Come on, man
I can't believe this is an actual trade proposal
Look.
I get it. The hockey season for writers can be rough. Most major websites have a minimum quota you have to reach before you’re paid. Some sites pay you per thousand clicks, while others require you to write a certain amount of articles a week.
But this is ridiculous.
This morning, I came across a trade pitch article so bad, so mind-bogglingly infuriating that I just had to write about it. You might want to sit down for this one because it’s a doozy:
Red Wings Acquire:
Adam Henrique ($3 million)
Oilers Acquire:
Sebastian Cossa ($863,334)
I actually know the writer, which is why I won’t be tagging the article (please do not give him a hard time personally if you do find it). But this is ridiculous.
First: WHO?
For anyone unfamiliar, Adam Henrique is a 35-year-old forward who plays for the Edmonton Oilers. In 81 games last season, he had 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. He currently plays on the Oilers’ fourth line. Yes, you read that correctly: this writer believes a top goaltending prospect has the same value as a 35-year-old fourth line center.
But it gets worse. Like a rotted onion, when you peel back one foul layer, another, slimier layer lies beneath.
“The Red Wings haven’t always been the best team when it comes to faceoffs. In the 2024-25 season, they ranked 22nd among all 32 teams with a 49 faceoff percentage. While faceoff percentage is not indicative of a team’s quality, it doesn’t hurt to have more than once ace in the dot.”
Currently, Dylan Larkin leads the team with a 59.6 faceoff win percentage. Michael Rasmussen has a 59.1% success rate. Adam Henrique is doing great at faceoff this season, don’t get me wrong, but is winning faceoffs that important?
I decided to investigate.
Are faceoffs really that important?
One of the single most important metrics in winning a game of hockey is possession. It might sound simple, but the more you have the puck, the more likely you are to score. Faceoffs play a part in establishing possession early and often. But are they truly the key difference-makers in possession? Well, according to a study done by the Sloan Sports Conference, kinda.
The study analyzed faceoffs in the offensive, defensive, and neutral zones across the 2022-23 NHL season. The researchers came to the conclusion that not all faceoff wins are created equal and that correlation does not equal causation. A team succeeding at faceoff wins often has more possession of the puck, but the results require incremental faceoff wins to ensure they make a difference across the entire game.
In short: faceoff wins are really good when you win a lot of faceoffs, but are meaningless if you can’t capitalize on them.
Back to Henrique for a moment: the 35-year-old ended last season with just 27 points. That’s fewer than J.T. Compher, Detroit’s current third-line center. Here’s a closer look at his analytical performance last season:
While, yes, Henrique is very good at faceoffs, he is, for lack of a better term, an offensive black hole. The Wings already have a defensive center in Andrew Copp. They’ve got a faceoff guy in Michael Rasmussen. How is Henrique an upgrade at any level?
It just doesn’t make sense.
Second: In what world?
Speaking of things that don’t make sense, in what world are the Red Wings trading Cossa? Goaltenders, unlike forwards and defensemen, take a little longer to develop. Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues became a full-time starter at the age of 24. Vezina-winning netminder Igor Shesterkin took up the mantle for the Rangers when he was 24 as well. Remember Dominik Hasek? Yes, that Dominik Hasek? He didn’t make his NHL debut until he was 26 and didn’t break out until he was 28.
Cossa, for reference, is 22 years old.
To assume Cossa isn’t developing according to plan is either a gross misunderstanding or deliberately bad framing. The author references an interview with Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects, where Robinson said the following:
“If Edmonton does want to get themselves someone who can tag as ‘here’s our goalie of the future,’ he’d be a great bet to go on. The fact that they have Augustine there in the system allows him to (potentially) be an expendable chip.”
If Detroit does want to get themselves someone who can tag as “here’s our forward of the future”, Connor McDavid would be a great bet to go on.
See how silly that sounds? Obviously, I’m not comparing Cossa to McDavid here. But of course an NHL franchise wants a good, young goaltending prospect. If you asked all 32 NHL general managers if they wanted a promising goaltending prospect, none of them would say no.
Finally: How?
Could the Oilers be using these media figures as mouthpieces for a trade proposal? Possibly. Do the Oilers have what it takes to score a guy like Cossa? Probably not.
The only players that match Detroit’s current trajectory are Matthew Savoie and Isaac Howard. Savoie, 21, has just a single point in seven games for the Oilers this season. Howard, on the other hand, just forced the Tampa Bay Lightning to trade his rights to Edmonton. The likelihood of either of these players fitting the bill for Cossa seems unrealistic.
Draft picks are, of course, an option, but Steve Yzerman appears to be past the point of stockpiling picks. While, yes, they could be used down the line for future trades, a late first round pick from Edmonton wouldn’t be as appealing as, say, a 22-year-old goaltending prospect. In the unlikely event the Red Wings do decide to move on from Cossa, it will be for a much higher price than Edmonton can command.
Having said that, if, by some miracle, the Oilers managed to pull off a trade, it certainly wouldn’t involve their 35-year-old faceoff specialist.
C’mon man, let’s be realistic here.