The NHL trade deadline is here, the time of year that puts pressure on general managers to improve their teams ahead of the playoffs.
The success of the Detroit Red Wings, who are on a path where just .500 hockey the rest of the way will get them to 97 points, have put GM Steve Yzerman in the position of being a buyer. He has north of $12 million in salary cap space, and, with the Wings competitive again, the flexibility to dangle first-round picks as part of an offer.
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Yzerman’s history at the trade deadline over the past six years with the Wings has included everything from seller to minor buyer.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) shoots the puck against Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) shoots the puck against Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Emmitt Finnie (58) celebrates a goal against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson (77) celebrates a goal against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson (77) celebrates a goal against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson (77) celebrates a goal against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) takes a slapshot against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) takes a slapshot against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71), center, talks to right wing Patrick Kane (88), left, defenseman Moritz Seider (53), center left, left wing Lucas Raymond (23) and right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) before a play against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Alex DeBrincat (93) celebrates a goal against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) skates with the puck against Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings fans cheer on against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period during the during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players next to previous record holder Mike Modano before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players next to previous record holder Mike Modano before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Emmitt Finnie (58) passes the puck against Vegas Golden Knights left wing Brandon Saad (20) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Emmitt Finnie (58) shoots the puck against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) dives to makes a save against Detroit Red Wings during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) skates with the puck against Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) and defenseman Noah Hanifin (15) during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka (44) takes a slapshot against Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
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Detroit Red Wings finally at home to face Vegas Golden Knights
Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) is being honored for becoming the all-time NHL points (1,375 points) leader among U.S.-born players before puck drop between Detroit Red Wings and Vegas Golden Knights at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
That’s expected to change this year, though high prices could be a deterrent.
Follow along here for coverage of the Wings throughout the day. The deadline is at 3 p.m:
Detroit Red Wings trade deadline live updates
This section will be updated as moves happen on Friday.
David Perron returns
The Wings made a low-key, no-risk move late on March 5 when they acquired David Perron from the Ottawa Senators for a conditional fourth-round pick. Perron, 37, played for the Wings from 2022-24 and was a hugely popular guy in the locker room with his upbeat and vocal personality. He’ll add leadership, and he has a Stanley Cup championship from 2019 with the St. Louis Blues.
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Steve Yzerman’s early trade deadline history with Red Wings
Yzerman was a player when the Wings made trade-deadline deals to acquire the likes of Larry Murphy (1997) and Chris Chelios (1999), back when the team was flush with superstars and looking for help to go on long playoff runs.
It was a very different team to which he returned as manager in April 2019. The Wings were at the nadir of their rebuild. In 2019-20 – they won only 17 games before the pandemic shuttered the season on March 12 – Yzerman made two deals with the Edmonton Oilers: Mike Green in return for a fourth-round pick, and Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner for two second-round picks and veteran Sam Gagner.
BUCKLE UP: Detroit Red Wings players know ‘a lot can happen’ at trade deadline
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The deadline during 2020-21, the pandemic-shortened season, fell in April. There were some small moves that year (Patrik Nemeth traded to Colorado Avalanche for a fourth-round pick, Jon Merrill to the Montreal Canadiens for a fifth-round pick) but the big trade was when Yzerman sent Anthony Mantha to the Washington Capitals for Jakub Vrana. There were other pieces involved, but those were the two principals. Each a disappointment with his own team, each team hoping the other’s castoff just needed a change of scenery. That didn’t pan out for either side.
Yzerman takes a swing in Year 3
Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman speaks during Sergei Fedorov’s jersey retirement ceremony at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026.
At the 2022 deadline, Yzerman’s moves included bringing in Jake Walman and Oskar Sundqvist, who had become expendable with the St. Louis Blues. That cost Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski. Both acquisitions worked out for a while. Sundqvist was a great role player and excellent locker room guy. Walman added flair on the back end.
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And then a miss in Year 4
The 2023 deadline saw Yzerman send Sundqvist to the Minnesota Wild for a fourth-round pick and Vrana to the Blues for a seventh-round pick. Vrana wasn’t working out in Detroit, had gone through waivers, and Yzerman was looking to move him out of the organization.
Year 5 was interesting
At the 2023-24 deadline, on March 8, the Wings were in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Yzerman endorsed the team as it was, making only one move: Shipping out underperforming Klim Kostin to the San Jose Sharks essentially for a seventh-round pick. The Wings responded to that endorsement by going out and losing, 4-0, at the Arizona Coyotes, who were near the bottom of the standings. They lost to them again a week later at home. That was the season the Wings missed the playoffs by a tiebreaker.
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Year 6: ‘Didn’t do much’
The Wings were in Washington for a game against the Capitals on March 7 when Yzerman acquired Petr Mrazek (formerly with the Wings) and veteran Craig Smith from the Chicago Blackhawks for Joe Veleno, a former first-round pick who’d never found his footing in the lineup. The Wings lost, 5-2, to the Capitals, after which Larkin lamented that the Wings, “didn’t do a whole lot,” at the deadline. He and Yzerman later had a conversation to clear the air.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.Â
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Red Wings NHL trade deadline live updates, Steve Yzerman moves