McKenzie: Red Wings "honing in" on Myers

Bob McKenzie was on TSN 1050 Thursday afternoon.

On trade interest from the Detroit Red Wings in Tyler Myers:

“They've got interest. A bunch of teams have interest. Detroit is kind of honing in and they're doing some scouting on Myers and seeing where his game's at. He's a big guy. He's underachieved. Some people think that's because the situation in Buffalo hasn't been conducive to developing. Other people wonder if the rookie of the year thing was just a mirage and he hit it early and hasn't been the same since.

"But I think most teams have a lot of time for this guy. And I think the Buffalo Sabres do too. Except they're continuing this massive rebuild and if they can parlay him into two or three other key pieces to help in that rebuilding, then they feel like they could live without him. But it's got to be a high price and so far the price has scared people off. I know asking for guys like Anthony Mantha or Nyquist from Detroit.

"Now I think one of the guys that maybe Buffalo is honing in on - and it wouldn't just be for him - is Dylan Larkin, the first round pick, played at the U.S. program last year, at the University of Michigan. Is a freshman this year.

"The Detroit Red Wings though, they're kind of in a unique situation here. What are they this year? Are they going to be a contending team, or maybe will the age catch up to them and realize they've got to go with more kids and ultimately go in a little bit of a youth movement. That all factors into whether or not Mike Babcock is the coach or not. I mean, there's so many moving parts in Detroit. 

"I'm sure Babcock would love to get a guy in his mid-twenties like Myers, who would come in and instantly make their defense better, and he'd probably be all for giving up Dylan Larkin and whatever other prospect the Detroit Red Wings might have and Buffalo wants. But if you're Ken Holland, you're 'Whoa, time out here. You may want him, but you're not even committed here long-term. So we can't be making moves to make the coach happy. We might have to go in more of a rebuilding mode and we might need Dylan Larkin a lot more than we need Tyler Myers.'

"So I think that weighs into the Detroit equation as well."

Source: TSN 1050/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey