Red Wings: Three takeaways from Steve Yzerman’s first trade deadline

Steve Yzerman did a phenomenal job by acquiring expiring contracts from Holland as well as a very healthy stock of draft picks.

In the first trade of the deadline for Green, the Red Wings got Brodziak, who will not suit up in a Red Wings uniform, but contribute to the cap, similar to Franzen. But the wildcard of this trade was the conditional fourth-round pick that Holland offered up to Yzerman, which could turn out to be even better. The conditions of the pick could make it change from a 2020  fourth-round pick to a 2021 third-round pick if the Oilers reach the Western Conference finals or Green plays in over half of their games.

In the second trade of the deadline, the Red Wings saw centerman Gagner as the only player coming back on the return, but unlike Brodziak, he will play. Gagner has the possibility of being in the mix as the second or third-line center to finish out the year, by no means is he a great player, but his contract is expiring, so he simply takes Athanasiou’s spot. The more exciting part of the Athanasiou trade was the draft picks acquired.

Yzerman did a great job stocking up the draft picks by bringing in both a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 second-round pick for Athanasiou and Kuffner. These two picks mean that the Red Wings now own six picks in the first three rounds of the 2020 draft this summer. GM Yzerman did a great job of bringing in these players and picks given what he had to work with in terms of trade value, or lack thereof.