Report: Expansion Draft could benefit Wings

It’s no secret that Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland has uncovered almost every rock in the NHL in search of an impact defenseman. In fact, it seems that this story had been repeating itself ever since the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski. Regardless, Ansar Khan of Mlive thinks the longtime Wings’ GM may find some solutions on the blue line as a result of this season’s NHL Expansion Draft.

As per the NHL’s rules, teams can only protect a maximum of eight expansion eligible skaters and it appears as though most teams will elect to protect only three defensemen. The thing is, there are some awfully good number four defensemen out there that teams could lose for nothing. This is where Holland can swoop in and seize the opportunity.

Khan outlines five teams in such a position in his latest Q & A article with 
Wings fans at kuklaskorner.com: Minnesota, Nashville, Anaheim, Winnipeg and the New York Islanders. Amongst that group it’s likely that one or more of Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Marco Scandella, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, Josh Manson, Tyler Myers and Calvin de Haan becomes available for trade. Given the alternative of losing the player to the Vegas Golden Knights for no returning asset, you have to figure that the cost of acquisition will be low. Which player do you see as the best fit on the Wings blue line? And what’s a fair price to pay in terms of a trade?