Mike Green Waives Trade Protection For Washington, Tampa Bay
Though it is still not clear if Mike Green will even be traded today, Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the veteran defenseman has already given his approval to the Detroit Red Wings to send him to Washington or Tampa Bay. The Lightning have long been rumored to be the front runners for Green, though that is a bit more complicated now that players like Erik Karlsson and Ryan McDonagh appear to be on the market.
Green looked like the top defenseman on the market until the other two became available, and could still fetch a reasonable price for the Red Wings. The 32-year old has 29 points on the season and is more effective in his own end than many give him credit for. As a depth addition for a playoff-bound club, Green can immediately become a powerplay quarterback and puck-mover.
For Washington, the deal would be quite complicated as they have very little cap space even at this late stage. It’s unlikely that Detroit would want to take much back as they try to get their finances in order going forward, making a match seem like a long shot at this point.
Tampa remains the wildcard, as they appear poised to make a defensive addition at some point. For a team that is so loaded up front, they rely heavily on Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman to play nearly half the game and could use an experienced defenseman to help take some of the burden off their shoulders.
Deadline Notes: Plekanec, Green, Gionta, Kane, Lindberg
While it’s still to early to know, Winnipeg Free Press’ Jeff Hamilton feels that there is a strong indication that the Winnipeg Jets are pushing to acquire Montreal Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec tonight. The 34-year-old veteran was also scratched for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, although that may just be to ensure he doesn’t get hurt right before the deadline. While there are no details on how close the two teams are, the plan, according to Hamilton, is for the Jets to use Plekanec on the team’s third line alongside Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, which would give the team a deep lineup. Andrew Copp would move to the team’s fourth line and would join Joel Armia and Adam Lowry.
The Jets were supposedly working hard to acquire Derrick Brassard Friday, but lost out to the Pittsburgh Penguins and were forced to look for another center to fill their needs. While Plekanec is a step down from Brassard, the veteran may get some new life with the Jets, especially if he gets to play with Laine and Ehlers.
- With the trade deadline less than two days away, the Detroit Red Wings still have their top trade chip remaining on their roster, but the problem is that he’s still hurt. In fact, the top rental defenseman on the market hasn’t played in five games and could miss Sunday’s game as well. While Green as practiced with the team twice now, including Friday, MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that while there is little doubt that Green will be moved by Monday, the timing of the injury could easily diminish the team’s returns for him. He writes teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning might pause first if they feel he could re-injure himself the moment they acquire him.
- As mentioned earlier today, there has been some interest in Team USA captain Brian Gionta. However, Pierre LeBrun adds that a couple of East teams have expressed interest in Gionta, including the Boston Bruins. While nothing in imminent, a deal could be made at some point this weekend.
- The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that the Buffalo Sabres are holding forward Evander Kane out of the lineup tonight. Kane, one of the most anticipated trade candidates join a group of players who have been held out in the last day or two as the team doesn’t want to risk losing a player to injury just before the deadline. “Management thought it was the best decision moving forward and the best decision for Evander,” coach Phil Housley said in his pregame media briefing two hours before faceoff. “… That’s the situation for right now.” No other pending trade candidates were scratched.
- Tobias Lindberg, who the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights Friday in the Derrick Brassard trade, has been assigned to the AHL, but not to their affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but back to the Chicago Wolves, the affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, according to Chicago Wolves broadcaster Jason Shaver. The Penguins didn’t want to move him at this point of the season to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but can still recall him at any point during the season.
Maple Leafs Interested In Mike Green
While Tampa Bay is believed to be the front-runner for Red Wings defenseman Mike Green, they aren’t the only team in the Atlantic interested in his services. MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that the Maple Leafs have also shown an interest in bringing in the pending unrestricted free agent. Toronto’s interest in adding some help on the back end is well-known but Green isn’t the typical defensive-minded blueliner that many have expected the Leafs to covet. As a result of their recent trades, Toronto has quietly freed up enough cap space to absorb Green’s full $6MM contract without needing Detroit to retain which could give them a leg up on more cap-strapped squads.
Evening Snapshots: Holland, Blackhawks, Carlson
While Ken Holland is selling assets off following his deal of goaltender Petr Mrazek to the Philadelphia Flyers, he’s quick to caution that it’s not a full rebuild while adding that the Red Wings are “open for business.” NBC Sports’ Sean Leahy notes that Holland and the Red Wings are about to go through some “pain” in order to return to the higher echelon of the NHL, and even then, Holland may not be around to see the full plan in motion. Leahy writes that whether Holland ends up going to Seattle or if the Ilitch family decides that they will move on to a new general manager. Regardless, Holland will not do an entire teardown, preferring to retool the Wings in a gradual sense. Whether that works or not, it will take some time for Detroit to see the fruits of those labors.
