Yzerman on Red Wings’ additions of Perron, Faulk ahead of 2026 NHL Trade Deadline: ‘Try to improve the team and give us a better chance of making the playoffs’

DETROIT -- Recapping the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline along with other related in-season topics, Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman expressed how he felt the moves the Detroit Red Wings made before the clock hit 3 p.m. ET on Friday checked off some key boxes as the club continues pushing for a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth.

“There’s urgency every Deadline to try to accomplish what your goals are with that Deadline,” Yzerman told the media at Little Caesars Arena later that same evening. "This season, our team has put themselves in a pretty good position. The players that we acquired, for what it cost us to acquire them, I feel, and we as a staff felt, it was justified to try to improve our team and give us a better chance of making the playoffs and having any success in the playoffs."

First, on Thursday night, the Red Wings welcomed back a familiar face in David Perron from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. The 37-year-old forward tallied 103 points (41 goals, 62 assists) in 158 games with Detroit from 2022-24 before signing a two-year free-agent contract with Ottawa, with whom he had 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 49 contests this season.

“He’s very competitive,” Yzerman said of Perron. “He works hard. He’s got good puck skills. He’s got good sense and he does play hard. He’s probably a lot bigger and stronger than he even looks. He’s a powerfully built guy.”

Although Perron hasn’t played since Jan. 20 after undergoing sports hernia surgery, Yzerman expects the vocal veteran presence will be back to full health later this month.

“We share all the information on these players, and we know exactly what David’s injury is,” Yzerman said. “We know exactly where he is in his rehab. We anticipate him being 14 days away, roughly, from playing. Obviously, we’re comfortable to make this trade with him. He brings a lot to our table. We had him before. We really liked him.”

Then, on Friday afternoon, Detroit received San Jose Sharks’ third-round pick in 2026 from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Elmer Soderblom before sending that selection as well as Justin Holl, forward prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov and a 2026 first-round pick to the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Justin Faulk.

As a Blue this season, Faulk tallied 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) and was one of four skaters to skate in all 61 contests. Originally a second-round pick (No. 37 overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the 33-year-old blueliner has 490 points (141 goals, 349 assists) in 1,041 games with Carolina and St. Louis since 2011-12.

“We’ll see how this thing shakes out,” Yzerman said. “But, acquiring a guy that’s played in the top four, played in all situations…it solidifies our D corps a little bit.”

According to Yzerman, trading Soderblom -- he finishes with 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 86 games with the Red Wings from 2022-26 -- to the Penguins helped them bring Faulk into the mix. 

“We recouped a third-round pick, which we gave up in the trade for Justin Faulk, and that was it,” Yzerman said. “We just felt if Elmer’s going to be in that 13th forward role, getting a third-round pick is pretty good value. We have players in the system that we can put into that 13th forward role.”

Yzerman explained neither the NHL’s Olympic roster freeze nor the new salary cap rules affected Detroit’s approach with this Trade Deadline.

“The Olympic break had no impact on how we handled the Deadline,” Yzerman said. “The salary cap, I think, affected every team at the Deadline here, meaning teams could keep their players or had the option of keeping their players. A lot more teams have more cap space, which gives them more flexibility. So how it affected their trades and whatnot, I got to look at everything now. It wasn’t really an impact on us. I’m guessing there was less of a need for teams to retain salary in some of the trades with the cap going up. There aren’t as many teams that are jammed tight to it as they’ve been in the last few years.”

Because every NHL club values players differently and find themselves in different stages of contention, from Yzerman’s perspective, how buyers and sellers might perceive asking prices makes the Trade Deadline a “funny time.”

“You know those teams that are all in and going for it, they’re more willing,” Yzerman said. “Their picks are later and whatnot. They’re just more willing to throw them out there, where teams in our situation are a little bit more hesitant to be just throwing your picks and prospects because we got work to do.”

That doesn’t mean the Red Wings were against finalizing what some media pundits might call a headline-grabbing trade, though.

“We’re prepared to make that move for the right player,” Yzerman said. “Now, we’re not going to throw first-round picks and multiple prospects in for a player that’s going to be here for one or two years. I think we can all agree that’s probably not the right way to go. So, if we’re going to do that type of a deal, it had to be for a player that one, we really value and two, he’s going to be part of this for the long term.”

Going into Friday's game versus the visiting Florida Panthers, Detroit was in third place in the Atlantic Division. And now, with just 20 regular-season games remaining, Yzerman wants to see a team that trusts its abilities and sticks to its identity down the stretch. 

“I want to see us play, make plays and play with confidence,” Yzerman said. “We got a lot of good hockey players, and at times have played really good hockey…Encourage our guys to keep making plays, keep making [opponents] under pressure and in tight situations. Not irresponsible or careless, but make plays…We got to keep plugging away every game and find a way to get points.”