Ansar Khan of MLive: A weak free agent market could lead to more trading and the Red Wings could be one of the teams willing to make some deals.
“We’re probably in a better position to explore trades than we were at any point in time because of the depth of our organization,” Holland said. “But I don’t want anyone to think ‘They’re making trades’ because the trades have got to make sense.”
The Wings will have their management and scouting meetings this week to talk about trade and free agent possibilities. The Wings could use an offensive, right-handed top-four defenseman. They need to find a second-line center – from outside or from within. They also would like to add a scoring winger that has some size.
Possible free agents include defensemen Mike Green and Cody Franson, center Carl Soderberg and winger Matt Beleskey.
“July 1, 2015 is different than July 1, 2003; teams are locking up their best players,” Holland said. “We’ve all spent 10 years in a cap world. Those players that are free on July 1, they’re support players.”
This is why the Wings could go the trade route, and Anthony Mantha could even be in play. They could re-visit Dion Phaneuf trade talks. The Wings have 17 players under contract at about $56 million, which includes Johan Franzen’s $3.955 million (concussion issues) and Stephen Weiss who could be bought out. Pending RFAs include Gustav Nyquist, Joakim Andersson, Tomas Jurco, Teemu Pulkkinen, Landon Ferraro and Brendan Smith.
Ansar Khan of MLive: Red Wings GM Ken Holland has said that teams have reached out to him about potential trades. Sportsnet’s Damien Cox reported that the Wings could be willing to move Anthony Mantha or their first round pick. Yesterday Holland said:
“I don’t think ‘willing’ is the right word. We’ve got some people I would consider untouchable, both on the Detroit Red Wings and within the organization. In order to explore what’s out there we got to be able to consider parting with some people. I’m not going to tell you where Mantha fits in with that until we explore the trade market.”
If they were offered a potentially elite defenseman or a top-six foward, they could consider it. The Maple Leafs wanted Mantha in a Dion Phaneuf trade at the deadline. Talks could be re-visited, but it’s unlikely the Wings include Mantha in a Phaneuf deal.
The Coyotes are listening to offers on the No. 3, but it would likely take more than Mantha and the No. 19 pick.
