Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Now that the Detroit Red Wings can swagger to market with a purse expanded by $7.5 million, how can they best use their wealth?

General manager Ken Holland will use this week to verbally woo unrestricted free agents and see if one or more can be a fit for the Wings. The jewel of this summer stands to be Steven Stamkos, the 26-year-old, 312-goal scorer who has rebuffed offers to stay in Tampa Bay.

Holland is also involved in trade talks for a defenseman.

The Wings crave an infusion of talent, both at forward and on defense. Ownership is not interested in tanking, especially not while going into a new arena in another season. Nor is there interest in wasting years of Dylan Larkin’s career finishing near the bottom of the NHL’s standings, which is what it takes to gain the truly elite draft picks.

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Getting considerably better via free agency and the trade route was made possible when Holland pulled off a little magic Friday night during the first round, unloading the contract of Pavel Datsyuk. Holland struck a deal with Arizona: The Coyotes took Datsyuk’s $7.5 million cap hit (no actual money is owed Datsyuk) and the 16th overall pick; the Wings got the 20th overall pick, the 53rd overall pick, and took on the contract of Joe Vitale, who will end up on long-term injured reserve as a result of a head injury. The deal would have looked good even without the extra second-round pick.

Next up: How to invest what’s now nearly $20 million in salary cap space.

The Wings struggled to score last season, and their defense is badly in need of an upgrade. Holland has talked to Anaheim about 24-year-old defenseman Cam Fowler. He’s a local out of Windsor, Ont., where he played juniors. He played 76 games for the Ducks the season after he was drafted, has already played 414 games in his career and is very sound overall. Of his 144 points, 81 have come during power plays. Fowler has two years left on a contract with a cap hit of $4 million.

St. Louis has to decide what to do with defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, but on first chatter the Blues wanted Larkin, which is a no-go. At 27, Shattenkirk has played 410 games, with 242 points, 119 of them during power plays. He’s got one year left at a cap hit of $4.25 million and would require a big contract to keep.

The free agent market really has no defensemen who would be a significant upgrade over what the Wings already have.

That’s not the case for the forward group, which stands to boast Stamkos, Milan Lucic and Loui Eriksson, among others. Holland will speak to Stamkos and others during the coming week, as teams can interview prospective UFAs through Thursday. Offers can be made starting noon Friday. Buffalo and Toronto are sure to be fellow suitors.

Stamkos is as proven a young goal scorer as there is. He doesn’t need a playmaker to get him the puck — he can score his own goals. He’d command seven years at at least $10 million annually, but players of his caliber rarely hit the market.

Picture Stamkos centering a line with Larkin on one wing and Justin Abdelkader on the other: Speed, scoring and size.

Anther intriguing UFA option is Lucic. He’s 28, a 20-goal scorer, and is the sort of guy who opponents don’t want to anger because of his nasty side. On the other hand, he hasn’t cleared 60 points in four seasons, and is probably looking for at least $6 million annually and a six-year commitment.

Eriksson has hit the 20-goal mark six times in his career, including each of the past two seasons. He’s 30, and also is going to be looking for long-term securing.

Troy Brouwer is another possibility — he can play on any line, play special teams and is good in defensive situations. He’s better than Darren Helm, but not as fast.

If Stamkos can be secured, it may make more sense to see if a deal can be worked out with Helm. He could play with Henrik Zetterberg, who now in his mid-30s really needs someone fast on his line to carry the puck for him. Andreas Athanasiou hasn’t as yet earned those kinds of minutes from coach Jeff Blashill.

The Wings held organizational meetings earlier in June to finalize plans for improvement. Step one was shedding Datsyuk's contract. The bigger job now lies ahead: Using the capital to once again make the Wings competitive.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!