Struggling team may trade their best offensive player if they continue to lose.

Veteran talent may be on on his way out.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
Struggling team may trade their best offensive player if they continue to lose.

While it's certainly not a future that fans of the Detroit Red Wings want to picture, their team may very well be a seller prior to the National Hockey League's trade deadline this season.

In a recent article published in the Detroit News, Red Wings reporter Ted Kuflan wondered openly about the future of forward Thomas Vanek should the Wings continue to struggle, and it's clear that Kuflan believes the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent would be prime trading bait.

From the Detroit News:

If the team steadily drops out of playoff contention, or the gap widens just enough where the playoffs become a longshot, does general manager Ken Holland turn to seller and dangle Vanek, a prospective unrestricted free agent, for the March 1 trade deadline?

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Surely, in what could be a weak trade market in terms of impact players, Vanek could be considered a prize for a playoff contender.

Vanek when healthy has been arguably the team's best offensive player currently having a share of the team lead for goals with 11 and he also currently sits second in total points among Red Wing players with 29 in 32 games, just two behind the 31 of Henrik Zetterberg who has played in 11 more games than Vanek this season. It's easy to imagine a scenario where the organization feels trading Vanek is in their best long-term interests.

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