2010 NHL Free Agency: Detroit Red Wings Preview
by Casey Richey on Jun 30, 2010 9:17 AM CDT
in Opinion
31 comments
Ah, the free agent signing period. The spot in the summer where some teams make enormous moves to gain ground on their opponents and others make horrible, horrible decisions and bury the team in cap hell. As far as tracking where every free agent in the NHL signs, it becomes an outright nightmare to try and do so. But with the Red Wings looking to re-sign some key players, we'll be able to handle this on the Detroit home front I think.
We'll take a look at who's a pending UFA, RFA, the current cap situation, budget remaining, key needs and potential targets for Detroit heading into the July 1 frenzy.
(Note: All information regarding contracts via CapGeek.com)
Pending UFA's: Jason Williams , Andreas Lilja, Kirk Maltby, Brett Lebda, Jeremy Williams, Ryan Oulahen, Riley Armstrong
Pending RFA's: Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, Derek Meech, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Sergei Kolosov, Johan Ryno, Evan McGrath, Daniel Larsson, Jamie Tardif.
Cap space/current 10-11 cap hit: $54,192,045
Projected budget: $5,207,955
Key needs: Really, the key needs are the players that were under contract with the team last year. After that, the Wings may look into adding a tough guy (either forward or defense) or a veteran forward.
Potential targets: The targets that the Red Wings have are practically all in-house. They want to keep Abdelkader, Helm, Eaves and maybe even Meech. Outside of them, potential targets could be:
- Mike Modano: the 40 year-old Detroit area native was dumped by the Stars and he would provide the veteran leadership that Holland is always looking for.
- Arron Asham: a grade A agitator with a tad of scoring flair at times, Asham would provide that bit of growl that the Wings lacked at times last season.
- Garnet Exelby: physical defenseman that throws his weight around and plays a decent defensive game at the same time.
- Marc-Andre Bergeron: the defenseman most recently with Montreal would be an excellent fit on the power play with his rocket of a shot and for a very low price as well.
What do we know?
At this point a few things are clear in terms of who is definitely on the way out and who is most likely to sign. Jason Williams, Larsson, Lilja, May, Maltby, Ryno, Tollefsen, Lebda and McGrath are all on the way out of the system. That cleans up some substantial room on the Wings NHL roster as well as the Grand Rapids roster. Detroit will do everything possible to keep Helm and Abdelkader in town and I really don't think there's much chance that either would jump ship. Eaves should be a "yes" but you never really know and Miller is a player that is expendable but also would provide depth should the Red Wings need him.
With the players under contract and the likely return of Helm, Abdelkader, and Eaves, the Red Wings will have 13 potential forwards for next year and 6 possible defenders so expect all of the free agent signings to be for depth, not starting positions. However, if the Red Wings do go outside of the their own players that are UFAs or RFAs, a signing like Modano or Exelby would provide a starter on the team.
What do YOU want?
Tell us what you think the Wings should do on July 1 to kick off the free agency period.
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Free Agents
I would love to have Modano or Asham. The problem is, do you REALLY trust our PK enough to have to bail us out every time Asham commits a Bertuzzi like penalty? I don’t. Modano still has some juice left and with him being a local boy that always alleviates some stress.
I don’t think Asham is a liability. He had a total of 126 PIMs this year. 70 of those minutes were offsetting fighting majors and 10 minutes served for a misconduct call. So that leaves 46 min in minor penalties and I’m sure some were offsetting roughing calls. He might be just what the Wings need. He played in 23 playoff games and only took 10 min in penalties. 7 Detroit Red Wings players had more than that in half the amount of games. This is of course assuming Asham played in each of the 23 playoff games.
I like the idea of Excelby, Asham, Modano, or Bergeron. If I had to choose I would pick Excelby or Asham depending on what happens with the RFA’s
Modano Asham and Gonchar
All perfect fits and would play for another run at the Stanley Cup. Package them all together at once with their agents so the cap number stays low. Make them buy into the Stanley Cup and Rings!!
As much as I would like Gonchar
I actually dont think he fits anywhere on the team. There’s no reason to break up Lids/Rafalski or Kronwall/Stuart since both pairings have great chemistry and Gonchar will not want to play third line minutes. That, and he’s likely to make too much money to be afforded.
by Casey Richey on Jun 30, 2010 12:19 PM CDT up reply actions
I would love to see Modano come here. That said, I would much rather see his career end the way it did last year with the grand (and I mean grand) sendoff that the Wild gave him. Kudos to the Wild for being that classy. Of course, if he doesn’t retire, I’d rather see him join the Wild than us. I’m big on legacies, and Modano is one of my favorite players of all time. So… there you have that.
As I have said countless times on here, we should only sign another defenseman as insurance. Really, Kindl should be given that 6th spot this year and be given the chance to practice and learn from Lidstrom for a year before Lidstrom retires. An older guy that still has some gas left that wouldn’t mind being here for veteran leadership and tutilage (a la Chelios in his last seasons here) would be welcome, for the right price of course.
