NHL Trade Rumors: Travis Moen Perfect Target for Surging Red Wings

Between now and the trade deadline on Feb. 27, the Detroit Red Wings don't need to add the biggest player on the market, they only need to land the right one. That man is the Canadiens' gritty left winger Travis Moen. 

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press detailed the kind of player that the Wings will be going after. 

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At this point, the Wings are seeking veterans, not a guy like Columbus' Rick Nash, who would cost at least Valtteri Filppula, top defensive prospect Brendan Smith and a first-rounder.

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Ansar Khan of MLive.com detailed Moen as a possibility, breaking down what he would bring to Detroit. 

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Moen would make the Red Wings harder to play against and help a mediocre penalty kill. He played a key role on Anaheim's 2007 Stanley Cup-winning club.

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Khan added:

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Expect general manager Ken Holland to be on the phone with his Canadiens' counterpart, Pierre Gauthier, in the days leading up to the deadline, trying to acquire Moen.

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Someone to help the penalty kill is precisely what the Red Wings need. They currently rank 20th in the NHL, which is not going to get it done in the playoffs. Postseason games tend to be close, low-scoring games. Those contests are often decided by a power-play goal. 

The Red Wings don't particularly need a guy to help score power play goals, or any kind of goals for that matter. They are fourth in the NHL in scoring and loaded with All-Star and even Hall of Fame talent. Bringing in a player like Nash would not only cost far too much, but it wouldn't fill any gaps. It only might make some strengths marginally better. 

Moen is a big guy (6'2, 217 pounds) that would keep opposing players from camping out in front of the goalie when Detroit is on the penalty kill. 

On the other side of the ice, his size gives Moen the perfect asset needed to park out in front of the opposing goalie. He has scored nine goals on the season, proving that he is capable of depositing the puck in the back of the net.

These are often the kind of players that make the difference between winning and losing in the playoffs. The sexiest names grab the headlines and score the prettiest goals, but those mean absolutely nothing in the playoffs. 

Playoff wins are achieved by playing nasty and tough. You win in the postseason by scoring the ugly goals and keeping your opponents from them.

Moen gives the Red Wings the grit they need to win those battles. Talent will never be the problem in Detroit, but they do need some good third and fourth line guys to pull big games out. The Canadiens' winger is the right man to bring that depth.

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