MLive’s Ansar Khan expects the Red Wings to wait until close to the trade deadline before moving any of their players. The strategy worked well for them last as they were able to garner a strong return for pending UFA defender Brendan Smith. They hold arguably the top trade chip on the back end this season in Mike Green and given his $6MM cap hit, interested teams may prefer to wait to acquire him anyway to reduce the amount of salary they’re taking on. However, it’s also a possibility that doing so could wind up delaying the trade market on the back end as other buyers look to see what the benchmark will be.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Goaltender Chad Johnson’s decision to leave his hometown Calgary to go back to Buffalo caught some by surprise. The netminder acknowledged to Postmedia’s Eric Francis that he did receive an offer from the Flames but wanted more of a challenge at this stage of his career. Suffice it to say, the decision hasn’t panned out too well; while he received more money ($2.5MM) than he may have got had he stayed in Calgary, Johnson has struggled mightily with the Sabres, posting a 3.64 GAA and a .884 SV% in 18 appearances this season.
- Still with the Sabres, defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has left the team to return back to Buffalo to be evaluated for a possible concussion, notes John Vogl of the Buffalo News. He has already been placed on IR. If he is indeed diagnosed with a concussion, it will be his second one already of the season. Beaulieu’s first year with Buffalo has not gone well when he has been on the ice either as he has dropped to the third pairing and is averaging his lowest ice time since 2014-15 while tallying just a goal and three assists in 34 games.