The Detroit Red Wings are on the cusp of greatness. They have one of the best prospect cores in the NHL. Lucas Raymond’s contract is among the best in the league, per The Athletic. Their goal this season is to make the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade.
Heavy.com proposed a trade idea that would send Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly to the Red Wings for a high pick and prospect.
Detroit Red Wings receive:
- Ryan O’Reilly
- 2026 4th round pick
Nashville Predators receive:
- 2026 1st round pick
- William Wallinder
The Predators are on the cusp of a rebuild. Securing a first round pick and a young prospect for a 34-year-old center is a great return on investment. In return, the Red Wings find the answer to the second line center question they’ve been trying to answer since Pavel Datsyuk’s retirement.
What Ryan O’Reilly Brings to the Red Wings
O’Reilly, like captain Dylan Larkin, is a two-way center. He knows his way around both ends of the ice and helped the St. Louis Blues secure their first-ever Stanley Cup. O’Reilly’s nickname is “The Factor” for his elite two-way game. He won a Selke in 2018-19 and plays the brand of hockey general manager Steve Yzerman seeks when drafting and developing players.
O’Reilly is a former captain, a current alternate captain and a leader on and off the ice. Securing a center like O’Reilly helps to relieve the defensive pressure off Larkin, Moritz Seider and the rest of the corps.
Plus, he’s still got an offensive touch. In 79 games with the Predators, O’Reilly put up 21 goals and 23 assists for 54 points. He accomplished all this on a team that struggled with low shooting percentages and inconsistencies. Adding him on a line with players like Patrick Kane and Marco Kasper could work wonders for the whole offense.
O’Reilly’s Hunger Matches Detroit’s Culture
One of O’Reilly’s biggest strengths is his eagerness to learn.
“I still feel like a kid when I go to practice,” O’Reilly said in a speech at the Middle Tennessee High School Sports Awards. “I love what I do, but I also know that I have to keep getting better. For all the athletes here, you have to evolve in every way you can. I always try to reset and get back to a beginner’s mindset, being a kid, how can I get better at this? Keep evolving. At times it’s not easy. But if you can fall in love with getting better and keep that beginner’s mindset, I think you’ll like the results.”
Humility is O’Reilly’s biggest strength. “I always told myself I’ve got to do more,” O’Reilly said. “It’s not going to be easy, but it pushed me to self-evaluate more. Find things that I can get better at. Winning the Stanley Cup brought me back to playing with my brother on the ice as a kid… the flood of emotion that it worked up to comes down to this trophy.”
O’Reilly has two years left on his contract at $4.5M per season.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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