Seattle — Talk about a disheartening one-two punch for the Red Wings.
If Saturday’s disappointing 4-2 loss to the expansion Seattle Kraken wasn’t bad enough — and letting a 2-0 third period lead was ugly — then they had Monday’s trade deadline to look forward to.
Or rather, not look forward. There was a good chance by the 3 p.m. deadline the roster was going to change, and a teammate was going to be dealt. It’s never a good time.
The Wings were attempting to look beyond all that after the stinging loss.
“The position we’re in, certainly it’s on guys’ minds, I won’t lie about that,” said veteran forward Sam Gagner, who is a potential unrestricted free agent, and teams could inquire about his availability. “It’s out of your control for the most part, so you do your best to play. It’ll be nice to just have it over with and focus on playing.”
And playing better. This disappointing road trip, where the Red Wings won only once in four games and capped it with Saturday’s loss to standings-wise, the worst team in the league.
“Monday the deadline will be over, but we’ll have a whole bunch of the same guys and we have to play better,” coach Jeff Blashill said.
Several Red Wings players could be sought after as valuable rentals on expiring contracts.
Defenseman Nick Leddy was held out of a second consecutive game as a precaution against injury, and the likelihood of being dealt.
Defensemen Marc Staal and Troy Stecher, goaltender Thomas Greiss, and forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Gagner, all could interest playoff contending teams to varying degrees.
“I’ve been through it a lot in different perspectives, knowing I wouldn’t be traded but friends might be traded, and I’ve had a couple of years we’ve been adding (players) and there are times as an UFA on an expiring contract there’s a possibility you’ll be moved,” Gagner said. “There’s always different emotions that go with it and you do your best to try and block it out and play hockey.”
The Wings stayed on the fringes of the playoff chase for almost half the season, but a slump of their own combined with several teams above them surging combined to keep the Wings in the position of selling off players.
It’s a position the Wings have gotten accustomed to, but it’s not a desirable position.
“We were chasing Boston for a little bit there and kind of fell off, and it becomes clearer that there will be some change around the deadline,” Gagner said. “It affects different guys in different ways.”
Said Blashill: “There’s a reality to it whether it’s kind of a team perspective or individual perspective. These guys are human, and there are consequences to trades, of moving to different teams, different cities, new friends, guys that stay here losing friends. All that kind of stuff. It’s a spot we’re in based on our record, and we’ll see what happens.”
Along with the traditional rentals — players on expiring contracts — general manager Steve Yzerman has shown the ability to shake things by dealing younger players and possibly accelerate his own team’s rebuild, if an opportunity presents itself.
Forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Zadina, and defenseman Filip Hronek have been speculated to possibly being available if Yzerman decides to be aggressive, and there’s a trade that fits the Wings and another team.
But those are moves that might be explored better nearer the July Entry Draft, than during the hectic trade deadline.
Saturday’s loss
Seattle scored four third period goals, one an empty netter in the closing minutes, to rally for the victory. But in reality, the Wings were fortunate to be ahead and likely didn’t deserve any points.
The Wings were out-shot 42-23, including 16-6 in the first period as goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was the only reason the Wings were able to stay close after sleepwalking through another ragged start.
“We can’t come out and not be ready to go,” Blashill said. “This one, we weren’t good enough.”
Joe Veleno and Taro Hirose (power play) scored second period Wings goals, accounting for a 2-0 lead.
But the third period was another letdown on a trip that again, mostly, showed the Wings aren’t yet close to being playoff contenders.
The Wings defeated Vancouver 1-0 Thursday, but couldn’t sustain the positive all around game into the next outing.
“A disappointing finish to the trip,” Gagner said. “We didn’t start the way we wanted and Ned (Nedeljkovic) gave us a chance to fight our way back into it. Vlade (Vladislav Namestnikov) has a big fight (in the first period) to give us some energy. Once we got the lead, we have to find a way to create some momentum off that and play in their zone a little more.”
Blashill reiterated how the Wings have to play a certain way to be competitive every game. That didn’t happen enough on this road trip.
“We don’t have any room for error,” Blashill said. “We have to make sure we show up with our game every night and to me, a lot of guys were not ready to win puck battles or play that real high price that you have to have. If we’re going to be a good team, we have to be super competitive and strong on the puck and make good plays with the puck.
“We had too many guys (Saturday) not good enough. In the end, we’re 1-3 (on the trip) so we have to get back and find ways to win down the stretch.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan