The Detroit Red Wings are expected to be on the edge of the playoffs for the 2024-25 NHL season. A proposed trade suggests that the team could strengthen their forward line by acquiring New York Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
According to PuckPedia’s new tool, PuckGM, one user has suggested a trade where the Red Wings would receive Pageau from the Islanders in exchange for Jonatan Berggren and Justin Holl (with $600k of his salary retained).
The trade appears logical on the surface: Detroit gains a talented forward, while the Islanders receive a younger player in Berggren, who is a restricted free agent (RFA) but at a lower cost, along with Holl’s contract, though Holl is still a competent defenseman.
Pageau, who has two years remaining on his six-year, $30 million contract, could serve as a middle-six forward for the Red Wings. Last season, he notched 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points over 82 games. Throughout his NHL career, Pageau has played 718 games, tallying 145 goals and 179 assists for 324 points.
Berggren, an RFA without a contract for next season, could replace Pageau in the Islanders’ lineup affordably. Drafted in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Berggren played 12 games last season, recording 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points.
Holl is entering the second year of a three-year, $10.2 million deal but had a tough first season with Detroit, scoring no goals and only 5 assists in 38 games.
Holl has been considered a buyout candidate. Although the Red Wings opted against buying him out this year to avoid a four-year dead cap hit, NHL insider Max Bultman of The Athletic suggests that if Holl doesn’t improve, he could be bought out in the 2025 offseason, leaving just two years of dead cap at the same $1.13 million cost.
Before joining Detroit, Holl spent six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Additionally, the Red Wings face the critical task of re-signing restricted free agents Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond before training camps begin in September. Seider and Raymond are pivotal players for Detroit, yet both remain unsigned. Last season, Seider played all 82 games, scoring 9 goals and 33 assists for 42 points, while Raymond also played 82 games, recording 31 goals and 41 assists for 72 points.
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