The Left Wing Lock

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With the 2004 NHL playoffs about to start, General Manager Ken Holland expressed a desire to add a top six forward to their depth chart. The Red Wings were depleted due to injuries which forced them to use career minor league players like Mark Mowers (52 games), Darryl Bootland (22 games), and Jamie Rivers (50 games) while players like Steve Thomas, Henrik Zetterberg, Jason Williams, Derian Hatcher, Jason Woolley, and Darren McCarty were out with long term injuries.

As the trade deadline approached that season, Holland worked the phones in the hopes of improving the depth heading into another long Stanley Cup playoff run. On February 27, 2004 the Red Wings announced they had acquired forward Robert Lang from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Tomas Fleischmann, a 2004 first round draft pick and a 2006 fourth round selection. At the time, Detroit was thrilled to land Lang, who was the leading scorer in the NHL at the time of the trade, while not having to give up a player off their current roster.

The Red Wings would go on to win the President’s Trophy for the best regular season record in 2003-2004, but would eventually lose to the Calgary Flames in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. Robert Lang, who at the time of the trade still had two years remaining on his contract, remained with Detroit through the 2006-2007 season but never scored more than 20 goals for the Red Wings.

Looking back on the trade, Not only did the Red Wings gave up Fleischmann but they also traded away their 2004 first round draft pick which eventually was used to select NHL All-Star defensemanMike Green. Fleishmann has had a decent career thus far racking up 68 goals and 159 points in 305 NHL games with the Capitals and the Colorado Avalanche. Green, who was the real prize of that trade, has been the Capitals top defenseman for the last few seasons and was a Norris Trophy Candidate in 2010 while collecting 79 goals and 244 points in 363 NHL games.

The other draft pick acquired by Washington in the trade was a 2006 fourth round pick which they used on forward Luke Lynes. The 6-foot, 189 pound left wing had a decent OHL career, but never earned a contract with the Capitals and is currently playing for the University of New Brunswick.

In the salary cap era, there is little chance that the Red Wings or any other team would be able to make a significant deadline deal without giving up a roster player in order to clear cap space. That being said, the Red Wings 2004 deadline deal should serve as a warning about the price of giving up on promising prospects and high draft picks.