack of depth on the blueline. He would be an ideal fit as a 4/5 rearguard in Detroit's rotation if acquired...likely taking
Kyle Quincey's role and salary cap space if Petry were to re-sign in Detroit long-term.
The trick will be to convince Edmonton GM
Craig MacTavish that he doesn't need a centre. Edmonton's lack of depth down the middle has been quite noticeable early on, in particular last night in losing to the Los Angeles Kings 6-1 without their top centre,
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the lineup. Three of their centres last night had a combined 47 NHL games worth of experience.
I could definitely see MacTavish having interest in
Darren Helm or
Riley Sheahan. Given Detroit's lack of substantial depth in the system down the middle beyond the main club following the
Calle Jarnkrok deal last spring, I don't envision Holland wanting to part with either player to acquire Petry.
Stephen Weiss has a no-movement clause which would likely kill any chance of him being moved, even if the Wings ate a big chunk of his salary. In addition, don't think the Oilers want to have him on the roster for four more seasons.
The likelihood is these two clubs don't make a deal unless MacTavish accepts some of Detroit's near-ready prospects on the blue-line or along the wing. Although Edmonton could use depth like that across the board, their biggest need is down the middle and MacTavish I would think would look to move Petry elsewhere to address that issue.
The other aspect of this potential trade target is that Petry is an unrestricted free agent this summer. As a result, his value is somewhat lowered due to the fact he
could essentially be a one-year rental....although you would have to think the chances of him re-signing in Detroit once acquired would be rather high.
5. Petry, as mentioned, has “Detroit” written all over him. From Michigan, father pitched for the Tigers. And, the Wings — on the hunt for a right-shot defender — have been linked to Tyler Myers a few times. Last summer, during one conversation, the Sabres asked for Anthony Mantha (and probably another prospect). Detroit wasn’t willing to do that. Here’s the thing about Myers: he’s only 24, and his salary drops over the final five years of his contract. Buffalo is making it clear. If you want him, pay up.
I truly don't believe a Tyler Myers deal to Detroit will happen. It's within the division so it makes sense the Sabres want to ask for a premium from a division rival.
Anthony Mantha is a non-starter for GM
Ken Holland. In addition, to Myers and Petry, it's believed Holland has also inquired about Winnipeg Jets blueliner Zach Bogosian.
6. It’s no secret the Red Wings are hoping to move Jakub Kindl. Right now, the fish aren’t biting. His contract rises to $3 million by 2016-17.
The odds continue to rise that Detroit will have to either bite off a huge chunk of salary to make this happen or take back nearly nothing in return.
7. Finally on Detroit: If, at some point, the Panthers reconsider their plans to keep Brian Campbell, it is believed the Wings are interested. Campbell is not a righty, but is a terrific puck-mover. He does have some no-trade protection.
An interesting notion...the 35 year-old Campbell is tremendous at moving the puck. He does have this season and next under contract at just over $7 million per season. Given the competition heating up on the blueline, you would have to believe Florida would have to take on some blueline salary in return in order for Detroit to make this work from a salary cap perspective, whether it's Kindl or
Kyle Quincey (two years, $4.25 million).
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Previous Posts
GAMEDAY: Bruins vs. Red Wings; Petry a possible trade target?
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Roster movement almost complete
Dress rehearsal #1
Nick Jensen...the forgotten man amongst the Wings rearguard prospects
Datsyuk out 4-5 weeks with second degree shoulder sprain
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