Back to the topic at hand. Damien Cox, writing for ESPN, discusses the success of two teams that more or less stood pat at the deadline, and who also, oh by the way, happen to be playing for the Cup:
But why, based on the events of the past week, would any team go out next winter and spend draft picks, players and prospects to acquire a big-name player at the March trade deadline based on the events of this season?Undoubtedly, more teams will think twice before dealing at deadline next year given the Ducks and Sens' success. But come on. Teams know when they aren't good enough to stay in/make the playoffs, and will continue to bankrupt their futures for the likes of Keith Tkachuk. And as for the Wings? Are they regretting their deals? I'm gonna say not really.
Kyle Calder would be the guy you would point to as having been an unremiting failure in Detroit, but really, can any deal that gets Jason "White Chocolate" Williams and his remaining contract out of the 313 a failure? Kyle Calder could have shot Dominik Hasek in the kneecap and that deal would have still been a grand success. Did I mention I'm fond of hyperbole.
As for Bertuzzi, there may be some second guessing. Shawn Matthias may yet develop into a pretty nice prospect, although I doubt anyone is sweating the loss of a 2nd-round pick, especially when we still have our first. (The Wings once went into a draft without their 1st and 2nd rounders. Who'd they get in the third? Some soft European named Johan.)
But given how much Bert has warmed to Detroit, and the likelihood that he'll sign a cheap-o contract to stay here, you have to say that even if he wasn't a force in the playoffs, the deal was a pretty good investment. So yeah, the Wings will continue to deal at the deadline. If Quincey/Meech/Lilja is the Wings 6th D-Man I would expect them to grab a puck-moving D in February, and perhaps yet another gritty forward. We just can't get rid of those early-round picks fast enough.
