Steve Yzerman crossed off another big summer chore from his list this weekend. The team is re-signing RFA forward Adam Erne to a two-year extension worth around $4.2 million.
Adam Erne and DET settle at 2x$2.1M AAV
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) August 15, 2021
Erne and the Red Wings were set to go to arbitration on August 21st. The 26-year-old winger showed that he is a valuable piece to the team’s bottom-six, and has potential as a secondary scorer if the injury bug hits.
Steve Yzerman acquired Adam Erne from his former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, for a 4th-round pick in August of 2019. He had a rough debut season with Detroit (to be fair, everyone had a rough one that year), but bounced back nicely last season with 20 points, including 11 goals, a career high for Erne. It should also be noted that his shooting percentage was sky-high, and in a shortened season, that doesn’t bode well for the longer season in terms of scoring rate. I have my doubts that Erne can keep up with the pace he had last season, but he’s one of those “glue” guys. $2.1 million could be considered a bit of an overpay, but it’s really hard to hate a 2-year term.
Steve Yzerman almost has all of his RFA work wrapped up. He still needs to sign defenseman Filip Hronek. The Red Wings still have plenty of cap space and contract space to make that happen. Hronek isn’t arbitration eligible, so he’ll be signed eventually. We’ll be keeping an eye on it as we inch closer and closer to training camp.
