Detroit Red Wings' Best Trade Of The Past Year

There are two trades I want to highlight and clear up which is the Detroit Red Wings' best trade of the past year. One involved bringing in a player and the other was sending a player away. We'll consider the circumstances and the value in determining the winner.

The Red Wings acquired starting goaltender Ville Husso after a great season in St. Louis where he took over as their starter. As the Blues weren't going to be able to sign him due to their cap situation, Detroit Jumped all over that and instead of likely overpaying in free agency and going up against other teams to sign him, they used a third round pick to do so. Acquiring a goaltender was very much needed after Alex Nedeljkovic wasn't as advertised. At worst, Husso could split time and he did very well as the full-time starter for the first half of the 2022-23 season for the Red Wings until the team fell off.

Husso was going to be one of the most sought-after goaltenders on the market and the Red Wings scooped him up early and got a deal done.

The other trade came at this year's deadline when Steve Yzerman decided who he'd be able to extend and who likely wouldn't be able to be. Tyler Bertuzzi was one of the players the general manager didn't think an extension was happening for, so he traded him to the Boston Bruins. For a player on an expiring contract that will likely hit free agency, a first and a fourth round pick is a good return, especially when Bertuzzi had only four goals and 14 points in 29 games. He may be a top-six player, but wasn't playing like it for most of the time he was back in the lineup after injuries.

It is a close decision and both trades help out the Red Wings for the future. Seeing as Bertuzzi wasn't having a great season upon his return from injury, wasn't going to re-sign, and still got two draft picks of that magnitude, that is what the best trade for Detroit over the past year was.