Ken-Holland-5-31-13

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland won't pay a high price for a rental player but would like to make a deal for someone who can help now and in the future.

(Ansar Khan | MLive.com)

MONTREAL – Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland likes his team’s depth and offensive potential, despite suffering a big blow when Henrik Zetterberg was sidelined for the rest of the season following back surgery.

The club is not as deep or as solid on defense, however.

So if the Red Wings make a move before the March 5 trading deadline, more than likely it will be to acquire a defenseman, not a forward.

Holland said Wednesday that he is not going to spend valuable assets (top prospect, first-round draft pick) on a rental player. He also said he is not going to be a seller.

He’d like to make a trade for a player who can help the club now and in the future.

“What’s the expense of the rental?” Holland said. “When you’re one point up on the last playoff spot it’s hard to trade a top prospect or a first-round draft pick to rent a player.

“At the same time we’re always looking to upgrade. If there’s a hockey trade out there – I call a hockey trade a trade that affects your team going into next season – I’m obviously open to it.

“Those days in the late ’90s and early 2000s when you would trade one or two or three first-round picks to acquire players is hard to do when you’re in our position.”

Holland said he will be busy exploring the marketplace over the next week. He said calls are starting to come in; he spoke to a half-dozen or so general managers at the Olympics.

“I think this time of year you’re always looking for defensemen, but obviously there’s a lot of teams looking for defensemen,” Holland said. “We’ll see. It depends on what’s available. I don’t see us playing a big price on a rental. I don’t believe that’s the direction we should go but you never know when you get to Wednesday.”

The Red Wings had interest in Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler at last year’s draft, before the no-trade clause kicked in on the six-year, $30 million extension he signed in January 2013.

A source said they also have interest in defenseman Andrew MacDonald of the New York Islanders, who leads the NHL in blocked shots. He is certain to be dealt as a rental; he’s in the last year of a deal earning just $550,000.

“We’re set in goal,” Holland said. “With the development of (Tomas) Jurco, (Gustav) Nyquist, (Tomas) Tatar, (Riley) Sheahan, -- if you have a healthy (Johan) Franzen, (Pavel) Datsyuk, we expect to get (Stephen) Weiss back next week – we feel up front (they’re set).

“Tonight (at Montreal) we’re going to sit out veteran players who could play in the NHL. I don’t know that I can make a deal that there’s many players out there that are better than those forwards.”