If you can’t beat them, join them.
Less than 24 hours after the Red Wings lost 5-3 to the Sharks, Detroit struck a deal with San Jose sending forward Gustav Nyquist packing in exchange for a 2019 second round pick and a conditional 2020 third round pick. That 2020 pick could become a second rounder if San Jose either makes the Stanley Cup Finals this season or Nyquist resigns with the Sharks this summer.
Analysis
This trade was essentially a no-brainer for the rebuilding Red Wings who unload an expiring deal at the deadline for draft picks in return. Needless to say a second rounder for this upcoming draft plus a third rounder for 2020 that could become a second rounder is a nice little get for the Detroit front office for a player in Nyquist who is quietly having the second best point total of his eight year career.
As far as San Jose goes the addition of Nyquist certainly helps. It’s assumed the Swede gets plugged in somewhere in the top two lines which further leads to speculation whether or not the Sharks will address the depth in their bottom six group of forwards. Nyquist though can play on both ends of the ice and his 16 goals and 49 points now puts San Jose as the only team in the League with six skaters having totaled more than 15 goals this season.