News on the contract front tonight.
Det signs J.Kindl 4 years $9.6M.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 28, 2013
This was going to be Kindl’s last RFA deal and it locks up a young blueliner before the free agency period and the opportunity for offer sheets from rival clubs.
Kindl struggled since joining the Wings to grab a roster spot in previous seasons, but given more time and responsibility, claimed his spot in the lineup and on the 2nd PP unit, tying for 2nd among Wings’ D-men in points and leading in plus/minus.
The Usage Chart from somekindofninja.com shows that Kindl was the most-sheltered blueliner among those who got 30 games played in terms of zone starts and quality of competition, but he also used that advantage well, putting up both good offensive and good possession numbers. Kindl also wasn’t terribly sheltered by his linemates, playing more minutes with Cory Emmerton, Drew Miller, and Justin Abdelkader than any other teammates.
I really like this deal for Kindl. He’s still got to work on using his size more often and on taking fewer penalties, but it’s a good cap hit and term. Even if he doesn’t improve from where he is right now, the hit wouldn’t bite Detroit badly.
This will leave Detroit with about $8.2M in cap space to re-sign RFAs Joakim Andersson, Gustav Nyquist, and Brendan Smith, as well as add another forward. Doing all of this will require the team to lose two players from the current roster, so the Wings will realistically have slightly more cap space than that figure, but until we know those moves, we’ll stick with that number.
What do you think, good deal?
