Red Wings Ready to Give Tarasenko Another Chance?

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is not one to tip his hand before he lays his cards on the table.

But occasionally he will offer clues to what he might do if you are paying attention. For example, in his post-season address, Yzerman didn’t sound like GM considering buying out forward Vladimir Tarasenko or defenseman Erik  Gustafsson.

“I think (Tarasenko’s)  play was better probably than his production,” Yzerman said. “I would say he was frustrated  not being able to produce and I think that affected his attitude and affected his play.”

Based on Tarasenko’s history, the Red Wings were hoping for 25 goals out of Tarasenko. They got 11.  His down year was among several reasons why the Red Wings five-on-five goal production wasn’t where it needed to be.

The Red Wings have more than $20 million in cap space to improve that offense, but it also seemed plausible they might also buy out Tarasenko as part of an offensive facelift. They need roster spots to bring about change. But it sounds as if they believe they can change the offense while letting Tarasenko play out the last season of his $4.75 million contract.

Yzerman said the discussions with Tarasenko this season centered on “you try to reassure him that you’re doing a lot of good things out there and don’t let the missed chances or the inability to score affect your play. I’m hopeful and expecting him to give us more than he did this year because I know we can. I believe he can give us more than what he showed this year. ”

It’s not as if Yzerman pulled the buyout option off the table, but he seems to be considering the possibility of a bounce-back season from Tarasenko.

Gustafsson started slowly with Detroit, but played better in the second half of the season. Yzerman said when the team was carrying eight defensemen, none of the bottom three defenseman was thriving. That included Albert Johansson. After Olli Maatta was traded, Gustafsson’s play picked up as he played more regularly.

“We’ve talked about it down the stretch when Eric Gustafsson was out, we felt we missed him. We missed his mobility, his skating,” Yzerman said.

Gustafsson has one year remaining at $2 million. That’s slightly below the average salary of a veteran defenseman. The Red Wings may have the option of trading Gustafsson because teams are always looking for players with power play experience.

If the Red Wings keep Gustafsson,  they would have Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Gustafsson and Justin Holl returning, there would only be room to add one free agent, perhaps someone to play with Seider.  Vladislav Gavrikov (Los Angles Kings) or Ryan Lindgren (Colorado Avalanche) are possible candidates.

If the Red Wings keep Tarasenko,  they could project him as a top nine forward who moves into the top six if he rediscovers his scoring touch or the Red Wings suffer injuries.

The expectation is the Red Wings bring in a scorer, probably through a UFA signing, to play on a line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. However, if the Red Wings signed a center, then Marco Kasper could return to playing with Raymond and Larkin and the center could go between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane (presuming he re-signs).

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