Detroit Red Wings trade Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh Penguins
By Mike Rizzo
The Detroit Red Wings got some salary cap relief today as they traded Riley Sheahan to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They received a third round pick and Scott Wilson.
After agreeing to a deal with Andreas Athanasiou on Friday, the Detroit Red Wings had to clear some cap space. They did that today by trading Riley Sheahan to the Penguins for Scott Wilson and a draft pick.
Wilson will get an opportunity for the Red Wings but this trade was made to create cap space to sign Athanasiou.
Riley Sheahan struggled mightily last year but being one of the younger players on the Red Wings still had a some trade value. The Toronto Maple Leafs were rumored to be interested in Sheahan at the trade deadline last season. Sheahan is pointless so far this year but has a big opportunity with the Penguins.
The Red Wings made another move today to clear cap space. They moved defensemen Ryan Sproul to the Rangers for forward Matt Puempel. Puempel most likely will go straight to the Griffins while Wilson most likely will stay with the Red Wings.
All these moves were made to give the Red Wings enough cap space to officially sign Athansiou. He and the Red Wings finally got a deal done but it was only a one year deal. The question is how bad were the bridges burned between both sides during this holdout. Hopefully both sides can move on and get a long term deal done in the offseason.
These moves to get cap room were needed due to some awful contracts signed by Ken Holland and the Red Wings.
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Sproul was a victim of the Red Wings having a log jam of young defensemen that are on their way to the Red Wings. Joe Hicketts, Robbie Russo and Vili Saarijarvi are close to being on the main roster and all of them are rated higher than Sproul. What do you think of the moves the Red Wings made today? Let us know in the comments!