The Detroit Red Wings will likely look to add more scoring to their roster this offseason, and one trade pitch helps solve that.
The website PuckPedia’s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Red Wings acquiring Jonathan Marchessault from the Nashville Predators.
Red Wings acquire:
Predators acquire:
- Nate Danielson
- 2025 second-round pick
The proposed deal would be a blockbuster as Detroit would acquire a bonafide top-six forward while Nashville gets a prospect and a second-round pick.
Detroit would acquire Marchessault, who signed a five-year, $27.5 million deal in the offseason with the Predators, but Nashville has struggled and could shake up their core. Marchessault helped the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2023 and won the Conn Smythe, which is playoff MVP. He would be a top-six forward in Detroit and add some much-needed offense to the roster. This season, he’s recorded 19 goals and 30 assists for 49 points in 73 games.
In return, the Red Wings would deal a second-round pick as well as Danielson. Danielson was selected ninth overall in 2023 and could be in the NHL next season. He projects to be a third-line center and would add some youth to Nashville’s lineup. He’s recorded 9 goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 62 games in the AHL this season.
Red Wings Plan to Build Off of Season
Detroit had hopes of making the playoffs this season, but it is looking unlikely.
However, the Red Wings have played much better in the second half of the season due to the hiring of Todd McLellan. After firing Derek Lalonde, the Red Wings went out and hired McLellan, who has helped turn the team around.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman believes Detroit can build off of the success they had with McLellan.
“I believe Todd is very good coach and he’ll do a good job moving forward with us,” Yzerman said. “Got us into the playoff race, but now here, we’ve got to see if we can win hockey games, obviously, and win a lot of them. But I wasn’t sure what to expect coming out of the coaching change, honestly. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but felt it was the right thing to do at the time, and I still do. And again, it wasn’t just to get through the season. It’s hopefully, and I expect it to be, a long-term thing.”
Detroit is 34-33-7 and four points out of a Wild Card spot.
Predators GM Won’t Commit to Rebuild
A year after making the playoffs, Nashville signed Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, and Brady Skjei in the offseason.
The Predators were considered to be the offseason winners, but Nashville has the third-worst record in the NHL and has been eliminated from playoff contention. Despite the bad yer, Predators general manager Barry Trotz doesn’t plan on doing a rebuild.
“It’s not a rebuild,” Trotz told The Athletic in December. “I’m not in the business of not winning. I’m in the business of trying to win. We’re not selling off. We are resetting. We know where we are. It’s not where we thought we would be. But we want to move forward.”
Trotz also plans to be aggressive again in the offseason to improve this roster through free agency and trades.
“I want to set myself up for the summer,” Trotz said. “We will look at the free-agent market. We will look at adding pieces. There will be teams that are going to be up against it (the cap), so we want to take advantage of that. But I want to set it up beforehand.”
Nashville is 27-40-8.
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