- Elliotte Friedman offered his 31 thoughts as the deadline nears. One such thought was that the Chicago Blackhawks prefer to hold onto Artem Anisimov since centers don’t exactly drop into teams laps all that often. Because of the language in his contract, Anisimov has less choice as to where he can go starting July 1, so should interested teams call, he can be pickier now with a no-move clause than a partial no-trade this summer. Friedman adds that after the Michal Kempny deal, the Blackhawks are focused on getting what they can for impending UFAs which include Lance Bouma, Jan Rutta, Tommy Wingels, and Patrick Sharp.
- Friedman also pours some cold water on any hopes that John Carlson could reach free agency. Saying the Caps and Carlson seem “very comfortable” to discuss contract terms at the end of the season, teams hoping to snag the 28-year-old defenseman may be disheartened to read that. Freidman attributes the Steven Stamkos Sweepstakes (that never were) two seasons ago as a reason why teams are not nearly as “scared” when it comes to later negotiations. Stamkos, of course, seemed to be linked a new team every day until he inked an eight-year, $68MM extension.
Deadline Primer: Detroit Red Wings
With the trade deadline fast approaching, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs? Next up is a look at the Detroit Red Wings.
The trades have already begun in Hockeytown as the Detroit Red Wings realize that it’ll be another season without a playoff appearance. Restocking a thin prospect pool, and getting younger are priorities for a team that hasn’t been a true contender in nearly a decade.
Record
24-25-9 (57 points); 5th in Atlantic
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$1.62MM per CapFriendly
Draft Picks
2018: DET 1st, DET 2nd, OTT 2nd; DET 3rd, PIT 3rd, DET 4th, PHI 4th*, DET 6th, MON 6th.
2019: DET 1st, DET 2nd, DET 3rd, PHI 3rd*, DET 4th, DET 5th, BUF 5th, DET 6th, DET 7th
-* conditional picks
Trade Chips
What hasn’t been written about who the Red Wings have made available? The Red Wings have been shifting players out of Detroit since October, dealing Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh and then sending Scott Wilson to Buffalo after he didn’t work out following the Sheahan trade. Goaltender Petr Mrazek was flipped to Philadelphia yesterday, starting what many believe will be the movement of other Red Wings. Mike Green is all but gone–the only questions remain where and when?
Tampa Bay and Washington seem to be the front runners but don’t count out the Vegas Golden Knights, who have the draft picks Ken Holland covets. Gustav Nyquist is another name linked with other contenders as well as winger Luke Glendening, who could see a reunion with former bench boss Mike Babcock in Toronto. The Red Wings could retain salary on Green, making his contract hit much less since he’s in the final year of a deal.
More intriguing names to watch are defenseman Danny DeKeyser, netminder Jimmy Howard and forward Tomas Tatar, who could potentially find new homes for the right team. However, DeKeyser and Tatar are owed a lot of money with a lot of years while Howard will most likely be shipped near the draft when teams are retooling rosters. Finally, Xavier Ouellet a possibility to move on as well.
Names To Watch: Mike Green, Gustav Nyquist, Luke Glendening, Xavier Ouellet, Tomas Tatar.
Team Needs
- Defensemen: The Red Wings are a mess on the blue line, their Achilles heel since losing Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski to retirement in 2012 and 2011 respectively. Unable to properly address it, Detroit has to find top end talent or try and get high enough draft picks that will net a defenseman who could contribute soon. There’s help on the way–with promising d-men in Filip Hronek and Villi Saarijarvi, but fairly, that was also said about Ouellet, and Ryan Sproul, who was traded for Matt Puempel. Dennis Cholowski is playing well in the WHL, but he may still be a year away. Many wonder if Ken Holland looks back with disdain at not taking Jakob Chychrun when he had the chance during the 2016 draft. Regardless, building depth and finding those top pairing defensemen has to be the top priority. Though they need a couple big time scoring forwards as well, the key to Detroit’s resurgence is solidifying the blue line, once a stalwart of the Red Wings’ success in the 90’s and 2000’s.
Minor Transactions: 02/20/18
The trade market is heating up, with two deals yesterday that indicate a willingness to sell. Though much of the action may come down to the very last day, this week will be filled with preparations. We’ll keep track of all those minor moves right here, as teams set their roster for a big deadline splash.
