The Fan Hub

Having struck out on all of their major personnel targets this offseason and still sporting major holes on their blue line after the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom and the departure of Brad Stuart to San Jose, the Red Wings have been talking to the Calgary Flames about trading for big defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. The 28-year-old former All-Star is coming into the fourth year of a 5-year contract that he signed with Calgary back in 2009 and carries a $6.68 million cap hit, but has largely been a disappointment for the Flames so far, failing to reach 30 points in any of his three seasons and showing less physicality than they had hoped for out of the 6’4” defenseman.

Calgary needs to move some salary after signing Dennis Wideman to a 5-year, $26.25M deal that puts them close to the $70.2M cap, which could come down in the upcoming CBA negotiations. That makes the Red Wings a perfect fit, as they have oodles of cap space to accommodate Bouwmeester’s salary, and would only have to make a two-year commitment to the now-overpaid veteran.

However, one hindrance to completing a deal could be the Philadelphia Flyers. Philly is perhaps the only team in the NHL more desperate for blue line help than Detroit, a situation that got even worse this week when Andrej Meszaros was lost to a torn Achilles tendon that could keep him out for the entire season. And with GM Paul Holmgren’s reputation for throwing caution to the wind, it’s easy to imagine them putting together an even more enticing package than the Red Wings are willing to offer.