Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play Segment with Steve Kouleas and Anthony Stewart, and was asked about the Detroit Red Wings and whether GM Steve Yzerman will have an active offseason.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
How Bold Will the Detroit Red Wings Get in the Offseason?
Steve Kouleas: “What’s been quiet, and because I’ve got friends, in that Detroit-Windsor corridor. What is the plan in Detroit? There’s a couple rumors out there. I think we’ve talked about them before. What’s real as they watch even Ottawa lose, but watch Buffalo, watch Montreal. Where is Detroit in this Atlantic division mix and Steve Yzerman?”
Dave Pagnotta: “They’re in a tough spot because all these other teams are improving, have improved. Everybody anticipates Florida taking a mulligan on this season and getting back to where they were in the last couple of years next season. Detroit’s mindset has to be at this stage playoffs. And you have to be able to do whatever you can to improve this roster in order to take those next steps. It’s taken a little bit longer.
They’ve filled up their cover exponentially with a very deep prospect pool, but not all these guys are going to hit. You’ve got to be able to start exploring other options and start bringing in NHL caliber players, and I think that’s what they’re looking to do, and I think that’s what Steve Yzerman is looking to do this offseason.
It’s now a matter of adding in NHL caliber talent, both from a veteran side and from a youth side, to improve this club. I can certainly see them trying to circle back on Robert Thomas and try to go in those types of directions to bring in those types of players in order to make a push to get to the postseason next year. That has to be the mindset, and I believe it is, but it’s going to take a significant amount of work for Detroit to get to that point.
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And then that’s why, guys, that’s why I think this season, or this summer, is going to prove to be a makeup for the last couple of off-seasons, where we anticipated significant movement and got nothing, especially last year. There are so many teams with the cap going up, that’s one thing, and the free agent pool is another in terms of its depth; it’s shallow.
We know that, but with so many teams wanting to take next steps, and so many teams, some of them needing to take next steps, I think the motivation to make these types of moves has increased quite a bit here, and that’s why I find the end of June around the draft and the beginning of the first half of July are going to be very interesting.”
NHLRumors.com Note: This is a big offseason for the Detroit Red Wings and GM Steve Yzerman. This was supposed to be the year for the Red Wings, but instead, they missed the playoffs again for the 10th straight season. There is a belief that they will look to make a big acquisition and revisit talks with Vincent Trocheck from the trade deadline. However, with the Atlantic Division remaining one of the toughest divisions in the NHL, the Red Wings have their work cut out for them.
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