Outside of Nick Leddy and Vladislav Namestnikov, Detroit has five other expiring UFAs: defensemen Troy Stetcher, Marc Staal, and Danny DeKeyser, forward Sam Gagner and goaltender Thomas Greiss.
Some of those players might net late round picks from teams that miss out on the trade deadline’s top prizes. With most of those players expected to leave this offseason, GM Steve Yzerman will likely entertain offers.
(The Red Wings also have two expiring deals on injured reserve in Carter Rowney and Riley Barber, but I will exclude them from this article because it’s unlikely they get moved.)
Troy Stetcher
Starting with the most obvious, I think someone will call on Stetcher. He’s a serviceable bottom pairing defenseman and looked like one of Detroit’s most reliable defensemen last season.
Stetcher’s wrist injury earlier this season might be a concern for other GMs, but he won’t be expected to log huge minutes and lead a defense. He’s a depth piece for teams on the cusp. If I’m a team like the New York Rangers or St. Louis, I would gladly move a fifth- or sixth-rounder for a guy like Stetcher. It’s a low-stakes investment to shore up the defense.
Marc Staal
After a career with the Rangers, Staal has been a mid- to low-tier offensive defenseman for Detroit. He’s a good locker room guy and mentors prospects like Gustav Lindstrom and Moritz Seider, but he’s not exactly impressive on defense (that’s putting it lightly).
I don’t think anyone will call about Staal, although his cheap $2 million contract makes him an experienced option for teams with a depleted back end. Teams making the playoffs have their scoring defense locked down. Depth players are supposed to be guys that can lock it down in their own end. I don’t think anyone sees Staal as a solution on that front.
Danny DeKeyser
In recent years, DeKeyser has struggled with injuries, and his defensive abilities haven’t fared much better. Despite a slight resurgence alongside rookie phenom Seider, DeKeyser is a tire fire in his own zone. He hasn’t posted a Corsi percentage above 50 since 2014-15, although most of that has to do with his high defensive usage. Still, he coughs up the puck a lot and struggles under pressure. He’s easily Detroit’s worst starting defenseman.
He’s also expensive at a $5 million cap hit. Even with salary retained, no one will pick up that albatross of a contract. If someone trades for DeKeyser, I’ll get his number tattooed on my neck.
Sam Gagner
I wouldn’t take that risk for Gagner, though. Playing in the bottom six, he’s proven his reliability as a two-way scorer despite facing the highest defensive starts workload of his career. His five goals and 13 assists are ninth-most on the Red Wings, even if Detroit’s defense lags when he takes the ice. That’s a symptom of his usage on the penalty and against top-six scoring lines.
In the past, Gagner hasn’t really been the centerpiece of major deals. He was a contract move in the Andreas Athanasiou trade, and Vancouver swapped him with Edmonton for Ryan Spooner in 2019. I don’t see anyone paying more than a seventh-round pick for Gagner’s services. Because of that low return, Detroit might want to keep him around to mentor the prospects, but he’s also nearing the end of his career and might want to chase Stanley Cup dreams.
Thomas Greiss
Stanley Cup dreams might come to Detroit another way: Alex Nedeljkovic blossoming into a solid starter for the Red Wings. In the wake of that, Greiss has become a decent backup in limited action. It’s the same role that got him plenty of love from New York Islanders fans, and his recent stretch for the Red Wings has increased his goodwill in the Motor City.
Speaking of Goodwill, that’s the kind of goaltending a team would need to be interested in Greiss. His save percentage and goals allowed average are at their worst since 2017-18. No one is going to trade assets for a guy who can’t make saves on penalty kills and can’t steal games.
He played at an average replacement level in the Isles’ playoff run in 2019-20, splitting four games with a .929 save percentage. But right now, teams have their starters locked down, and they aren’t going to break up locker room chemistry by introducing a new goaltender. No contender has huge goaltending issues that Thomas Greiss could make a dent in. I don’t think I need to say this, but he’s not Dwayne Roloson.
Overall, I think Sam Gagner and Troy Stetcher get moved. The picks won’t be significant (I don’t see Yzerman picking up a different player in a trade), but they might yield fringe prospects or couple with other picks to move the Red Wings up. With a deep draft coming up, that’s a great position for Detroit to be in.
Big Tex Goes to College 