The Red Wings moved their biggest chips prior to madness of trade deadline day. All that’s left are some smaller pieces that have a much smaller chance of being moved.

Reports have popped up today that teams are calling on Niklas Kronwall, Luke Glendening, and Jimmy Howard, but nothing of substance has come from it.

The only real news we’ve gotten is that the Wings had an offer on the table from Boston for Thomas Vanek, but the 35-year-old winger refused to waive his no trade clause to allow the deal to go through.

This is not surprising in the least, considering Vanek made it clear when he signed in the offseason that he didn’t want to be another trade chip at the deadline. There will always be a market for players like him, but it is not a high value one that will yield a great return. I can’t imagine Boston’s offer was anything more than a 5th round pick.

So yeah, you can be mad that Vanek is keeping the Wings from acquiring a future asset, but who cares really? It’s so small in the grand scheme of things. This is the whole reason he negotiated this NTC into his contract and he has every right to flex that muscle.

Vanek has looked like he’s slowed down significantly this year, not likely to chip in more than 40 points. But he’s not hurting the team by staying through the trade deadline. The big challenge for Ken Holland and co. will be to not re-sign him in the offseason.