The Detroit Red Wings are looking to upgrade their defense and they may finally have the cap room to pull off a trade. Now that Pavel Datsyuk’s money is off the books, the Red Wings have some flexibility to pursue a big name in free agency (Steven Stamkos) or to inquire about one of the top defensemen currently on the trade block.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the Red Wings have reached out to both the Anaheim Ducks about Cam Fowler and the St. Louis Blues about Kevin Shattenkirk.
Fowler, 24, is the younger of the two options and is under contract through 2017-18 at a cap hit of $4 million per year. Despite his age, Fowler already has 414 games of NHL experience and is the type of puck-moving defenseman the Red Wings could use.
Shattenkirk, 27, is the more talented of the two defensemen the Red Wings are apparently interested in, but he comes at a higher price. The Blues reportedly wanted Dylan Larkin in a deal, but the Red Wings weren’t interested. Shattenkirk is also only under contract for 2016-17 ($4.25 cap hit) and is pursuing a new contract which will pay him north of $6 million per season.
The Red Wings have plenty of options and they have almost $20 million in cap space to work with. That’s a luxury that few teams have and it should result in the Red Wings stocking up with some talented skaters for 2016-17.
