Red Wings player who must be traded soon

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The Detroit Red Wings picked up a win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. However, it is a small glimmer of hope in an otherwise dreadful season. The Red Wings are near the bottom of the NHL at this time. This is in spite of the Red Wings’ signings of Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Cam Talbot. Head coach Derek Lalonde has even faced calls for his job amid the brutal form on the ice.

The Red Wings appear headed for a ninth straight season without postseason hockey. This would set a new franchise record for the longest postseason drought. Without a doubt, this is not the standard of play Detroit holds themselves to. But at the same time, things aren’t working.

Detroit is reportedly looking to shake up its roster at this time. Of course, it’s easy to talk about shaking things up, but it’s another thing to actually do it. Teams across the NHL have been quite active on the trade market this season. But Detroit has been extremely quiet except for trading Olli Maatta to the Utah Hockey Club.

The Red Wings are likely to increase their trade activity in the coming months. And there is one player in particular Detroit needs to trade before any others. If they don’t, they run the risk of his trade value plummeting ahead of the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

Patrick Kane’s time with Red Wings should end soon

Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Red Wings took a chance on Patrick Kane last November after he recovered from hip surgery. At the time, it was a low-risk, high-reward move. Kane is one of the greatest playmakers of his generation. And Detroit needed someone who could open up the ice and generate scoring opportunities.

The move worked out better than Detroit may have expected. Kane scored 20 goals in 2023-24 and played at a nearly point-per-game pace in 50 games. He was one of the reasons this team had one of the most lethal offenses in the entire league. Kane re-signed this past summer on a one-year contract worth $4 million.

Unfortunately, Kane has not played well to this point in 2024-25. He has four goals and 13 points through 26 games this season. He has also missed five games with an injury. The future Hall of Fame winger is on pace for 12 goals and 39 points if he maintains this level of production the rest of the season.

Kane has a lot of things going for him that contending teams could be interested in. He could flourish outside of Detroit’s defensive-oriented system, for starters. Additionally, he has a ton of experience in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kane won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks and has played nearly 150 games in the postseason.

Another thing going his way is his contract situation. He is signed for this season and then becomes a free agent in July. He does have a full no-trade clause, though, which certainly complicates matters.

Some of Kane’s underlying numbers aren’t bad. For instance, he has the third-highest Goals For Percentage among Detroit skaters at 5v5, according to Evolving Hockey. However, he also has the lowest xGF% and the third-lowest Goals For Per 60 Minutes at 5v5. Only Marco Kasper and Jonatan Berggren have a lower GF/60 at 5v5 to this point.

There are reasons for contending teams to take an interest in Kane despite his performance. However, those other traits can only take you so far before the on-ice performance outweighs everything else. The Red Wings are nearing a point where Kane may not have much of a market at the NHL Trade Deadline. As a result, they should trade him as soon as an agreeable offer presents itself.

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