- The Detroit Red Wings have recalled Jared Coreau now that they’ve moved on from Petr Mrazek. Mrazek was dealt last night to the Philadelphia Flyers, opening up an opportunity for Coreau to establish himself full-time at the NHL level. The 26-year old has a .916 save percentage in the minor leagues this season, his fourth straight excellent year in the AHL.
- Morgan Klimchuk has been sent back to the minor leagues just a day after making his NHL debut. The Calgary Flames forward is a first-round pick from 2013, but will have to wait to lock down a full-time spot on the NHL roster.
- The Vancouver Canucks have recalled Richard Bachman while Jacob Markstrom deals with an injury. Bachman has actually made 47 appearances in his career, though only 15 of those have come since 2013. The 30-year old goaltender won’t be relied upon for many starts, but does give the Canucks an experienced option to help Anders Nilsson.
Flyers Acquire Petr Mrazek From Red Wings
The Flyers have added some goaltending depth with the absences of Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth, announcing that they have acquired Petr Mrazek from the Red Wings in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018 and a conditional third-round pick in 2019. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that the 2018 selection will become a third-rounder if Philadelphia makes the playoffs and Mrazek wins five regular season games and will become a second-rounder if they reach the Eastern Conference Final with Mrazek winning six postseason contests. The 2019 pick will transfer to Detroit if Mrazek re-signs with the Flyers at the end of the season.
Mrazek has had an up-and-down year with Detroit. In the first three months of the season, he posted a GAA of 3.64 with a .892 SV%, numbers that are well below average. He has turned things around considerably since then. In his past 11 games, he has cut his GAA down to 2.29 and upped his SV% to a strong .925. As a result, he had started to wrestle away starts from Jimmy Howard as of late. On the season, Mrazek has a 2.89 GAA with a .910 SV% in 22 appearances.
With Elliott out for roughly another month and no word yet on how long Neuvirth will miss, the Flyers were down to Alex Lyon and Dustin Tokarski on the depth chart. (They did get some good news earlier in the day as prospect Anthony Stolarz was activated off season-opening injured reserve and was assigned to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley.)
The 26-year-old is in the second and final season of a two-year, $8MM contract signed back in July of 2016. Craig Custance of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that Detroit is retaining the maximum 50% of his deal. He has a $4.15MM salary in 2017-18 which will stand as his required qualifying offer in June. Both Elliott ($2.75MM) and Neuvirth ($2.5MM) are already signed for 2018-19 so at first glance, Mrazek may very well be a non-tender candidate but he will at least give them a boost between the pipes as they continue to battle for a postseason spot in a tight Metropolitan Division.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Green Willing To Waive NTC For Tampa Bay; Bruins Inquired About Helm
Red Wings defenseman Mike Green is willing to waive his no-trade clause if the team can strike a deal to trade him to Tampa Bay, reports MLive’s Ansar Khan. Detroit is seeking a first-round pick from Tampa Bay, one that is expected to fall in the last few spots based on the current standings. If Lightning GM Steve Yzerman isn’t willing to pay that price, Khan notes that the Wings will be seeking a young roster player that can step into their lineup next season in addition to a second-round selection. Green, who is currently day-to-day with a neck injury, carries a $6MM cap hit this season and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in July.
- The Bruins inquired about the availability of Red Wings center Darren Helm, reports Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required). However, talks appear to have not gone far as Boston was looking to send a bad contract to Detroit as part of the return. Helm is in the second season of a five-year deal that carries a fairly steep cap hit of $3.85MM while he also holds a full no-trade clause through next season.
Philadelphia Flyers Discussing Petr Mrazek With Detroit Red Wings
After losing Brian Elliott for a good chunk of time, the Philadelphia Flyers need to look elsewhere to solve their goaltending problem. While Buffalo Sabres’ netminder Robin Lehner was an option, he’s now dealing with a minor injury of his own and Darren Dreger of TSN instead reports the Flyers are in discussions with Detroit over Petr Mrazek.
Mrazek has been on the block for much of the season, once linked strongly to the Edmonton Oilers when Cam Talbot was dealing with an injury and just recently reportedly offered to the Flyers for a third-round pick. Instead, he’s stayed with the Red Wings and really played well when given the chance. In his last ten games, Mrazek has posted a .935 save percentage and two shutouts. Those numbers would be more than enough for an acquiring team to push towards the playoffs, but they don’t come without some concern.
