It's time for another round of Jay Bouwmeester trade rumors, and this time the team on the other end is the Detroit Red Wings.
According to Brendan Savage of Mlive.com, the Red Wings have been talking to the Flames about Bouwmeester. The Red Wings, after missing out on free agent Ryan Suter earlier this summer, still have a pretty massive hole on their blue line that's been getting bigger over the past two years.
Savage also adds that the Flyers could be a potential road block for the Wings after Philadelphia lost yet another defenseman earlier this week when Andrej Meszaros had surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon, further weakening what was already a thin group defensively.
As for the Red Wings, they already lost future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom to retirement this summer as he brought a brilliant 20-year career to a close. The team also traded veteran Brad Stuart's free agent rights back to San Jose, and all of this came just one year after Brian Rafalski announced his retirement. Needless to say, the Detroit blue line has undergone quite an overhaul over the past couple of years.
As it stands right now the Red Wings would be relying on returning veterans Ian White, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson, while youngsters like Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl would also be forced into expanded roles. On paper, it's clearly not one of the stronger units the Red Wings will have put on the ice in recent years.
Bouwmeester still has two years remaining on a contract that pays him over $6.6 million per year. His name has surfaced in trade rumors this summer not only because of the size of his contract, but also the number of defensemen the Flames now have on their roster after the addition of Dennis Wideman and his new contract.
Bouwmeester seems like he's always been viewed as a bit of a disappointment based on the hype surrounding him when he entered the NHL, but he's always been a solid all-around player that just happens to have what's turned out to be a bad contract. His cap hit is currently the sixth largest in the NHL for defensemen.
His offensive game isn't quite what it was a few years ago when he was scoring between 12 and 15 goals in Florida every year, but the Flames have leaned on him to play their toughest minutes and go up against other teams top lines.
The Red Wings are still more than $13 million below salary cap for the 2012-13 season, so his contract and current cap hit would not be an issue.
For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @agretz on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
