3 Moves the Detroit Red Wings Should Have Made at the Trade Deadline

The Detroit Red Wings made a pair of moves at the 2015 NHL trade deadline, picking up Erik Cole and Marek Zidlicky while not giving up anyone on their active roster.

But the Wings have won just once in three games since then, losing back-to-back games in regulation for the first time all season. 

While it would be unfair to criticize Red Wings general manager Ken Holland for making moves meant to improve the team, this article will simply look at players who could have been available for similar or comparable returns to what they gave up at the deadline.

While the Zidlicky and Cole moves cannot—and for the record should not—be undone, here are three players the Red Wings should have at least targeted at the trade deadline.

Sam Gagner

With all the talk over the past season about how it would be nice to add a quality right-shooting player into the top-six forward group of the Detroit Red Wings, it is extremely puzzling that there wasn't more talk regarding the Wings possibly acquiring Sam Gagner.

Gagner, the one-time sixth overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, was traded twice on June 29, 2014—once to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Teddy Purcell and again to the Phoenix Coyotes in a package deal with B.J. Crombeen for a sixth-round draft pick.

According to AZCentral's Sarah McLellan, "Adding more space seemed to be a priority for the Lightning."

The one thing that steered a lot of teams away from Gagner, however, was likely his salary-cap hit of $3.2 million (Tampa Bay is retaining $1.6 million per year) and the fact that he is not a "rental" type of player, as he has another year left on his contract after this one.

But if the Red Wings were going to give up anything for a power forward in Cole, Holland should have at least ran some propositions by Arizona Coyotes GM Don Maloney to see if a deal for a right-shooting player in Gagner could be arranged.

Gagner is listed as a center on his NHL.com player page, but his 294 faceoffs in 65 games (4.5 faceoffs taken per game) suggest that he doubles as a right winger.

That is a position that the Wings could use some help at, as their top-line right winger is Justin Abdelkader.

Although Abdelkader is having a career year with 16 goals and 34 points, he has just 10 points in the past 24 games after having 24 in his first 42 contests.

Gagner—who scored 118 points in 53 games in his final season in the OHL—has shown limited offensive output in his eight seasons as a pro, but all eight of those seasons have been on underachieving teams in the Edmonton Oilers and the Arizona Coyotes.

While the Wings could have to make some decisions in the offseason regarding their salary cap, they could have at least taken a look or made an offer for the 25-year-old Sam Gagner.

Instead, Gagner will have to wait another season for a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Lee Stempniak

When talking about "plug and play" right wingers, it is surprising that there wasn't more conversation involving Lee Stempniak, the one-time 28-goal scorer. Stempniak was dealt at the deadline from the New York Rangers to the Winnipeg Jets for longtime AHL forward Carl Klingberg.

There's a couple of things to like about Stempniak's style of play from the Detroit standpoint. 

First, Stempniak loves getting to the net, and the bulk of his goals come within five feet of the crease.

The Red Wings have a fair number of players who like to work the perimeter game and move the puck outside, but only a few actually get to the net on a regular basis.

Stempniak also lets his physical game speak for itself, with 60 hits in 55 contests this season while playing just 12 minutes and 30 seconds per game. He doesn't hesitate to finish his checks, and that is something that the Red Wings could use—especially when trying to protect leads going into the playoffs.

He also carries just a $900,000 salary this season, which would have been prorated to only a fraction of that at the trade deadline, so he wouldn't have cost much money-wise either.

Dion Phaneuf

When it comes down to it, Marek Zidlicky is likely in Detroit because the Red Wings did not get Dion Phaneuf prior to the trade deadline.

While the Red Wings were in discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs about Phaneuf, the fact of the matter is that if Detroit wanted him, it should have ramped up the trade discussions for him much earlier in the season and put a bigger target on him.

According to Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos (h/t Sportsnet.ca's Mike Johnston), the starting asking return for Phaneuf was 2013 first-rounder Anthony Mantha. 

Kypreos stated on Hockey Central's trade deadline special that Mantha to Toronto "was not happening," leaving most Red Wings fans heaving a big sigh of relief.

The Wings should have been more persistent, though, given the lack of offense from Detroit defensemen not named Niklas Kronwall and Danny DeKeyser. Those two players have combined for 60 points between them, but the next four leading scorers on Detroit's blue line have combined for just 50 points.

While Phaneuf has had a rough go of it this season with just 25 points in 54 contests, he has been a product of his environment in Toronto. A change of scenery could have done him well.

The Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch expects the Leafs and Red Wings to revisit the Phaneuf deal sometime in the offseason. 

"There were serious discussions between the two teams. Those talks were so deep that even Leafs president Brendan Shanahan may have been involved with his former team at one point with GM Dave Nonis to see if the deal could come to fruition," he wrote.

While the Wings may revisit this potential deal in the summer, it will not be in time to help them this season, which is unfortunate due to how well Detroit has performed.

As for making the deal happen, for Detroit, the key is making the starting point of the deal someone other than Dylan Larkin or Anthony Mantha.

If that can be arranged and the Leafs agree to retain a fraction of Phaneuf's $7 million salary—or a salary-in, salary-out arrangement can come into place—then Phaneuf may yet be a Red Wing.

Did Detroit Do Enough at the Deadline?

It is difficult to pull off moves in the hours leading up to the trade deadline because the asking prices are high and the desire to part with valuable future assets is usually low.

So was the case with the trades that Holland made at the trade deadline. But did he do enough to help take his team get to the next level?

A lot of that has to do with how good the Red Wings were before the trade vs. how good they are now and how much better they could have been with any of the aforementioned players in this slideshow—or any other players that fans want to throw out there.

While hockey fans and pundits are quick to criticize Phaneuf, his style of play and the value of his contract, TVA Sports' Renaud Lavoie suggested the Leafs were willing to retain part of his salary.

The Wings hadn't lost back-to-back regulation games all season until after the trade deadline, but with the insertion of new players into a lineup comes the occasional waiting period until chemistry forms.

Zidlicky already has a game-winning goal against the New York Rangers and potted another goal on Sunday against the Boston Bruins, but Erik Cole looks shaky at best and his 17.3 shooting percentage is bound to come down a bit eventually. The league average is 8.6 percent per Quant Hockey.

Hopefully, the Red Wings can get healthy and there will be more options as far as players who will be available come playoff time for Detroit.

Until then, the Wings must find a way to get back to their winning ways in order to make the playoffs for a 24th consecutive time.

Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.