The Detroit Red Wings are looking to end their playoff drought and one trade pitch has them acquiring a star in a massive deal.
The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Red Wings acquiring Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes.
Red Wings acquire:
Hurricanes acquire:
- J.T. Compher ($2.6 million retained)
- Patrick Kane
- 2025 first-round pick
- 2026 first-round pick
The proposed deal would be a blockbuster. Detroit would acquire Rantanen from Carolina for two first-round picks and two NHL players. The Hurricanes just acquired Rantanen but his name has come back up in trade rumors if they can’t sign him before the March 7 trade deadline.
Rantanen is in the final year of his six-year $55.5 million deal. The star forward would bolster Detroit’s lineup and help them end their playoff drought as he likely would play on the top line. This season between the Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche, he’s recorded 26 goals and 40 assists for 66 points in 55 games.
In return, Detroit would give up their first-round picks in the next two years which would be a big part of the return. Along with that, the Red Wings would also trade Compher who’s in the second year of his five-year $25.5 million deal. Compher could be a third-line center with Carolina as this season he’s skated in 49 games recording 6 goals and 15 assists for 21 points.
Kane, meanwhile, is a future Hall of Famer and would add some offense to the Hurricanes roster. Kane signed a one-year $4 million deal with the Red Wings. This season, he’s skated in 45 games recording 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points.
Hurricanes Could Trade Rantanen Again
Carolina made a blockbuster deal to acquire Rantanen. But, with him being a pending free agent, he could be traded again.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli thinks Carolina could flip Rantanen before the March 7 trade deadline.
“If this gets closer to March 7, and he’s unsigned and they have a feeling he’s not going to sign,” Seravalli said on DailyFaceoff. “I wouldn’t be shocked. They’ve got an owner just crazy enough to turn around and say let’s see what we can get back what we paid, if not more.”
Rantanen has 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 games with the Hurricanes as he has struggled to fit in.
Red Wings Coach Focused on Improvements
Detroit is currently holding onto a playoff spot.
The Red Wings started slow and fired Derek Lalonde and replaced him with Todd McLellan. Since McLellan took over, Detroit is 15-5-1 but McLellan says there still is room for improvement.
“We can take some time to breathe,” McLellan said. “As a staff, we’ll review where we’ve been and what we need to work on. Some of the things we saw are important. Game-management skills are really hard to work on in practice because there is no score or fatigue and not a lot of line-matching. It’s hard to recreate stressful situations, so game-management skills just have to keep coming through video and experience. For us to move forward, those are going to have to improve.”
Detroit is 28-22-5 and holding onto the final Wild Card spot.
Trade Pitch Sees Red Wings Acquiring $55.5 Million Star in Blockbuster