The Detroit Red Wings took a step toward reshaping their forward group on Wednesday, landing winger Keegan Kolesar from the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade that sent a third-round pick in 2029 and a seventh-round pick in 2027 back to Vegas, according to TSN insider Darren Dreger.
Kolesar arrives as a sturdy bottom-six option, and his track record with the Golden Knights says plenty about what he brings. He spent his entire NHL career in Vegas after being selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the No. 69 overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, and he has been one of the league’s more dependable bodies over the last several seasons.
Availability has been a calling card. Kolesar played all 82 games in each of the past two seasons, and before that logged 77, 74 and 79 appearances across the previous three years.
Last season, he finished with six goals and 11 assists for 17 points. The year before, he reached a new personal high with 30 points, including 12 goals and 18 assists.
The contract situation also matters here. Kolesar has two years left on a deal with a $2.5 million cap hit, while Vegas, tight against the salary cap, was clearly willing to move money out wherever it could.
For Detroit, the move fits a broader push to deepen the forward group. General manager Steve Yzerman is trying to build a roster that can finally end the NHL’s longest postseason drought, and the pressure to improve up front is real. That challenge only gets steeper with captain Dylan Larkin having requested a trade, but Yzerman started working the roster anyway on Wednesday, first by bringing in Kolesar and then by adding veteran scoring winger Viktor Arvidsson on a two-year contract in unrestricted free agency.
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