from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
The Red Wings have five games before the dealing is done March 3 at 3 p.m. It’s a difficult stretch with the New York Rangers (Thursday), Tampa Bay (Saturday) and Seattle (March 2) coming to Little Caesars Arena and a pair of games in Ottawa (Monday and Tuesday), another playoff competitor.
But unless the Red Wings collapse over the next week, Yzerman’s decision should be simple: stand pat.
Tyler Bertuzzi is the Red Wings’ biggest trade chip. Others in the final year of their contracts who might draw interest include center Pius Suter, winger Oskar Sundqvist and defenseman Jake Walman. All have key roles and would be important for the playoff push.
Retaining Suter, Sundqvist and Walman should not be a difficult decision since the club probably wouldn’t get a good enough return to make a move worthwhile.
The dilemma is deciding what to do with Bertuzzi. Sources indicate the sides are not close to an extension. The gritty, offensive winger surely would draw interest from playoff-contending teams, landing decent assets in return. While there is always a chance the sides could reach an agreement in the offseason prior to free agency, the likelihood diminishes, and Yzerman would hate to lose him for nothing.
Hanging onto Bert would be a mistake, unless the sides are talking and we dont know.
Not if they are serious about staying in playoff contention.
To me, the value to the team is fighting together to accomplish a goal. Thinking they could take BOS in a first round matchup is ridiculous (but I still like to think about what-ifs). Receiving some feedback from management that they're winners and deserve some support in their effort to finish in one of the Wild Card positions would be nice, but certainly not worth mortgaging any future team development at this stage. I really think it's the fighting together that's the true value of this spring in Motown.
I'm sorry but if Yzerman can get real value, i.e. a prospect that is a top 6 / top 4 guy vs. say a pick, he should trade him, its absolutely the right move.
Yzerman was brought here to build a cup contender, not continue a hold'em Holland plug with vets because trades are hard, and I like my guys, so we can maybe get into the 8th seed and get throttled by the Bruins. If we were in the West it'd be a different story, but the Bs are a machine, and the East is Beast as a whole.
Remember reading lots of bravado about Yzerman being this bold ruthless GM who trades Martin St. Louis (even though he asked to be traded), and cutting Lecavalier (even though the league offered buyouts).
Well, Yzerman put himself into this position with his best player and one of his others, he needs to act even though it might not be popular here and now, I won't like it for my view pleasure. But he's going to risk it with Larkin, he should not do both, and if he returns a future core roster player, the core should understand that.
Depends on how far apart they are with Larkin I would try to trade him also. This is depending how close we are at the deadline. I know my outlook on Trading Larkin is not a popular one, but the team is greater than any one player! Larkin says he wants to stay, to me he needs to prove that. Larkin has all the power on negotiations with his no movement clause. Could lose him for nothing, if this happens he really didn't want to stay a wing!!
The franchise needs to show they value him as well. His leadership, effort and scoring has led the team back into actual playoff contention, something a month ago I didnt think was likely. If the difference is a paltry $500k/yr that would be insane not to sign him, even up to $1M/yr. Granted they have several young players coming up for contracts too.
Wings have shown they value him, offering a 30% raise in pay if numbers we hear are correct. Need to budget for the future too. Could be in cap hell in a few years if contracts aren't under control.
Hold on to Bert as long as we have a reasonable chance to get in, ie 3-2 over next 5 games.
Prospects are just that- not guarantees.
Trade Bertuzzi no matter what, especially while he's healthy.
Probably not an absolute position to take. He makes the team better, no doubt. There is no guarantee even a top 3 pick will eventually achieve the same level.
move bert/fabs asap, injury prone. 1 more major knee injury and fabs will be forced to retire.
need a top 4 Dman w/attitude. obtainable? I dont know.
V has paid his penance, going down the same road SY did w/scotty.
V is gold, find muscle to protect him and play em for Gods sake..
I heard on the radio a bit ago that the Wings have the most difficult schedule from here to the end of season. I am even more of a firm TRADE BERT if that's true.
While it would be a blow to the team, do we not also have to see what the players that are staying here will bring to the table in a playoff atmosphere run? Is Zadina worth holding onto? Vrana is signed next year, do we play the up/down game with him next year too? (Heard he was sent to GR by the way). Is Ras ready for more, Suter can handle more, Fabri can, lean on Peron, etc.
Once Kane goes somewhere, some team will be desperate to improve themselves and pay out the goods.
I'm holding out hope that there may be a 1-2 year bridge deal for bertuzzi if he doesn't get dealt. Part of me is thinking he's not really off the table though and once bigger names like Kane get moved a higher price can be asked. It doesn't smell right that steve has preached patience and the need to build for the long term and we get to this point of the season and all of the sudden after a good road trip they're pushing the chips in. Though many of us wrote them off weeks ago, now it looks like they're almost healthy (knocks on wood) for the first time all year and right in the thick of things. Who knows. I expect this next week to be a roller coaster.
With the Vrana thing, turns out 'sending him to GR' stopped the clock on accruing NHL roster time before he has to go back through waivers. Also a little bonus in the wallet as he didn't have to pay NHL escrow. They called him back up today.
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