DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings weren’t close to making a move Monday, general manager Ken Holland said. Their dealings were done in the days leading up to the trade deadline, when they dealt Nick Jensen and Gustav Nyquist.

But Holland’s work isn’t done. Between now and the end of the season, he will meet with coach Jeff Blashill and the representative for goaltender Jimmy Howard.

The Red Wings will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year under Blashill, who’s in the fourth and final year of his contract, but it sounded as if Holland wants him back, citing his development of young players.

“I think he’s done a great job,” Holland said. “It’s hard to think anybody’s done a great job when you see where we are in the standings. But he’s playing our young players, lots of the young players have improved under his watch. When I see our team go out on the power play late in the game, it’s lots of young players. So, the young players have grown under his watch.

“Also, I’m big on experience. It’s his fourth year in the National Hockey League and there’s no doubt he’s a better coach today than he was four years ago just by the experience of getting to know the National Hockey League and the types of players it takes to play in this league and the way you want to build a team. I’ll sit down with him, but I think he’s done a real good job.”

The Red Wings are 127-136-46 under Blashill, who was hired in 2015 after three seasons as head coach of the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins.

Holland signed a two-year extension last April but when Steve Yzerman stepped down as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning in September, speculation ran rampant that the longtime Red Wings captain would return to Detroit to take over the team next season.

“I don’t really worry about it,” Holland said. “I’m in a good place with my career, with my life. I’ve been here since 1983. All I’m concerned about is making moves. I want this franchise to win another Stanley Cup, or to compete, to be banging away. And I think things that we’ve done last year, things we’ve done this year, are going to be pieces of that puzzle. But there’s more pieces of that puzzle that need to happen.

“I’m not worried about my future. I’m sure my wife’s not worried about my future. I’m in a good place, no matter what happens.”

No trade activity

Holland said he received a few phone calls but “nothing close to a deal,” on Monday.

Howard was the biggest name on the board for the Red Wings, but Holland said, “There wasn’t any market for goalies that I could tell.”

Howard is in the final year of his contract ($5.3 million cap hit) and Holland hopes to re-sign him, likely to a two-year deal, before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

“We basically agreed we’d get to the trade deadline and see if anybody was looking for a goaltender,” Holland said. “I’ll sit down with (Howard’s agent) in the next week or two.”

Kronwall’s future?

Toronto and Columbus were among teams that showed interest in defenseman Niklas Kronwall, 38, but Holland said no offer was made. The Red Wings weren’t going to trade Kronwall unless he wanted to go.

“I would say over the last 2-3 days there were 2-3 teams that were tire-kicking,” Holland said. “What he’s meant to this franchise and what he means to this franchise now in terms of leadership in this locker room and with the young players, if somebody would have stepped up big-time, and I don’t know what big-time means, I probably would have had a conversation with Kronner, but that didn’t happen.”

Kronwall might consider playing another season.

“I think he has another season in him if he wants to have another season in him,” Holland said. “As I’ve dealt with older players through the years, a lot about it is about the fire they’ve got. Is he going to work all summer in the gym? He’s got to work twice as hard to maintain. Obviously, Father Time is banging away, so I’ll talk to him at the end of the year and see what he’s thinking.”

Svechnikov eligible for Grand Rapids

The NHL approved the Red Wings’ request to allow Evgeny Svechnikov to be assigned to Grand Rapids if he’s cleared to play this season. Ordinarily, injured players (he’s recovering from ACL surgery in October) can’t be sent down and Monday was the deadline to assign players to the AHL to make them eligible for the postseason.

The Red Wings hope Svechnikov is ready in April.

“He’s a young player so you’re going to err on the side of caution,” Holland said.

The Red Wings assigned forward Filip Zadina and defenseman Filip Hronek to Grand Rapids Monday and then recalled them, a move that allows them to be eligible for the AHL playoffs.

They have only two remaining post-trade deadline recalls, so Holland said they will not call up a forward for Tuesday’s game against Montreal at Little Caesars Arena (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit). They’ll insert Luke Witkowski into the lineup as either the 12th forward or seventh defenseman.