Daily Faceoff Live: Should the Detroit Red Wings buy or sell at the Trade Deadline?

The Detroit Red Wings seem to have taken a bit of a step forward in their rebuild, as for the first time in several years, they see themselves lingering around a playoff spot at the halfway point of the season.

So with the trade deadline approaching, it puts the Red Wings in an interesting situation. On one hand, they could add at the deadline, but they probably aren’t quite in a position to be going all-in. Or they could sell off some pieces, get some assets, and keep building for the future, but then what kind of message does that send to their young group?

Tyler Yaremchuk and Steven Ellis took to Daily Faceoff Live to figure out what the Detroit Red Wings should do at the trade deadline.

Steven Ellis: “I still think this is a team that still needs to have another good draft or two to really bulk up there. One name that, if you’re going for an attack, you maybe go out there and see what teams are looking for in Marco Kasper, who they picked last year in the first round. I think with the Red Wings, you still have to keep building towards that future.

I don’t think trading Dylan Larkin’s the right thing, but you’re going out there, and maybe you’re just trading off a guy like Oskar Sundqvist. He played with the Blues during that Stanley Cup run a couple years ago, he’s got that experience, he’s cheap. Maybe you go out there and get a draft pick, you maybe get a second or third, but you just keep accumulating.

To me, I don’t think they’re going out there and selling off, because this is a big step for the team. I didn’t expect the Red Wings to be this much in the conversation, but I also don’t think making the playoffs is great for them either. I think they still should be looking for those picks. So I think that you just listen to every offer, but I don’t think they’re going to go out there and blow things up, or start buying all these big things that could potentially hurt the future. I think you look and then say ‘we trust this group, this is the long-term we’re looking at here, we can be patient.'”

Tyler Yaremchuk: “The one thing that’s really interesting to me is between the pipes. Frank talked about this the other day, but Magnus Hellberg is one of the waiver claims, they apparently really like him; Alex Nedeljkovic has been down on a conditioning stint for a while; Ville Husso is their number one. Nedeljkovic is a pending UFA, $3 million cap hit right now. I wonder if they can look around the league to a team that needs goaltending, in the Pacific specifically with the Seattle Kraken or maybe the L.A. Kings as well, and maybe they move out a piece like Nedeljkovic and recoup some assets. That way as well, and continue building towards the future.”

You can watch the full episode here…