Report: Red Wings to make quick work of free agent signings

It sounds like the Red Wings will make a signing quickly once the NHL’s free agency opens up Saturday at noon.

Craig Custance of The Athletic reports it “may not take long” for the Red Wings to make a signing. All reports indicate that defenseman Trevor Daley was their top target going into this weekend, and now all signs are pointing towards that becoming a reality for the Red Wings.

Sidebar: If you haven’t subscribed to The Athletic, I highly suggest that you do.

So now the question is term. Custance says the Wings desired a two-year deal, but speculates that it may be unlikely for that to happen in the open market. I tend to agree with Custance on this, NHL free agency is typically heavy on terms. My guess is that we’re looking at perhaps three or four years at least. I’ve come to peace with this, as I feel like the Wings are in need of a stopgap veteran defenseman while other prospects develop at the AHL level.

We’ll check back in tomorrow to see where we’re at, but for now, I’m going to hope that we have a 2nd pair of Nick Jensen and Trevor Daley next season. That would be fun.