The 26-year old goaltender has never been considered a consistent performer, and there has been speculation in the past on a poor locker room presence. While those things are difficult to quantify (if they’re even true), he also brings a hefty cap hit at $4MM and is a restricted free agent in the summer. If a team does not believe he can be their starter next season, he’s a prime non-tender candidate as he’d require a $4.15MM qualifying offer.
Philadelphia may be one of the only spots that could bring in Mrazek and extend him, as they’re only set to pay Elliott and Michal Neuvirth a combined $5.25MM next season. Burying one of them in the minors in favor of Mrazek would give the team a regularly priced goalie duo, though whether it is actually much of an improvement is still to be seen.
How Flyers Can Deal With Injuries In Net
Things have been going well for the Philadelphia Flyers. The team has won six of their past ten games and are firmly engaged in a battle for a Metropolitan Division playoff spot. However, the one shortcoming of the Flyers for years now has again reared its ugly head: goaltending. Philly’s goalies have performed well this season, with starter Brian Elliott holding 21 wins and backup Michal Neuvirth performing statistically even better as Elliott’s understudy. For the first time in years, goalie performance has not been a defining issue for the Flyers. However, Elliott is now out of the picture for the time being after suffering a core muscle injury earlier in the month which required surgery and could keep him sidelined through the end of March. Meanwhile, Neuvirth succumbed to a lower-body injury earlier today and had to leave the Flyers’ match-up with the rival New York Rangers. While young Alex Lyon performed admirably in relief, allowing only one goal en route to his first NHL win, the Flyers face a real possibility of being without their top two goalies for some time. So what do they do?
1) Stand Pat
It’s too early to know how long Neuvirth will be out, so the Flyers could let cooler heads prevail and wait to see what the prognosis is on his injury. If Neuvirth will simply miss a few games, the team could rely on Lyon and veteran journeyman Dustin Tokarski, acquired in October for this exact emergency situation, for the time being. Lyon, a former phenom at Yale University, has struggled in limited NHL action this season, but has been good for the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms in each of the last two seasons. Now could be a good time to see what the 25-year-old brings to the table.
2) Acquire a stopgap
Perhaps if Lyon had more than three NHL appearances or Tokarski had more than 10 minutes of NHL action in the past two years, the Flyers would be willing to stick with this tandem, even if Neuvirth remains out for a week or two. Maybe if Anthony Stolarz, shut down for the season after knee surgery in September, was available they would be fine with waiting for Elliott and Neuvirth to return to health. However, the Flyers are in the middle of a playoff race and cannot afford to stick with such inexperienced options for more than a handful of games nor wait on injury timelines with the NHL Trade Deadline a week away. Instead, they could turn to the trade market and look for a short-term option. There isn’t much goalie talk on the rumor mill right now, other than the fact that the Flyers turned down a recent offer from the Detroit Red Wings of Petr Mrazek for a third-round pick. They could certainly revisit bringing in the impending restricted free agent for a tryout down the stretch. The team could also look at trading for San Jose Sharks backup Aaron Dell, who’s having a breakout year and comes with a cheap price tag for the remainder of the season. However, the Sharks are a fellow playoff-chaser and might be hesitant to move their backup unless they were getting another in return, either Neuvirth or Elliott. Other options could include Michael Hutchinson from the Winnipeg Jets (though they too have injury issues in net), Andrew Hammond from the Colorado Avalanche, or one of the many minor league keepers from Toronto or Calgary, if those teams are willing to deal.
3) Acquire a starter
Of course, the Flyers could also take this opportunity to bring in a starting-caliber goalie; one who could eliminate the worry of whether Elliott will be healthy by playoff time. Philadelphia could look at short-term starter, such as impending free agents Antti Raanta from Arizona or Robin Lehner (RFA) from Buffalo. However, more interestingly, they could also look for a long-term fit. Both Elliott and Neuvirth are only signed through next season. If they could send one or the other back in a trade, they could look to acquire a starter with term on his contract. That could be as easy as bringing in Lehner or Mrazek with the intention of extending them. Either one could do the job for a few years, bridging the gap to star prospect Carter Hart. It could also open the door to Detroit’s other goalie, Jimmy Howard, who could benefit from a change of scenery with one year left on his deal. The Vancouver Canucks could entertain moving Jacob Markstrom during a down year, though he may not be much of an upgrade over Philly’s current stable and is signed for two more seasons. One possible dark horse candidate would be Colorado starter Semyon Varlamov, who has been outplayed by backup Jonathan Bernier this season and is signed through 2018-19 at an expensive $5.9MM cap hit. For those of you thinking Carey Price though, think again.