![\"Detroit](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2178946739-e1752935893154.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Trade pitch sees Red Wings landing star young defenseman.<\/p>\n
The Detroit Red Wings<\/a> have been active this offseason, but they still could add more pieces to make them a legit playoff contender.<\/p>\n Heavy.com proposed a deal that would see Detroit acquire Brandt Clarke from the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> in an intriguing move.<\/p>\n Red Wings acquire:<\/strong><\/p>\n Kings acquire:<\/strong><\/p>\n Detroit would acquire a young defenseman who can be a big part of their future for years to come, for an NHL defenseman and two draft picks.<\/p>\n The Red Wings would acquire Clarke, who\u2019s entering the final year of his three-year, $2.59 million<\/a> entry-level deal. Clarke was selected eighth overall by Los Angeles in 2021, but he has struggled to be a top-four defenseman in LA, and his name has come up in trade rumors. Clarke recorded 5 goals and 28 assists for 33 points in 78 games<\/a>.<\/p>\n In return, Detroit would give up two draft picks, including a second-round pick. The Red Wings would also trade Gustafsson, who would replace Clarke on the Kings\u2019 blue line. Gustafsson is entering the final year of his two-year, $4 million deal<\/a>. Gustafsson is an offensive defenseman like Clarke, but is more defensively responsible and can run a power play if needed. He recorded 2 goals and 16 assists for 18 points in 60 games<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n Red Wings GM Wants Competiton for Roster Spots<\/p>\n If the Red Wings do trade for Clarke, he would likely be given a roster spot.<\/p>\n However, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman says he wants an intense comeptiton for all the roster spots and ice time this season to make them a better team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just been my experience over the years that things kind of work themselves out,\u201d Yzerman said<\/a>. \u201cOpportunities arise. You try to force it or chase it, there\u2019s too many years, too many dollars or you give up too much in a trade\u2026Trying to be diligent, maybe patient, just wait for the right player, the right opportunity, whether it is in a trade or in free agency, to add to our lineup and use our assets wisely if we can.\u201d<\/p>\n The Red Wings signed Jacob Bernard-Docker to a one-year deal this offseason to join a blue line that features Moritz Seider, Ben Chiarot, Justin Holl, Gustafsson, Albert Johansson, and Simon Edvinsson.<\/p>\n The Bernard-Docker signing was one more about depth, according to Yzerman.<\/p>\n \u201cJacob Bernard-Docker gives us a little bit of depth on defense,\u201d Yzerman said. \u201cNot a big-name signing but has been an effective player in his time in Ottawa in particular. He plays hard and competes.\u201d<\/p>\n Detroit still has over $12 million in cap space.<\/a><\/p>\n Kings Have Shopped Clarke<\/p>\n Despite being a top-10 pick, Los Angeles has shopped Clarke already.<\/p>\n Ahead of the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, NHL insider Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reported that the Kings were shopping Clarke.<\/p>\n \u201cClarke\u2019s name is out there, according to multiple sources. The 22-year-old, who was taken eighth overall in 2021, is in his first full NHL season and has 25 points in 56 games, but his ice time has dropped precipitously over the last two months. He is still on his entry-level deal through next season,\u201d Wyshynski wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Clarke did play in all 6 playoff games for the Kings, recording 2 goals.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCole Shelton<\/strong><\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Red Wings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Trade pitch sees Red Wings landing star young defenseman. The Detroit Red Wings have been active this…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-77724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114885030956563356","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\u25b6\ufe0f\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/512.png=s64.png\")
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