Detroit Red Wings: 4 players to elevate after the trade deadline
By Bob Heyrman
As the NHL’s April 12th trade deadline vastly approaches, the Detroit Red Wings and general manager Steve Yzerman are expected to be quite busy.
For the rebuilding Detroit Red Wings, the trade deadline allows Yzerman to acquire more much-needed draft capital. The Red Wings will have a lottery pick in the 2021 NHL Draft plus three second-round picks and two third-round picks.
Along with their own second-round pick in 2021, Yzerman added a future second-round pick last season in a deal he made with his former GM Ken Holland, now of the Edmonton Oilers in the Andreas Athanasiou deal, which also landed Detroit Sam Gagner.
Earlier this offseason, Yzerman added a third second-round pick in the 2021 draft from the New York Rangers by taking on the large contract of Marc Staal in exchange for future considerations.
The additional third-round pick in the upcoming draft actually stems back to the Tomas Tatar deal with Vegas, believe it or not. The gift that keeps on giving.
Having six selections in the first three-rounds is great, but Yzerman will still have an opportunity to add to that pile of picks before the upcoming deadline. With the uncertainty and limited scouting ability surrounding the potential draft prospects due to COVID-19, the Detroit Red Wings may choose to add future picks in 2022 and 2023 rather than ’21.
Recently we published an article of five current players likely on the move before the deadline that can be seen here.
That being said if the Detroit Red Wings can make some trades leading up to April. 12th deadline Detroit will have roster spots that will need to be filled.
Here are four players that need to spend time with the Detroit Red Wings after the NHL trade deadline.
*With a host of young players playing overseas, their NHL availability in 2021 is in question. Those players include Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond, Joseph Veleno, Jonatan Berggren, and Albert Johansson. If any of these prospects make it back to North America in time to make an appearance with the Detroit Red Wings it will be nine or fewer to ensure their entry-level contract is not triggered.
Taro Hirose
There is no real reason why Taro Hirose isn’t playing with the struggling to score Detroit Red Wings right now. Detroit has been shutout in back-to-back games while producing an atrocious power-play operating at an abysmal 11.46% on the season. The league average is 21.04%.
Hirose has appeared in six games this season, with the Red Wings recording two assists while averaging just a touch over 14-minutes of work per night.
The former Michigan State standout burst onto the scene with the Detroit Red Wings a couple of years ago, recording seven points in ten games after graduating in 2018-19.
Hirose is equal to a third-line NHL winger, and there is no real reason he’s playing in Grand Rapids this season other than the organization trying to field a playoff-caliber AHL team. Sometimes organizations enjoy fielding a competitive AHL group rather than seeing their prospects lose night after night at the NHL level. The constant losing can have a negative effect on a young player over time.
The 24-year old winger did produce a solid 50.6 Corsi For Percentage during his six games this season in Detroit. The team is a LEAGUE-WORST 46%.
In nine games with the Griffins this season, Hirose has one goal and eight assists.