We may only be 15 games into the Detroit Red Wings 2020-21 season but they are off to a 3-10-2 record which means it is never too early to start talking about potential trades.
But, which players could Red Wings Steve Yzerman target as a possible reclamation project?
Well, according to Devin Little of The Hockey Writers, there are 3 players Yzerman should consider trading for right now.
Those players are D Vince Dunn, D Victor Mete, and F Sam Bennett.
Here is a bit about what Little had to say about each potential trade target.
Vince Dunn (D)
A member of the Blues during their championship run in 2019, defenseman Vince Dunn is still just 24 years old and seems to be on the outs in St. Louis. He was a healthy scratch last week ahead of the Blues’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights, and since then, trade talk has picked up considerably.
At 6-foot, 203 pounds, Dunn isn’t some small offensive defenseman on the fringe of the NHL. Through 232 regular season games, he has 85 points, with 28 of them coming on the power play. The 56th pick of the 2015 draft has a positive influence when he’s on the ice, as evidenced by his relative-Corsi% of 5.2. What this means is that Dunn increases his team’s share of the offensive chances by 5.2% whenever he’s on the ice. With a career average time on-ice (TOI) of 17:03, it’s fair to wonder if he could do more with a more prominent role on another team.
Victor Mete (D)
Ask most Montreal Canadiens fans how they feel about the small-sized defender and most of them will respond positively. Standing at just 5-foot-9, 183 pounds, 22-year-old Victor Mete is one of those offensively-gifted defenders that finds themselves stuck behind the threshold of becoming a full-time NHL player. It’s a similar situation to that of Red Wings defensive prospect Joe Hicketts, though Mete has found way more success in the NHL than Hicketts.
Through 171 regular season games, Mete has 31 points, including 13 in 71 games during the 2018-19 season where he spent a lot of minutes alongside Shea Weber, the Canadiens’ captain and top defender. Since that season, Montreal has added a few bodies on the blue line and currently finds themselves atop the Scotia North Division in terms of points-percentage (.750). They’ve done this without Mete in their lineup, which resulted in the defender formally submitting a trade request.
Sam Bennett (F)
It’s not everyday that a former fourth overall pick becomes available. Unfortunately for Sam Bennett and the Calgary Flames, he hasn’t really lived up to the hype of his draft position. This is even more shocking as he was considered a legitimate candidate to go first overall in that draft (the Florida Panthers took defenseman Aaron Ekblad with the first overall selection.) He was taken with the fourth selection in the same 2014 draft that the Red Wings took Dylan Larkin 15th overall and the Boston Bruins took David Pastrnak 25th overall. You win some and you lose some.
That’s not to say that Bennett is a complete bust. The 6-foot-1, 195 pound center has never recorded more than 36 points in a season (he did so during the 2015-16 season) resulting in a career points per-game (P/G) rate of .35, but where he really comes alive is the playoffs, where he has 19 points in 30 games, a P/G of .63. He shines brightest when the pressure is on, becoming a tenacious forechecker in the offensive zone that is capable of cashing in on his opportunities. He averages just 14:12 in ice-time through 371 regular season games across seven seasons. He has a cap-hit of $2.55 million, and will be an RFA at the season’s end.
To read the rest about what Little had to say about these potential targets, please click here.
Nation, would you like to see Yzerman bring in any of these three players via a trade?
