The Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers are both at a crossroads. Detroit currently sits second in the Atlantic division, vying for their first playoff appearance in nearly a decade. The Rangers, on the other hand, are at the bottom of the Metropolitan division. General manager Chris Drury released a public letter to the fans informing them of the decision to retool.
“We will target players that bring tenacity, skill, speed and a winning pedigree with a focus on obtaining young players, draft picks and cap space to allow us flexibility moving forward,” said Drury. “That may mean saying goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years.”
In order to compete in the highly-contested Atlantic, the Red Wings have to make a big swing. In order to properly retool, the Rangers need to do what’s best for their team. The best way both teams can come out on top is to find a happy middle ground between the two.
Heavy Sports has a trade pitch that sees former first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere make his way to Hockeytown in exchange for picks and prospects.
Red Wings receive:
- Alexis Lafreniere
Rangers receive:
- 2026 1st round pick
- Max Plante
- Conditional 2027 3rd round pick
*Condition: The 2027 3rd round pick becomes a 2nd round pick if the Red Wings make the Eastern Conference Finals.
Lafreniere Brings Physicality to Detroit
Ironically enough, Alexis Lafreniere was almost a Red Wing at one point in time. During the 2020 NHL Draft, Detroit had the highest draft lottery odds, falling to fourth after the Rangers leapfrogged the rest of the NHL to earn the top pick. The Red Wings, in turn, selected Lucas Raymond, who has quickly proven to be one of the best players of the draft class. Adding Lafreniere to an already strong core of forwards is just what Hockeytown needs in order to compete for the playoffs.
Draft scouting reports often compared Lafreniere to Sidney Crosby. He’s fast, physical, and comes with a mean scoring touch. Unfortunately, his junior league abilities haven’t panned out much in the NHL. This can be attributed to the Rangers’ deployment of Lafreniere. He’s often been relegated to bottom-six minutes, affixed to lines with players like Julien Gauthier and Barclay Goodrow.
Similar to players like Sam Bennett, Lafreniere isn’t properly utilized in his role. Having said that, he’s still young and has plenty of potential to break out into a full-time role as a top-line forward. Lafreniere currently has 29 points in 53 games and is on pace for a 44-point season. The 24-year-old is signed through 2032 with a salary cap hit of $7.45M per season.
Rangers Bolster Prospect Pool with Plante, Picks
Max Plante looks unstoppable. He currently leads all NCAA scorers with 40 points in 30 games — a full 10 points ahead of his competition. Should Plante decide to audition for the NHL next season, he’ll have every opportunity to succeed. The 19-year-old is deadly with the puck and would make an immediate impact on the Rangers. If the Red Wings want to make a serious offer for Lafreniere, they’ll need to pony up with a good prospect.
In his letter to the fans, Drury emphasized the need for tenacity, skill, speed, and winning pedigree with future Rangers. Plante has all of those attributes in spades. He’s the exact kind of player the Rangers can use to kickstart their rebuild. While it might hurt to move on from a former first overall pick, if the Rangers want to get off on the right foot, they’ll need to have some tough conversations if they want to contend again. Trading Lafreniere might be just the spark they need to start a proper retool.
Red Wings Land Former 1st Overall Pick in Intriguing Trade Pitch