Is Calvin de Haan a player the Red Wings should be focusing on?

As the rumor mill begins to churn for the offseason, multiple names have been thrown around as possibly moving in the near future. Most have expiring contracts and others are bait for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his 30 Thoughts column brought up a name that may be of some interest to Red Wing fans.

de Haan just had a career best year with the Islanders and is going to be looking for a pay raise this offseason. As a restricted free agent, the Islanders may be better off with another team taking him off their hands. The Golden Knights would be a good landing spot but for a team that is without any difference making defensemen, the Red Wings could give it a shot.

At 25 points on the year in 82 games, de Haan isn’t reinventing the position by any stretch. So you have to ask yourself as a person running a front office, what are you getting from him that you aren’t getting elsewhere? Is getting him and signing him to a long-term contract worth it?

Looking at his shot differential, his stats are fine and not particularly troublesome. He more or less stays by the team average when it comes to Corsi For. He was below the vaunted 50% this year but kept a Corsi relative to years past. He doesn’t necessarily drive play. He is just there for it.

The group of Red Wings defensemen on this team are all similar in that mold. Then again, de Haan would’ve been second on the team in defensemen scoring. They could use a lot of help.

If they were to bring in de Haan, they would almost immediately need to move money to allow them to sign him and other restricted free agents. de Haan’s closest comparable in both points and shot differential at the time of the signing is David Savard who carries a $4.25 million contract. They are fine players in your top four but they may stress you out if given a bigger role.

The Red Wings barely have enough money for that and are trying to rebuild their team as they speak. It doesn’t feel like a savvy move.

If they want to continue the rebuild on the fly narrative, you could do a lot worse than de Haan as a target. He is serviceable and has played all over the Islanders’ lineup with moderate success.

On first pass, a deal doesn’t feel like the end of the world. Examining it past the surface, it is more like the Red Wings’ past deals than anyone cares to admit. Considering the same group is still in charge, it wouldn’t surprise me to see it happen. It shouldn’t take place if they’re serious about building their future.