Trade Pitch Has Red Wings Acquiring Former 30-Goal $20 Million Forward

The Detroit Red Wings are hoping to compete for a playoff spot, and one trade pitch has them acquiring a veteran forward who is a former 30-goal scorer.

The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Red Wings acquiring Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers.

Red Wings acquire:

• Evander Kane

Oilers acquire:

• Jonatan Berggren

The proposed deal is a one-for-one swap and could make sense for both teams. Detroit gets a veteran forward who can help with the young forwards, while Edmonton gets some cap relief and adds a bottom-six forward to the lineup.

Kane is entering the third year of his four-year $20.5 million deal. However, the forward is dealing with an injury that could force him to miss the entire season. But, Detroit would be able to put him on LTIR and his cap hit wouldn’t count, and if the Red Wings make the playoffs, he would likely be able to return then.

Kane is a former 30-goal scorer who could give a big offensive boost to the Red Wings lineup for the 2025-26 NHL season as Detroit is practically only acquiring him for one season.

Berggren, meanwhile, is an RFA and has yet to sign a contract with Detroit. The Swede was selected 33rd overall in the 2018 NHL draft but he has yet to be an impact player in the NHL. He has skated in just 79 games recording 17 goals and 17 assists for 34 points, but could be a third or fourth-line forward for Edmonton who lost some depth players in the offseason.

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Kane Could Undergo Surgery

Kane played through a sports hernia injury for most of the 2023-24 NHL season and now is debating on getting surgery to repair it.

If Kane undergoes surgery, his 2024-25 NHL season will likely be over, but Oilers general manager Stan Bowman says the forward has yet to decide on what he will do.

“I don’t have any say-so in that, nor should I,” Bowman said to the media on August 20. “The most important thing for me is to support Evander in making sure that he gets healthy… When there’s any injury, there’s a couple (of) options that come into play: You get treatment for it, you do rehab, and over time that injury heals and the player is able to return to play.

“Sometimes, you have injuries where surgery is required right away, where it’s obvious that’s the only solution. Then you have another type of injury where it’s not as black and white. There’s a few different ways that a player can move forward with it, and that’s his decision, and we’re going to be supportive of Evander in that. So, I think that third scenario is where things are right now,” Bowman added.

Kane is 33 and has skated in 930 games recording 326 goals and 291 assists for 617 points. Last season with the Oilers, he skated in 77 games recording 24 goals and 20 assists for 44 points.

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Analyst Says Red Wings Fans Shouldn’t Panic on Key RFAs Not Being Signed

Detroit has two star players Lucas Raymond and Mortiz Seider who are RFAs and remain unsigned.

Raymond and Seider are two of Detroit’s best players and two of the best young players in the NHL. Yet, with training camps set to open camp this month, NHL analyst Max Bultman of The Athletic doesn’t think it is time for panic for Red Wings fans that they aren’t signed.

“I don’t think it’s panic time yet, before camp begins. But, that’s probably the point at which it’s fair to have concerns about how this could affect the on-ice product. And perhaps the locker room,” Bultman wrote. “Those are two important pieces to be without when camp opens… Regardless, I do think deals are going to get done with both players. And if it happens before training camp, then I think any tensions (if there are any) would be pretty quickly forgotten.”

Detroit opens its 2024-25 NHL season at home on October 10 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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