The Red Wings have announced that they have agreed to terms with restricted free agent Joakim Andersson. Terms haven’t been announced yet but we’re refreshing Capgeek every 3 minutes. (THAT’S A LIE BECAUSE ACCORDING TO BRENDAN SAVAGE AT MLIVE THE CONTRACT IS AROUND $732K PER YEAR)
Andersson was an injury call-up to shore up the bottom 6 after Darren Helm became unavailable. In 38 regular season games he had 3 goals and 5 assists, and played in all 14 playoff games. In the playoffs, he teamed with Damien Brunner and Gustav Nyquist to form a very good third line that helped get the Wings past the Ducks and nearly upset the Blackhawks. Once the season was over, he joined the Griffins and helped them capture the Calder Cup.
Among all Red Wing forwards in the regular season, Andersson was 5th in SH/TOI per game, clocking in at 1:19 per game on the penalty kill. In the playoffs that increased to 2:05 per game. He’s a bigger forward who will be used in more of a defensive role as the season progresses, and is insurance in case Darren Helm is not ready to start the season.
The bigger picture here is this is one of 2 RFAs the Wings had to sign (Gustav Nyquist being the other one), and you now have to wonder whether a trade or other move is in the works. The Wings have some time before they need to be under the cap, but there’s no question the team wants to move some of their excess forwards out to make room for younger players.
