from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

What do you do now if you're Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman?

The Wings appeared squarely in a race for a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference heading into Ottawa, and with a definite chance to build that momentum.

Two convincing losses later, capped by an ugly 6-1 loss Tuesday, where are the Wings headed?

The playoff chase is a bit cloudier, now trailing the New York Islanders by six points and Pittsburgh by five, with three teams in between the Wings and Pittsburgh.

"There's still time," captain Dylan Larkin said in a sullen Wings locker room Tuesday night. "There's not much time, but there still is. We've got to win some hockey games here."

But, with these losses, speculation of what Yzerman will do leading up to Friday's 3 p.m. trade deadline will resurface. The losses certainly dented the Wings' playoff hopes. So, given what some teams out of the playoff picture have received for some of their prospective unrestricted free agents thus far on the trade market, does Yzerman decide to sell off some potential free agents to further stockpile draft picks or more prospects?

Forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Oskar Sundqvist and Pius Suter would likely attract interest from legitimate playoff contenders. At the same time, it would further weaken the Wings at this point, and truly squash any playoff hopes.

Tough call.

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