Gustafsson, Hamonic may be on the move as younger players overtake them in Detroit

With the emergence of Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson, the Detroit Red Wings have a crowded blue line.

It’s a refreshing sight for Red Wings fans, who after Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are now 3-1-0 through their first four games of the season.

With young players stepping up on the backend, veteran blueliners like Erik Gustafsson and Travis Hamonic are on the outside looking in, hoping to either crack the lineup or be traded somewhere that will give them an opportunity to find ice time.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton are joined by The Fourth Period’s editor-in-chief David Pagnotta to discuss the Red Wings’ blue line and what moves could be on the horizon in Hockeytown.

Carter Hutton: The Red Wings have a crowded blue line, where do you see some of these pieces start to move in and move out? Some young guys are getting a lot of minutes, but it’s an interesting dynamic in Detroit.

David Pagnotta: They cushioned themselves quite a bit by bringing in some veteran pieces in the event that they’re younger defensemen wasn’t going to take those next steps. Some guys have, which puts them in an interesting position. They have guys like Travis Hamonic and Erik Gustafsson – two different types of defenseman – but two veteran guys who aren’t going to be seeing too much ice time if they keep rolling with their younger kids.

The Red Wings are starting to get some word out there that Hamonic and Gustafsson are available for teams looking to bring in a veteran piece on the backend. Gustafsson is much more offensive, while Hamonic is more responsible. I think Gustafsson is much more desirable at this stage of his career, but we’ll see where things progress.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…