Just a year after signing Andrew Copp to a significant free agent deal, the Detroit Red Wings have added another center: J.T. Compher. Per a team announcement, he’s signed a five-year, $5.1MM AAV deal to play in Hockeytown.
At first glance, this is a somewhat curious signing since the Red Wings have already committed $5.625MM per year to Copp, $8.7MM per year to Dylan Larkin, and used 2022’s sixth-overall pick on Austrian center Marco Kasper.
But seeing as the Red Wings are looking to exit their long rebuild as soon as next season, it’s possible Detroit wanted a surer bet down the middle than Kasper.
It may take a little more development for Kasper to be NHL-ready at all, let alone ready to play center in the world’s most challenging hockey league.
Compher is that surer bet, especially after a breakout season that saw him post 17 goals and 52 points. The 28-year-old former Michigan Wolverine is an ideal middle-six center, capable of contributing on both ends of the ice.
He’d be an excellent third-line center on many NHL teams or could handle second-line center duty should the Red Wings want to utilize Copp as a winger, similar to how he was used as a member of the New York Rangers.
Expecting Compher’s offensive breakout to be the new norm could be folly, but he did score 18 goals in 2021-22 and has scored at around a 30-plus point rate consistently. If that’s his floor in Detroit, a $5.1MM AAV is only slightly above what a team might ideally want to pay for that kind of production. If he can repeat his 52-point season and be a strong all-around center in Detroit, his cap hit will be more than well spent.
If Kasper ends up an NHL center sooner rather than later, will this end up a wise use of scarce cap dollars? Probably not, but if Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman is earnest about wanting to compete for a playoff spot as soon as next season, he can’t afford to wait on a player like Kasper to fill such an important role.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Was kinda hoping to see Compher play for his hometown hawks but definitely not at $5.1 mil. per year.
Good to be a center in today’s NHL!
Yzerman stinks when he doesn’t have Tampa Bay and no state income tax
Detroit will ruin their rebuild with contracts like Compher and Copp, you cannot give 5+ to third line players
They went to Michigan with Larkin. You need character vets as well
Wings already have 9 3rd Line players.
5.1, ouch. For 5yr. Not worth it
Played NCAA for Big Blue. A sort of homecoming for JT. I think Red Wing fans will really like him; he always gives his all on the ice.
Big Blue is Kentucky
Big Blue = Michigan. UK doesn’t have a hockey team.
Big Blue is Kentucky no matter what the school has or doesn’t have.
Oh. There’s only one Big Red too. That’ll get some push back, but it’s literally true. Meanwhile, continue with your dilution and ignore the original intent of the message that sent you off on this screed.
5.1 million???
I hope he is a late bloomer……….
Im over the Yzerplan #FireYzerman
You’re name fits you.
$5.1M-no problem. At 5yrs – problem.
This is just a horrendous signing. What in the world has gotten into Stevie Y?
This guy is not a top two center which is what this team has lacked for years. Larkin hasn’t had a running mate down the middle for years now. That puts a lot of pressure on him. Of all people you would think Stevie Y would know the importance of having two legit top two centers.
It’s pretty clear by now that Yzerman absolutely will not trade first round picks to make the team significantly better. They needed to make a statement and trade for a guy like Mark Scheifele. He would be an impact player. He would have totally changed the dynamic of the team. He’s a proven point a game type of player. Instead, Yzerman once again trying to catch lightning in a bottle with a guy who he thinks somehow is going to break out and have great numbers even though his track record suggests it’s just not going to happen.
He tried the same thing with Copp last year thinking he could center the second line. There was a reason why Winnipeg used him as a complimentary winger in the top nine. Because he wasn’t capable of being a legit second line center! And Yzerman has done the same thing again this time!
A bunch of third line players like someone else previously mentioned.
Yeah let’s trade for a player with a guaranteed decline and high cap hit….
I heard Yzerman say during the draft that Detroit still wasn’t ready to “go for it” After a 6 year rebuild? He must have a lifetime contract.
They will never be ready to “go for it” with him steady making the absolute worst signings every year. Whats the point of Draper being a draft whiz if Yzerman overfills the roster with absolute plugs?
Djapana
You’re exactly right. I totally agree. At some they will make the playoffs just by the percentages. Rule of time. And Yzerman will gloat that he had to “stick with the process.”
In the mean time, they will have missed the playoffs on his watch for several years! But he loves to accumulate picks. He’s a genius for that according to the press who kisses his ass all the time.
Djapana
And you’re correct on the lifetime contract thing. The Ilitch family will never fire their golden child. Yzerman knows that.
Yzerman is the Madoff of hockey. His rebuild is 5 years away from being 5 years away.