The Detroit Red Wings are in the midst of a nine-year playoff drought and should look to bolster their offense.
Heavy.com has a trade idea that sees the Red Wings acquiring Ondrej Palat from the New Jersey Devils in an intriguing move.
Red Wings acquire:
Devils acquire:
- J.T. Compher
- 2026 fourth-round pick
The proposed deal would be an intriguing one, as Detroit and New Jersey would swap forwards who could use a change of scenery, while the Red Wings give up a mid-round pick.
The Red Wings would acquire Palat, who’s entering the fourth year of a five-year, $30 million deal. New Jersey signed Palat to be an impact forward for the Devils, but he hasn’t been able to live up to the play he had with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 and has a career-high of 63 points.
Last season, Palat recorded 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 77 games. He would be a middle-six forward and add some secondary scoring to the lineup. Palat also adds some winning pedigree to Detroit’s lineup.
In return, the Red Wings would give up a fourth-round pick and Compher, who, like Palat, hasn’t lived up to expectations. Compher is entering the third year of a five-year, $25.5 million deal and would be a third-line center. He recorded 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points in 76 games last season.
Devils Looking to Trade Palat
Palat was an impact player for the Lightning and a big reason why Tampa Bay won back-to-back Stanley Cups.
However, with the Devils, he has struggled, and New Jersey is now looking to trade him. NHL analyst Jim Mayhew of FoxSportsRadioNewJersey reported that the Devils are looking to shop Palat.
“The New Jersey Devils want to trade Ondrej Palat and his $6 million yearly deal. They’ve talked with three teams: San Jose, Anaheim, and Chicago,” Mayhew wrote. “After Carolina knocked them out of the playoffs in five quick games, the Devils started making moves. Instead of buying out Palat’s $12 million contract, they’re hunting for a team to take it on.”
If the Devils are indeed interested in moving Palat, the Red Wings should take a flier on the two-time Cup champ to bolster their secondary scoring.
Red Wings Have Had a Quiet Offseason
Despite Detroit being in the midst of a lengthy playoff drought, the Red Wings have had a rather quiet offseason.
Instead, Detroit has added more depth players to raise the floor of the team. Going into the offseason, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman admitted that they likely weren’t going to land any big fish.
“Going into free agency, we all recognized that it was going to be difficult all around the League,” Yzerman said. “For whatever reason, there weren’t as many what we would all consider high-end free agents available this year. So, it wasn’t really a shock to us that we weren’t able to get anything done with any of the bigger-name guys.”
The Red Wings have added James van Riemsdyk, Mason Appleton, Travis Hamonic, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and Ian Mitchell this offseason in free agency. Detroit’s big move was trading for John Gibson to bolster the goalie position.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Red Wings Add Former 63-Point Forward to Bolster Offense in New Trade Pitch appeared first on Heavy Sports.