NHL goalies, prepare to be bothered for two more years.
Rumors from last night indicated that net front wizard Tomas Holmstrom was close to re-signing with the Detroit Red Wings, and today the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky confirmed them to be true. Holmstrom will make $3.75 million over the next two seasons, a modest cap hit of $1.875 million each year.
Wings GM Ken Holland and Homer’s agent Howard Gourwitz both knew Holmstrom could make more on the open market, but like many Red Wings before him, that was never really an option.
“I never wanted to go anywhere else,” Holmstrom said. “I want to finish my career here. I’ve been here 14 years and had a lot of success winning four Stanley Cups. I wanted to stay here and get one more chance, at least, to win another Cup before I retire.
Holland said Holmstrom didn’t deserve to make less money than the $2.25 million he made last season after notching 25 goals, so that’s what he’ll make in 2010-11. There’s a slight paycut for 2011-12, but the cap hit will remain the same.
The Wings now have $52.3 million committed to 17 players next season, about $5.7 million under next year’s expected cap. By signing Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom to what are essentially hometown discounts, Holland will have a little more wiggle room to get a deal done for Todd Bertuzzi, and restricted free agents Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Drew Miller and Patrick Eaves. Helm and Abdelkader will be the top priorities of that group, and McCosky didn’t rule out bringing back long time veteran winger Kirk Maltby and defenseman Andreas Lilja either.
