Red Wings Still Considering Marc Staal For One of Their Left D Vacancies

Detroit General manager Steve Yzerman said Thursday he is looking to bolster the left side of his defense after the draft and veteran Marc Staal is still a possibility.

“We’ve kind of wanted to wait to see what happened in the expansion draft and now we are getting ready for the NHL draft,” Yzerman said. “And once we get through this draft, we have to hone in on what we do on our left side.

Filip Hronek, Moritz Seider, Troy Stecher and Gustav Lindstrom are right-shot defensemen. Nick Leddy and Danny Dekeyser are left-shot defensemen. Dennis Cholowski, the player the Red Wings lost in the expansion draft, was a left-shot D man. Patrick Nemeth and Jon Merrill, traded at last season’s trade deadline were left shots.

We have some holes to fill,” Yzerman said.

The Red Wings are expected to sign or acquire at least two left-shot defensemen.

Staal is a left-shot defenseman and the Red Wings coaches appreciated how hard he competed last season and his willingness to work with the younger players.

“At the end of the season, I was in touch with Marc and I will get in touch with his agent,” Yzerman said. “And that’s something we will look at in the next few days.”