Drastic Dash in the Dirty Daigle Division

With just 5 games left to play in the MRFHL regular season the Detroit Red Wings sit in 2nd in the Daigle division despite a post-deadline losing skid that threatened to derail the season and a final 15 game schedule that can only be described as "sadistic" (I mean, how else do you describe 11 games in 15 nights with three groups of 3-games-in-3 nights?). The division has been tight all season, often with two or three points separating the top 6 teams, but as we get closer to game 82 the race has seemingly narrowed down to 5 teams.

After today's shootout win over the Habs, the Habs lead the division with 95 points in 76 games, and the Wings sit 2nd with 94 points in 77 games, followed by the Leafs with 91 in 74, the Sens with 89 in 77, and Lightning with 87 in 75 games. The Blue Jackets are still contending for a wildcard spot with 87 points in 77 games but a 4 game losing streak has wreaked havok on their odds. With 77 games played already, the Wings aren't well-positioned to win the division, but a 2nd place finish and home ice are still very much in play, and a losing streak could see the Wings headed the golf course instead of playoffs.

McDavid has excelled in the past 10 games, doing his best to put the team on his back after developing instant chemistry with Elias Lindholm and Carl Soderberg, but the 3rd line hasn't been consistent and Tomas Hertl has struggled away from McDavid's line. 

It may come down to the final day to determine who makes playoffs in the Dirty Daigle, and it may end in heart break yet again, but the fans in Hockeytown are certainly in for a wild ride either way.

2020 Trade Deadline Review:

Although it feels more like 18 years, the MRFHL trade deadline was actually 18 days ago. Here at the Detroit Free Press we've been practicing social distancing for the past couple weeks and haven't had a chance... okay fine, we've all been drunk for the past couple weeks and we've been too lazy to write about the Wings' trade deadline. Better late than never.

The Wings went into the trade deadline in need of a jump-start, so GM Evans took a bit of an unorthodox approach and focused on adding both prospects and veterans. The Wings kicked off this strategy the day before the deadline by shipping out promising young goalie Hunter Miska, prospect Mattias Samuelsson, and top AHLer Chris Wideman to the Coyotes for top prospects Jan Jenik and Matias Maccelli, a 4th round pick, and AHLer AJ White.

Next up the Wings sent Blake Coleman and a 2020 3rd to Philadelphia for their 2021 1st and prospect Reilly Walsh. On the surface this seems more like the type of deal a rebuilding team would make, but GM Evans was far from finished making trades.

In another prospect-centric deal, GM Evans traded a whopping 4 draft picks, a 2022 3rd, a 2021 4th, and two 2021 5ths, in exchange for the NCAA's leading scorer, Jack Dugan. When reached for comment on the deal GM Evans had the following to say: "This was a hefty price to pay for an unproven NCAA player, but I really feel Dugan is worth the gamble. He's a gritty playmaking winger and he managed to build off a very strong freshman year last season by leading the entire NCAA in scoring, 7 points clear of the next closest player."

After acquiring Dugan, GM Evans shifted focus to the UFA rental market to replace the departed Blake Coleman and add some forward depth. After shopping around a bit, GM Evans acquired gritty veterans Leo Komarov and Scottie Upshall from the Canucks for a 2022 5th and prospect Vinni Lettieri. With a single trade the Wings managed to add two useful bottom 6 forwards and fill both needs.

At this point the Wings seemed to have a pretty solid roster without any glaring holes, so in classic GM Evans fashion... Drew Doughty was traded away. With Chabot, Heiskanen, Pionk, and Pulock already on the roster as long term pieces and Doughty's contract expiring in the offseason, the timing made sense. In exchange for Doughty the Wings acquired Dustin Byfuglien, MIN 2021 1st, Sasha Chmelevski, Noah Gregor, Garrett Pilon, and Mason Millman. This move brings Detroit up to a ridiculous nine 1st round picks in the next couple drafts and adds 4 good young players. 

GM Evans: "Drew was fantastic for the Wings for most of the season but really faltered in the final 3 weeks before the deadline. He's still one of the top 5 or so defensemen in the league but didn't seem to perform up the expectations in Detroit and was due for a big contract in the summer, so I decided to give Big Buff a shot to fill his shoes while adding some future pieces. Chmelevski is a smart player with 2nd line upside if he can improve his skating,Gregor looks like a talented complimentary player who can play all over the lineup, Pilon is a hard worker with some talent and should be a bottom 6 forward one day soon, and Millman is a bit of a wildcard that improved a lot this year. It's hard for me to say we won this trade at this stage, but I'm pretty confident Buff can help this team win now, that 2021 1st will help the team down the road, and at least 1 or 2 of the prospects will make it."

The Wings followed up their blockbuster trade with the Wild with a slightly smaller move, sending veteran Michael Raffl to the Penguins for a 2020 5th round pick. The only people excited about this trade were the Wings scouting staff. They don't get out much.

As the clock ticked toward deadline time, the Wings head amateur scout burst into the office with a list of 5 players he insisted must be signed immediately. The phrase "superstar potential" was used... The context may have been "these guys have zero superstar potential, but they can maybe play in the AHL," but the phrase was certainly used. After the commish muttered something about "you can't sign someone else's player" the Wings were able to sign Steve Lorentz, Dave Gust, Zac Leslie, and Blaine Byron to 1 year league minimum deals.

Mere minutes after signing the quartet of young AHLers, GM Evans ruthlessly traded Blaine Byron along with Andrew Oglevie to the Ducks for veterans Vladimir Sobotka and Andrew MacDonald. 

When the dust settled on trade deadline day the Wings had added vets Buff, Komarov, Upshall, Sobotka, MacDonald, a pair of 2021 1sts, a 2021 4th, a 2020 5th, and prospects Jack Dugan, Jan Jenik, Matias Maccelli, Reilly Walsh, Sasha Chmelevski, Noah Gregor, Mason Millman, and Garrett Pilon. The main pieces leaving the Wings were Doughty, Coleman, Miska, a 2020 3rd, and prospect Mattias Samuelsson. All in all it was a pretty big deadline for GM Evans and only time will tell if the unorthodox "have your cake and eat it too" strategy was brilliant or crazy.

-Detroit Free Press

Soderberg-McDavid-Lindholm
Sobotka-Couturier-Teravainen
Kreider-Hertl-Chiasson
Upshall-Dubinsky-Komarov
Fehr

Dekeryser-Burns
Pionk-Buff
Pulock-MacDonald
Heiskanen-Chabot
Redmond

Lehner
Hart