Insider report: GM officially taking trade calls for the young forward

The Andreas Athanasiou saga seems to never want to end. The young Detroit Red Wings RFA is currently in Switzerland skating with HC Lugano. There were talks that he might sign a KHL contract and participate in the Olympics.

The player and team are about $600,000 apart in contract negotiations, and it appears with every passing day that the likelier outcome of this tiresome situation is that general manager Ken Holland trades Athanasiou.

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the ask from the Red Wings "is a player of similar offensive skill who is at the same age or younger than Athanasiou." Essentially, they're looking for an exact replacement - which begs the question: Who will give up an identical player for a kid who's creating all sorts of problems for his team?

Detroit isn't in a rush to make this trade happen, but as time goes by, it seems more and more likely. As it stands, they cannot afford Athanasiou at all seeing as they are right up against the $75 million salary cap. A player will have to be waived or traded to fit Athanasiou on the team.

The much-maligned forward scored 18 goals in 64 games last season.