If the Red Wings fall much further out of the final playoff spot they might start selling assets. (MLive/Mike Mulholland)

Important swing game in Boston

The Detroit Red Wings’ final game before the NHL’s three-day Christmas break is shaping up as a potentially pivotal swing game.

If the Red Wings defeat Boston in regulation Saturday at TD Garden (1 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit), they’ll be six points behind the Bruins in the chase for third place and the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. That’s still a significant gap. But it’ll be much worse if the Bruins win in regulation, in which case they’ll open a 10-point lead on Detroit and still have a game in hand.

At that point, the sell-off might not be far off.

That was among the topics on the minds of MLive readers this week:

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Could the Red Wings get a late first-round pick for Mike Green? (MLive/Mike Mulholland)

At what deficit does team relinquish playoff hopes?

Q: The Red Wings waited until the trade deadline last year to start moving players for picks. Will the fire sale start sooner this year? Let's hope so, then we can get a head start on the tank and have a better chance for a top-three pick. How many points out of a playoff spot do they need to be before deciding it's time to sell? – Al

A: If their deficit reaches double digits, I think they'll be open for business. Even with more than half the season remaining, it would be difficult to make up that much ground, especially with several other teams in between and so many three-point games. I'd expect them to start listening to offers in earnest for some of their players at that point. That doesn't mean they'll start selling right away. They can afford to wait until it's closer to the Feb. 26 deadline for the best offers.

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Might Gustav Nyquist be a trade candidate if the Red Wings fall out of playoff contention? (MLive/Mike Mulholland)

What could Green, Mrazek, Nyquist, others fetch?

Q: In terms of trade value, can we get a low first/high second for (Mike) Green? A second for Gus (Nyquist) or (Tomas) Tatar? A second for (Petr) Mrazek? If so, would you sell off these assets and get the rebuild going? With luck, we get (Rasmus) Dahlin, (Adam) Boqvist, (Ryan) Merkley or Ty Smith. Do we have a high chance of (Jacob) Trouba or (John) Tavares? How much would we need to offer Trouba annually? Would ($6 million) do it? ($10 million) for Tavares? – Chris

A: Green is their biggest trade chip. I think it's possible they could get a low first (only from a team that is sure it will make the playoffs; I doubt any club that might miss the playoffs would deal its first-rounder in this strong draft, maybe the 2019 draft). If not, maybe they could get two second-rounders, considering they received a second and a third for Brendan Smith last season.

I doubt they’ll trade Tatar, after signing him to a four-year, $21.2 million contract last summer. I could see them trying to move Nyquist (who has a no-trade clause) at some point, since he’ll be unrestricted in 2019, but I don’t know if they would do that this year. They will try to move Mrazek if they’re out of the playoff race, but I doubt they would receive anything higher than a third- or fourth-rounder for him.

Forget about Tavares coming here. That’s a far-fetched pipe dream. Trouba requested a trade last year, but Winnipeg is on the rise and appears to have a bright future, so I don’t know if he wants to leave now. In any event, he’s still restricted after the season, so the Jets hold all the cards and don’t have to trade him if they don’t want to.

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Is it more feasible for the Red Wings to move Jimmy Howard (left) or Petr Mrazek? (The Associated Press)

Which goalie should they try to move?

Q: Why not trade (Jimmy) Howard instead of Mrazek? Howard is eight years older and isn't going to get any better. Mrazek is still young with some potential if he gets his act together. Does this not make more sense? – Roy

A: It makes sense from an age and potential upside point of view. However, Mrazek's stats since mid-February 2016 (27-32-11, 3.19 goals-against average, .897 save percentage) cast doubt on his ability to return to his form from the first half of 2015-16 and prior to that.

The Red Wings aren’t going to pay $4 million a year (the cost of qualifying him as a restricted free agent) for that kind of performance, which will make him an unrestricted free agent on July 1. They might as well get a pick for him, if they can.

Since Mrazek essentially would be a rental, he’d probably be easier to move than Howard, who has one year remaining at $5.3 million.

Also, Howard has a longer, more proven track record and the organization has more faith in his ability to rebound from bad stretches.

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The Red Wings' Luke Witkowski fought Florida's Michael Haley twice in a recent game. (The Associated Press)

Should team continue dressing seven defensemen?

Q: What is your opinion of 11/7 (forwards/defensemen)? What is the difference of the Wings' record with 11/7 opposed to 12/6? (Luke) Witkowski just fights the other teams' fighters. Does it make sense to have him on the ice? – Bill

A: I believe they're 4-4-5 using 11/7 and 9-10-2 using the conventional 12/6. The advantage of dressing 11 forwards is more ice time for some forwards. I think it's good to have Witkowski in the lineup, even if he plays only a few minutes. You want someone in there who can respond if the opposition starts roughing it up.

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Andreas Athanasiou has been centering the fourth line for the Red Wings the past several weeks. (The Associated Press)

The need to maximize Athanasiou's abilities

Q: Andreas Athanasiou played very well last year with Frans Nielsen and Gustav Nyquist. Why hasn't coach (Jeff) Blashill reunited the line? – Rod

A: Blashill likes using Nielsen's line, with Darren Helm and Luke Glendening, as the match line, putting them out against the opposition's top line when he can. With three centers on that line, that requires him to use Athanasiou at center on the "fourth line." If Glendening (hand injury in Wednesday's game) is out for any length of time it'll require some more line shuffling. Maybe he'll move Athanasiou into that spot. They need to find some way to maximize Athanasiou's abilities.