Detroit Red Wings shopping Vladislav Namestnikov on trade market

The trade deadline is starting to creep up on the horizon and come into view. The Detroit Red Wings will have to decide what will be best for them moving forward, and right now, I’m not 100% sure that answer is certain.

One of the names that has recently come up in trade conversations is Detroit Red Wings forward, Vladislav Namestnikov, who may be someone teams target. In a string of tweets from Saturday, Jon Morosi offered some speculation about Namestnikov’s availability and interest from other teams.

In Morosi’s tweet, he mentions multiple teams sending scouts or “talent evaluators,” as he calls them to take in the Red Wings contest against the Philadelphia Flyers. This is not just about Red Wings players, also Flyers trade bait, but the Red Wings may be considering moving Namestnikov as was hinted at.

The question here to ponder is if this will be a beneficial move for the Red Wings or not? Namestnikov has been one of the team’s better producers and is an underrated source of offense on this Red Wings team.

Vladislav Namestnikov may wind up being Detroit Red Wings trade bait.

The thing that bodes on the side of trading Namestnikov is that he is an unrestricted free agent following the end of the 2021-22 season. While the Red Wings have been a good place for him, and he has settled in nicely, there’s no extension in place to keep him here beyond this year.

While there may have been talks in the front office of an extension, none have become a reality (yet). Namestnikov has played in 48 games this season, where he has 13 goals and ten assists for 23 total points on the season.

He would offer some scoring depth for a team’s bottom-six as they make a run for the Stanley Cup, so it’s understandable why there are talks of him being moved floating around. However, I’m on the fence about this.

If Namestnikov was moved for the right price and netted some draft capital, I cannot say it would be the worst thing in the world. But on the other hand, the Red Wings are not really in dire need of more draft capital right now.

They need to start building around the pieces that they have and the pieces they have on the way. Namestnikov is someone who plays a role and plays it well for this Red Wings team. So shopping him on the trade market may just be Yzerman fielding offers to see what he could get, but keeping him around is not a half-bad idea.

They can keep shopping him and others, but Namestnikov staying put may not be the worst thing in the world.