4. Heard through the gossip line that a few teams had reached out to Detroit about Andreas Athanasiou when there were some battles over his ice time. Red Wings GM Ken Holland wouldn’t comment, but another team indicated he told them not to even bother asking unless “a 22-year-old top-pair defenceman†was part of the conversation. The Wings have told clubs they are “open for business,†but won’t consider moving any of their young offensive cornerstones unless that kind of player is potentially available. My sense is the same goes for Petr Mrazek. Thomas Vanek likely goes (and could come back in the summer). They will discuss re-signing Brendan Smith in the next few days before a decision on trading him.
5. I’m also not certain Detroit will trade Mike Green. He’s got one year to go on his contract, and they need offence from the defence. He delivers. In fact, it’s possible they discuss a short extension, as he’s eligible for a new deal on July 1.
He will probably not trade anyone and instead sign them to long, ridiculous deals.
