Headlines

  • Claude Julien Fired By Montreal Canadiens
  • Senators Acquire Ryan Dzingel From Hurricanes
  • Pittsburgh Penguins Hire Brian Burke, Ron Hextall
  • Mikko Koivu Announces Retirement
  • Jim Rutherford Resigns As Pittsburgh Penguins GM
  • Winnipeg Jets Acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois For Patrik Laine, Jack Roslovic
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Detroit Notes: Vanek, Howard, Ouellet, Kronwall

September 19, 2016 at 3:37 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

In an interview with Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, Red Wings forward Thomas Vanek acknowledged that Minnesota (where he spent the last two seasons) “just wasn’t a good fit”.

Vanek joined Detroit in July on a one year, $2.6MM deal after he was bought out by the Wild the month before.  Last season with Minnesota, Vanek put up respectable second line numbers with 18 goals and 23 assists in 74 games.  However, given that they were paying him $6.5MM last season (both salary and cap hit), the Wild were expecting much better bang for their buck in the form of top line production and opted to pay him $5MM over the next two years to not play for them.

Despite his tenure in Minnesota not ending on the best of terms, Vanek doesn’t regret signing with them two summers ago:

“It’s always easy to look back and I say I should have done this or that. I knew going into it that it wasn’t going to be easy but I didn’t care. I wanted the challenge. I wanted to see if it could work. It’s a place that’s close to my heart. The only championship I’ve ever was in my college days there and to win another one there would have been awesome. It just didn’t work out.”

Vanek is hopeful that a return to the Eastern Conference (where he spent the first nine years of his career with the Sabres, Islanders, and Canadiens) will help him.  He is expected to battle for a middle six spot with the Red Wings so the pressure to perform like a top line player won’t be there now as it has been for most of his career.

[Related: Red Wings Depth Chart]

Also out of Detroit:

  • Goaltender Jimmy Howard is “definitely not disappointed” to be back with the Red Wings this season, despite losing his starting job to Petr Mrazek, writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. The team looked into trading him in the offseason but obviously weren’t able to find a suitable trade.  One element that likely complicates matters is Howard’s contract, which has three years with a cap hit just shy of $5.3MM remaining.  That’s a steep price tag for someone that has been relegated to a #2 role so instead, Howard will look push Mrazek for playing time to start the season.
  • After spending the bulk of the last three seasons in the minors (going back and forth to the NHL and back 17 times over that span), defenseman Xavier Ouellet is heading into training camp with a firm grip on a roster spot, St. James wrote in a separate column. Detroit’s second round pick (48th overall) in 2011, Ouellet no longer has waiver exemption and would likely be claimed if they tried to send him down which gives him a sense of security he has yet to have since joining the team.  However, with just 30 games of NHL experience (and just five last season), Ouellet will still have some work to do if he wants to become a regular in the lineup and not just a seventh blueliner.
  • Defenseman Niklas Kronwall is aiming to be ready to start the regular season but isn’t sure how much action he’ll be able to get in the preseason, notes MLive’s Ansar Khan. Kronwall withdrew from the World Cup late last month citing lingering knee problems.  He led all Detroit players in ice time per game in 2015-16, logging 22 minutes of action per night and will once again be counted on to play major minutes this season.
Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Detroit Red Wings| Jimmy Howard| Niklas Kronwall| Thomas Vanek| Xavier Ouellet

West Notes: Rakell, Nakladal, Fischer, Vegas
Main
Snapshots: Faksa, Canucks, Oilers, Orlov
0 comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Claude Julien Fired By Montreal Canadiens

    Senators Acquire Ryan Dzingel From Hurricanes

    Pittsburgh Penguins Hire Brian Burke, Ron Hextall

    Mikko Koivu Announces Retirement

    Jim Rutherford Resigns As Pittsburgh Penguins GM

    Winnipeg Jets Acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois For Patrik Laine, Jack Roslovic

    Minnesota Wild Acquire Ian Cole

    Six Dallas Stars Players Test Positive For COVID-19

    Marcus Foligno Signs Three-Year Extension

    Jeremy Colliton Agrees To Extension With Chicago Blackhawks

    Recent

    Extension Talks Stall Between Hurricanes And Dougie Hamilton

    Injury Updates: Saros, Hischier, Anderson-Dolan, Panthers

    Rangers Sign Mason Geertsen

    Rangers Sign Braden Schneider To Entry-Level Deal

    What Your Team Is Thankful For: Winnipeg Jets

    Charlie Coyle Added To COVID Protocol

    COVID Protocol Related Absences: 03/03/21

    Jason Zucker Out “Longer-Term”

    Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

    Zach Parise To Be Scratched By Minnesota Wild

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Coyotes Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version