The Detroit Red Wings have made a handful of additions to their roster in preparations for the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season, but is GM Steve Yzerman content to go into the new campaign as currently constructed?
Detroit did pick up depth pieces on both offense and defense, signing forwards James van Riemsdyk, Mason Appleton and John Leanard along with defensemen Ian Mitchell and Jacob Bernard-Docker.
They also shored things up in the crease, acquiring goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Petr Mrazek.
While their goaltending situation appears to be more stable than it was at this point last offseason, the Red Wings still have a pressing need both up front and on the back end.
A bona fide offensive threat who can play in the top-six of Detroit's forward units along with a top-four defenseman is still at the top of the Red Wings' wish list, but with just about every impactful free agent no longer available, they will have to explore trade possibilities if they are to make either position need a reality.
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Unfortunately, Yzerman said that he never had a chance to so much as speak to top free agents who were already either re-signed or traded by their respective teams.
"We were were certainly open to it," Yzerman said. "The guys that we were hoping to talk to all signed before free agency with their clubs, or got traded. In the case of Mitch Marner, we didn't even get an opportunity to talk to these guys. There's not much you can do about that."
Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, whom the Red Wings were said to have interest in, ultimately re-signed with the team, as did both Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand. That was also the case with Ivan Provorov, who re-signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nikolaj Ehlers, formerly of the Winnipeg Jets, signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, while Mason Marchment, formerly of the Dallas Stars, was traded to the Seattle Kraken.
Additionally, defenseman Noah Dobson was traded from the New York Islanders to the Montreal Canadiens, while Vladislav Gavrikov signed with the New York Rangers. What's more, K'Andre Miller was traded from the Rangers to the Carolina Hurricanes, and subsequently signed to a an eight-year contract.
The good news for the Red Wings, who still have around $12 million of available cap space, can still make a trade for an impact player that would significantly increase their favorability of ending their postseason drought.
Names like Jason Robertson, Bryan Rust, and Kyle Connor have all been discussed as potential targets for the Red Wings up front, while Rasmus Andersson and Erik Karlsson have been named potential possibilities for the blue line.
While there are over two months between now and the start of Training Camp in mid-September, Yzerman made it clear that he's leaving the door open to the potential of a trade before then.
"We're going to wait and see if any opportunities arise," Yzerman said. "We'll certainly explore. I know there's a couple of teams that are looking to move some people for various reasons, depending on where they're at or what they need to do.
"I think there's a couple that have to do a few things in relation to the cap, but for the most part, everybody's still got a lot of cap space."
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