The Wings have been trying to bolster their blueline since the beginning of the summer, especially after losing Brad Stuart to the San Jose Sharks and after captain Nicklas Lidstrom retired.
MLive.com notes that if the salary cap is reduced with a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it could force the Flames, currently sitting with over $66 million in payroll, to shed some salary, which could make Bouwmeester a trade candidate.
While Bouwmeester has a no-trade clause in his contract, his hefty $6.68 million salary cap hit for each of the next two seasons might be another obstacle for the Wings, who already have forward Pavel Datsyuk earning $6.7 million per.
The Wings, however, have sufficient funds to take on Bouwmeester's salary as they sit $13 million under the salary cap.
The Wings might also be concerned with the Philadelphia Flyers, who recently lost blueliner Andrej Meszaros to an Achilles tendon injury, and could also make a pitch for Bouwmeester.
However, Red Wings GM Ken Holland told the Detroit News the league is currently in "sort of a down time" and trade talks are not at presently at a high.
There are still some available defensemen in the unrestricted free agent market with Michal Rozsival, Carlo Colaiacovo, and Brett Clark each waiting for a new contract.
