What could Andrew Copp’s injury mean for red wings as the trading time is approaching

As the red wings returned from a break of 4 nations last week, the NHL trading term on March 7 began to seem a secondary consideration.

Detroit looked a little thin on the blue line, especially after Jeff Petry’s injury, but placed in a wild card of the Eastern Conference, the most probable approach to the red wings at the deadline It was one easy – the same as last season.

And it can still be. But a Major ridge came to light on Tuesday, when it will be the announcement of red wings, Andrew Copp, will be the second line center Out for the rest of the season After suffering a successful surgery on the left pectoral tendon.

The COPP was one of the players who benefited most from the change of the coach from the middle of the season, lifted me in line and saw that his basic numbers are significantly improving since Todd Mclellan has taken over. He looked as an excellent match with Alex Debrincat and Patrick Kane, either Vladimir Tarasenko, or did the dirty work in both areas or used his vision to help configure these key scorers.

The red wings are allowed to advance without it, trying to take a drought from the eight -year -old playoff.

The question now is: this harsh reality will change Detroit’s approach before next Friday?

Internal options

Let’s start with Red Wings options before trade.

Their easiest option can be the best-and the best one they chose on Tuesday, hitting JT to compare themselves in the second place between Kane and out. Compher’s production has dropped a little this season, but its profile is quite similar to COP, as a responsible center, with hard nose, which can play in heavy areas of ice and offer complementary offenses.

In fact, the compier was Detroit’s second line over the COPP for a large part of last season, playing just over 300 minutes with Kane and almost 400. Like the COPP, the compier will usually not put totals of gaudy points or bright offense, but what it is doing well is between two wings offensively. There is a reason why Detroit went with him to be the first option on Tuesday, and if we were hanging on the possible results to replace the COP, this is the best possibility with a wide margin.

Once Michael Rasmussen will return from an injury to the upper body (Mclellan said it was everyday), it will slot Rasmussen in the center no. 3 and Joe Veleno as the number 4-so with Tyler Motte and Christian Fischer capable of playing this position on a verification line.

Another option could be played on Marco Kasper as the second or third line- Detroit made earlier this season- but I would probably not call it at this time. Kasper worked well by playing on the wing on the top line of Detroit, with the speed and pretense that fits beautifully with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.

In the long term, Kasper is still projected as a center for red wings. But Rookie has 16 points in 18 games on January 10 and does not sound like Mclellan is too eager to shake something that works.

“We would like to keep it there (with Larkin and Raymond),” McLellan said.

Once Rasmussen returned, a central line of Larkin, compier, Rasmussen and Velen should mean that red wings should not become desperate to make a movement.

But it also does not leave too much margin for other wounds. And if the red wings are concerned about it – or they simply want to update while trying to return to the playoff – then there are other options.

Commercial options

One of the biggest problems with the attempt to replace the COP by trade is that the central market is mainly divided into two types of players: potential upgrades that would cost considerable assets and players that may not improve much red wings. .

Brock Nelson is the best name on the market, but as a rent that can cost at least one choice in the first round, it is not suitable for red wings at this time. Ryan O’Reilly has a deadline -but they could not be an asset in this case, possibly raising the costs to buy it. His pedigree is undoubtedly, but he is 34 years old with two years left after this season, while the red wings have both COP and a contract.

Meanwhile, Dylan Cozens is young and showed a capacity of 30 goals already in his young career, but his last two seasons saw their production in diving a little concern at the beginning of a long-term contract, and For a Buffalo player is definitely isn isn isn I will not give out of cheap.

There are other names in the category of the rental center, such as Yanni Gourde – which general manager Steve Yzerman has a lot of familiarity with – but there it becomes a problem and impact. Gourde could be a slight update on the third line, allowing Rasmussen to flex back to the wing, but is it worth worth the price for a player with his Pedigree Stanley Cup? Also, Jake Evans would be a beautiful third line, with a secondary offense, but again it is a question about how much Detroit (still on Playoff Bula) would be willing to give up.

Red wings could also explore modernization elsewhere in Forward. Trent Frederic from Boston is not a real center, but it is a large body that could add hardness and some points in the bottom of the red wings. Frederic should be a coveted player and seems more likely to reach an all-in competitor.

Detroit could also leave the group before and seek help on the blue line – which is also managing in its current form, but has a small margin for injury and could certainly be modernized.

A resistant defender can eventually be the most logical movement, whether it is someone like Carson Souccy in Vancouver, Jamie Oleksiak in Seattle or Connor Murphy. Red wings are not really in the situation of changing their first round, unless it is for a younger player, which will be around a long time, but have an additional choice from the third round from Olli Määttä Deal and a good collection of perspectives from which they can deal.

Last year, in a similar situation, Yzerman stayed especially on the bed, trading Klim Kostin just to see Detroit to enter an equal in playoffs.

But, with the way his team responded under Mclellan, he revives his season since the new coach came after Christmas, Yzerman decides to take a different course this time?

We will find out in the next 10 days.

(Top photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)