WN ROUNDTABLE: KEN HOLLAND’S TRADE DEADLINE – WIN OR LOSE?

7 years ago

(Charles Leclaire – USA Today Sports)

This year’s trade deadline has now come and gone and the Red Wings were one of the more active teams, shipping out Brendan Smith, Thomas Vanek, Tomas Jurco, and Steve Ott for a bevy of draft picks in the next two seasons.

For the first time of his career, Ken Holland was a seller. Since this was so new to us, we asked our staff whether or not they thought Holland was a winner or a loser at this year’s deadline.

BRIAN GOODCHILD

The trade deadline this season for the Red Wings has to be an automatic win based solely on the fact that Ken Holland finally has committed to the mindset that the streak is not the most important thing for this franchise and collecting future assets should be the first priority. This change in strategy is very refreshing to know that the Red Wings management group has their eye on becoming a more serious contender in future seasons and are willing to put the playoff streak in further jeopardy to accomplish this.

As for actual moves pulled off by Ken Holland this year, I believe that the net results were pretty positive for the total players moved out for assets that came in even though almost all were surprising individually. Starting with the Tomas Jurco trade I was very happy with the return of a 3rd round pick for someone who has yet to contribute consistently in the lineup so far in his career. There is plenty of upside in Jurco and it was unfortunate that he didn’t work out in Detroit but this is definitely a positive move for him and the Red Wings. The Brendan Smith trade was also a pleasant surprise in the value of picks returned for likely our 5th/6th best defender and although once again he could improve in a new environment, it was time to move on and the return of a 2nd and 3rd round draft choice was more than ever expected. The Steve Ott trade has to be a win on all accounts for the fact that the Wings can now play a younger version of the 4th line grinder who can actually contribute in future seasons and additionally were able to pick up an extra 6th round draft choice. Lastly, the Thomas Vanek trade was at first very disappointing with the logic that Jurco almost returned the same amount of value but after seeing the other deals for wingers on the trade deadline, you have to appreciate the fact that at least he was moved at all for something valuable to the future, keeping Vanek was simply not a possibility.

Overall this Deadline was definitely a win for the Red Wings and hopefully it is just the beginning of the rebuild that will one day bring Detroit back into cup contention.

SCOTT MAXWELL

The trade deadline was a win for the Red Wings, however it doesn’t mean it was entirely successful. It started out with a great return for Jurco, although he would have been worth a lot more if KH was better at managing that asset over the last three years. They got something for Steve Ott, which is an automatic win, and Brendan Smith got the best return out of any of them. The return for Vanek was slighty underwhelming for Wings fans, but keeping Vanek’s role and position, it makes a bit more sense.

The deadline was a win, but it doesn’t mean that the Wings are suddenly set for the future. KH still says the team isn’t in a rebuild, and there are numerous bad contracts that plague this team. Until the team sticks to the rebuild plan, and can fix up its cap situation, the trade deadline doesn’t have a huge impact on the team, but it is an excellent start.

BROCK SEGUIN

For never being a “seller” before, I give Ken Holland a passing grade for his work at the trade deadline. Let’s just start with the Thomas Vanek trade. Leading up to the deadline the prices for rental wingers was high. Patrick Eaves fetched a conditional 2nd that can turn into a first. Brian Boyle brought in a second and a fringe NHLer. And the Senators gave up a good prospect and a third round pick to bring in veterans Alex Burrows and Viktor Stalberg. If you ask me, I think Vanek is the best winger in that group. I was expecting a much bigger return for Vanek, but when you look at his body of work in the playoffs, especially as a rental, I think it scared some teams off. At the end of the day I believe Holland truly got the best deal he could have, albeit a disappointing return.

It’s unfortunate the year the Red Wings are finally sellers is considered a weak draft. However, Holland’s return on Tomas Jurco, Brendan Smith and Steve Ott added up to be a 2nd round pick (2018), two 3rd round picks (both in 2017) and a 6th round pick (2018). I think that is an excellent return for a player who couldn’t land a permanent role since being drafted in Jurco, a rugged face-off specialist in Ott and a second/third pairing defenseman who has never lived up to the high expectations.

All in all, it was very close to what I was expecting. He moved all of his unrestricted free agents (except Drew Miller, but duh) and got pretty fair returns. Lost in the Vanek deal is Dylan McIlrath, who at the very least will help the Griffins in the AHL playoffs and definitely adds some real toughness to the organization. Even if he is an NHL pylon.

ADAM LASKARIS

I don’t really get why Detroit didn’t pull the “hey Florida call us back at 2:30 if you still want him” move on Thomas Vanek, but hey, an asset is an asset and it’s better than not moving at all. That being said, the trade deadline was productive enough and Ken Holland gets a passable grade. Plus, convincing another NHL team that Steve Ott was worth trading for is a piece of magic by itself. This trade deadline isn’t going to revitalize the team by itself and it’s unlikely to really have too much of a major impact on the Wings’ future, but hey, it’s something decent and they didn’t do anything stupid. I’ll give it a B.

SAM BLAZER

It’s more or less a net win for the Wings, you don’t love the Vanek move but everything else was good to great. Flipping Smith for that return is good. Flipping Ott for that return is also pretty good. They gave up on a young player like Jurco but it should be expected considering his performance with the team.

They’ll have some picks to play around with this summer. I would’ve liked for them to dump a little more salary. They still have aging players that need to go, this is a good first step though