Why the Anaheim Ducks Are A Perfect Trade Partner For the Red Wings

Ask any Wings fan what they believe is the team’s biggest weakness right now and the response will be “the defense”. Well, the Anaheim Ducks may be able to help, as reports are going around that they are interested in acquiring a top-6 forward.

The injuries all season have been piling up for them and they are finally ready to make a move. The Ducks also have one of the best defense-corps in the NHL (this is where the Wings come into the equation) with the likes of Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, and Sami Vatanen manning the point for them. I’m going to assume these three are untouchable, however that does make two other blue-liners expendable to them. Those are Josh Manson and Brandon Montour. Montour in particular is the player the Wings should target mainly because he provides more offensive fire power then Manson. He’s also 3 years younger. Go big or go home, amirite?

Why exactly should the Wings go after Montour? For starters, he’s 23-years-old, can skate and has dynamic offensive instincts with NHL experience. He’s off to an outstanding start to this season, showing he is already a top-4 defensemen in the NHL. Through 15 games this season, he has recorded 8 points (4 goals and 4 assists) averaging 20:57 TOI. Most importantly, he will greatly improve our powerplay. at 5v4, Montour holds a Corsi-For percentage of 83% and a Shots-For percentage of 84%, which are both the best among Anaheim defensemen by a wide margin. Montour’s abillity to generate shots would be a tremendous addition to the Red Wings powerplay, which currently ranks 18th in the league at 18%.

Opportunities to acquire a young defenseman like this don’t come very often. The reality in today’s NHL is that it’s basically impossible to acquire talented young defensemen, especially established ones. What I mean by established is players who have proven they can play in the NHL. Those type of defensemen are almost never available on the market, and when they are, the team is going to ask for a king’s ransom in return. With the Ducks in search of a top-6 forward to help them get out of their early season funk (they currently sit 6th in the Pacific Division), they may be more desperate to sell low on Montour, who they can certainly replace, as once they get healthy, he will most likely fall out of their top-4. Not to mention they have prospect defensemen Jacob Larsson ready to step in and replace him.

If I am Ken Holland, I pick up the phone right now and look to center this trade around Montour and Gustav Nyquist. Why Nyquist you may ask? Well, he is currently on a hot steak, so his trade value is probably the highest it will ever be, as it is unlikely he will keep it up with his inconsistent ways. He fits the bill as a lefty who can play in their top-6 and add scoring depth, which is what they are looking for. I should also add, for this trade to work within the salary cap, the Wings will most likely have to take back Kevin Bieksa as well (don’t worry, he has 1-year left).

Nyquist will also be a UFA in 2 years, so at some point the Wings will have to look to move him, as I don’t think extending him will be the best move for the team. Having 2 years left also gives Anaheim time to re-sign him, which makes this trade even more enticing to them. Nyquist’s $4.75M cap hit coming off the books would also help out the Wings this off-season in signing Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, and Andreas Athanasiou (Montour is an RFA this off-season as well). Replacing him won’t be that difficult either, with young wingers in Evegeny Svechnikov, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Martin Frk all banging on the door for a bigger role. Montour can also be the replacement for Mike Green next year.

Overall, this deal helps clear cap space and adds a promising young defenseman which the Wings are in desperate need of, as there are no guarantees that Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski, or Vili Saarijarvi pan out, and Montour has already proven he can be an impact player in the NHL. For Anaheim, they add a good scorer to help them up front, and don’t take a big hit because they are already stacked on the back-end, and their defense will still be intact. Other pieces like draft picks may need to be included into this deal, but the premise of it is something I would greatly consider.