Ken Holland Red Wings

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland is adamant about not parting with young talent or a first-round pick for a rental player.

(AP File Photo)

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings already are missing one star forward for the remainder of the regular season in Henrik Zetterberg. They’re not sure what they’re going to get out of another, Pavel Datsyuk, the rest of the way.

Stephen Weiss, whom the club had high hopes for at the start of the season, also is a huge question mark.

But injuries to key top-six forwards apparently will not alter the Red Wings’ trade deadline strategy: They’re still not interested in paying a premium (top young players, high-end prospects and/or a first-round pick) for a rental player. And if they make a deal by 3 p.m. Wednesday it’s more likely to be for a defenseman.

General manager Ken Holland reiterated on Monday that he's not looking for a short-term fix. With the Red Wings on the playoff bubble it makes no sense to Holland to spend assets on a player who is in the final year of his contract, in a year the club might not even make the postseason.

“I consider a hockey trade where you can get a player that’s going to be on your roster in September,” Holland said. “Because of where we are in the standings and because of the unknown with the number of our key players with regards to injury it’s pretty difficult to step up and trade high draft picks and real top prospects in order to get short-term players.

“Will you trade a mid-round pick or (middling) prospects for rentals? Yeah, but those rentals, they’re not going to have a big impact on your team. We’ve got players as good as those guys or better.”

Datsyuk won't play Tuesday in New Jersey due to an inflamed knee he said feels no better now than it did before the Olympics. He said it's not the type of injury that requires surgery, just rest and treatment. But it's been bothering him for two months and he wasn't effective trying to play through it in four games.

The club hoped to have Weiss (sports hernia surgery on Dec. 23) back immediately after the Olympic break but he suffered a setback Monday and it’s unlcear when he’ll return. When he does, how effective can he be after missing so much time and struggling the first two months of the season?

The Red Wings are fortunate to have gotten a boost from a talented core of young forwards (Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco). And Johan Franzen has been on a surge (22 points in 19 games) – he just needs to stay healthy.

So it’s highly unlikely the Red Wings would pay a hefty price (young roster player, top prospect, first-round pick) for center Ryan Kesler of Vancouver, who has two years remaining at $5 million per season.

The Red Wings are more concerned about their defense. Holland is working the phones in search of a top-four defenseman to join the trio of Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Danny DeKeyser.

Alexander Edler, Kesler’s teammate, might be at the top of his wish list. He’s 27 and is locked up for five more years at $5 million a season. But, again, the cost to acquire him would be steep. The same can be said for young Buffalo Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, also rumored to be available.

Another Sabres defenseman, Christian Ehrhoff, wouldn't cost as much as Edler or Myers. The problem is Ehrhoff has seven years and $18 million remaining on his contract, at a salary-cap hit of $4 million, even though the back-diving deal has him earning just $1 million in each of the final three seasons.

The Red Wings like Andrew MacDonald of the New York Islanders, but with multiple teams bidding for this rental, the asking price might be too much for Holland.

“If there’s a hockey trade we’ll look at it, but we’re not looking at top-end rentals for those two reasons: because of our place in the standings and because of the unknown about some of our top players,” Holland said.