Forward wise, I think we need to grab a guy that can put up 25-30 points somehow. That type of guy might be out of our budget grasps, but we could use a guy that can contribute like that on the third or fourth line and provide a spark if the big boys are slumping. Of course, that guy may be Hudler. Who knows if our scoring slumps would have persisted like they did if Hudler had been here last year.
Also, am I the only one wishing Sammy hadn’t bolted for Vancouver last summer? I feel like he would have solved so many of our problems.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jun 30, 2010 12:19 PM CDT reply actions
I think Sammy would still be a great fit in Detroit and kind of wish he was still here.
As far as the forward to put up points, I’ve lobbied for Max Afinogenov since the season ended. It seems like he may go to KHL but he’s got a very low price for a guy that scored 24 goals while in Atlanta last year.
by Casey Richey on Jun 30, 2010 12:21 PM CDT up reply actions
I kind of miss Sammy, too – I just don’t think that he felt he was going to get the same time and opportunity with Detroit as he would be able to get with Vancouver, and he was right. With Detroit, he wouldn’t have been playing on the first line with the Sedins as he was in Vancouver.
It’s too bad, but I like to see him having success. I did warn the Vancouver fans that he had horrible aim and was streaky, so they can’t claim they didn’t know. :)
"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero
Science nerd and proud of it!
I wish both he and Leino were still around… and it would be freaking awesome seeing Modano in red, but I think that’s very unlikely
You always have that hometown factor. It could happen.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jun 30, 2010 2:22 PM CDT up reply actions
You know...
I still hate the Stars, but I’ve always liked Modano. That said, I’m not sure I’d pick him up on account of his age. We’re already one of (if not THE) oldest teams in the league, and I don’t really think ‘Veteran Leadership’ is something we really need to be focusing on. Of those listed, I think I like Asham and Bergeron, although I’m admittedly not overly familiar with either one.
Also, am I the only one worried that Helm and Abdelkader haven’t re-signed yet?
No Limits.
I wouldn’t be. Restricted Free Agents usually test the market. Not to mention that our resigning efforts had to be those that could walk away without us having any say – Lidstrom, Holmstrom, Kindl, Bertuzzi. You have to resign unrestricted free agents before you sign your restricted ones. Then you can worry about the ones that are, for the most part, on a really tight leash (especially with the hard cap. Pre-cap era, Helm and Abdelkader would have received their own Wing For Life deals like Datsyuk, Franzen, and Zetterberg did by now)
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jun 30, 2010 2:26 PM CDT up reply actions
that reminds me
that I have no idea what the differences are between what RFAs and UFAs.. that might have something to do with it lol
No Limits.
RFA – You tender an offer to your RFAs. They then either accept the offer or go to other teams and see if there is any interest. If there is, a team can sign a player to an offer sheet. The Wings would then have ten or fourteen days (can’t remember which) to match that offer; we get to sign the RFA to the contract they were offered by the opposing team. They can decline and let the free agent walk, though. This happens, generally, if a team offers way more than the other is willing to pay (this is why there is so much bad blood between the Ducks and Edmonton, Edmonton offered a ridiculously large contract to a Duck RFA just to spite the Ducks). So, basically, you have first dibs on these free agents and they only get away if you let them.
UFA – The free agent is allowed to sign with whomever they wish and the original team has absolutely no say in it.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jun 30, 2010 7:31 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Forgot to mention that if an RFA doesn’t receive an offer sheet, they can agree to your original offer or not play at all.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Jun 30, 2010 7:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Modano
Modano would be fine IF he can be the sniper of old. The Wings desperately need a few snipers on the wings, and if he would play wing and score some goals… then it would be ok.
Asham or Exelby
Id add either one of those guys just because theyd add the physical,tough guy type we need a little more of and Im sure it would be a huge cap hit. If Modano came at a discount id say take a crack just to see if we can get’em a Cup locally before he hangs up his skates for good.
Now that the Canucks have traded for Ballard and signed Hamhuis, it is unlikely that Willie Mitchell will be back with them. I’d like to see Holland target Mitchell, I think he’d fit in well here and there wouldn’t be too much pressure on him to recover from his concussion too quickly since we have lots of defensive depth.
DAMNIT ILLITCH!!! GET ME MIKE MODANO NOW!!!!!
LOL….anyhow. I think that Modano is a class act. Yes,he has passed his prime by a few winters. I will grant you that. However, he is not a gallon of milk and probably does not have an expiration date. He is a gamer even at 40. He will do whatever he is asked to help his team win. Those are the kind of players the Wings need here to show the youngsters how to work in the NHL.
I also would like to see Exelby here if he is what you say he is. We could use a little more grit on the blueline. We cannot rely on Stuart to dish out all the punishment back there. That is either asking for a 2 minute vacation or an injury. Neither of which this team can afford to endure.
Also…and this may be unpopular, but I would like to see a veteran netminder brought in to respite Howard. I like Chris Osgood. He is a good dude and was a great help to this team on more than one occasion. Those days are firmly behind us now IMO. We will need a strong backup should Howard falter and I do not think Osgood is that guy.
Well there is my wish list. I agree that any signings will more than likely be internal or for depth though.
red wings
it’s time out with the olded in with the new
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