NHL Trade Rumors: 5 deals the Red Wings should make

3. Swap Tomas Tatar for future assets

The 27-year-old winger falls into a similar class as Gustav Nyquist. Tatar is not a player Detroit needs to get rid of, but in the long-term rebuild, it would be very beneficial. Tatar puts up similar numbers to Nyquist but will be harder to trade. Whichever team takes on Tatar is making a more expensive long-term investment. Tater is under contract with Detroit until after the 2020-21 season, then hits free agency. He now carries a cap hit of $5.3 million. Detroit will look to move Tatar because after this season he has a no-trade clause kick in until the end of his contract. Detroit loses the flexibility to move his big contract after that point.

A younger team on the rise wouldn’t mind adding a player like Tatar; he would help a team balance its scoring on lower lines. Vegas could be an option; it has the cap space and plenty of pieces on defense to work out a deal to add the forward. Detroit will be asking for picks, higher-end prospects or a current NHL roster player. Tatar hasn’t performed poorly, but he is a piece who would bring in a lot of future assets.