Red Wings GM Holland vows not to overpay at the deadline; gun shy after Legwand deal

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland will freely admit that he paid a steep price for center David Legwand at the 2014 NHL Trade Deadline. 

In order to shore up his center depth, Holland parted ways with a second-round draft pick (which the Nashville Predators used to select defenseman Jack Dougherty) and Calle Jarnkrok - a 23-year-old forward who is already an everyday NHL player.

"Last year I paid what I thought was a pretty heavy price," Holland told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun this week. "Jarnkrok is playing regular (time) in Nashville this year, plus the second-round pick."

Though the deal only partially worked out for the Red Wings - the franchise continued their generation-long playoff streak, but only won one postseason game - Holland is comfortable defending the deal.

"We didn’t have any centers at the time," Holland said. "That morning I got news (Pavel) Datsyuk was down for basically the rest of the regular season. (Darren) Helm had got a concussion two nights earlier and (Henrik) Zetterberg was down with back surgery. So I paid a hefty price. But I think the line of Legwand with (Johan) Franzen and (Gustav) Nyquist certainly for the first 10 games after the trade carried us and gave us hope. And we eventually made the playoffs."

Don't expect the Red Wings to be similarly aggressive this season though.

"If we can find a player that can upgrade us at a price we can live with, we’ll do it," Holland said.

Whether that upgrade is available - and the Red Wings could particularly use a top-four body on defense - is up for debate. Though the Red Wings have been linked to the likes of Tyler Myers and Jeff Petry, they'll surely be leery of overpaying for a rental for a second consecutive season.