Offseason Checklist: Detroit Red Wings
The offseason has arrived for all but four clubs. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Detroit.
After losing out on the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs on a tie-breaker, the Detroit Red Wings finished five points worse in 2024-25. Detroit made a much-needed coaching change partway through the year, and competed for a postseason spot for some time, but their areas of need were too much to overcome. Fortunately, the problem areas are clear after watching even one Red Wings game, and they can all be addressed this offseason.
Concentrate The Defensive Core
The Red Wings entered the 2024-25 offseason with too many defenders. After sending defenseman Jake Walman to the San Jose Sharks before the start of last summer’s free agency in one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory, and moving Olli Määttä to the then-named Utah Hockey Club, Detroit managed to pare their defensive core down to seven regulars, with William Lagesson as a sparsely used option.
They’ll enter the 2025-26 offseason with a similar issue. That’s not to say Detroit doesn’t have good options; they do. Moritz Seider, Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, and prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka should all have spots locked down on next year’s roster, meaning they’ll only have two full-time roles for the trio of Ben Chiarot, Justin Holl, and Erik Gustafsson, who carry a combined cap hit of $10.15MM.
To make it easy, the Red Wings could buy out one of Chiarot or Holl, leaving a cap hit of $2.83MM or $2.27MM for the next two years, respectively. Despite having a down year offensively compared to his recent production, Detroit shouldn’t have any issues finding a trade partner for Gustafsson and his $2MM salary. By removing two of the three, Detroit would have the flexibility to keep one for the bottom-pairing, and add a top-four option on the free agent or trade market.
Find Even Strength Goals
After finishing the 2023-24 season with 179 goals for (8th) at even strength, the Red Wings’ 5-on-5 offense collapsed this year, falling to 28th place with 143. Winger Alex DeBrincat sat tied for 18th in the league with 22 even-strength goals, with their next highest being Lucas Raymond, tied for 57th with 16. The falloff becomes even more dramatic after them.
However, this issue can only be answered if there are options available. Fortunately for Detroit, there are. After hinting at a new contract for months, the Chicago Blackhawks still haven’t extended forward Ryan Donato, who finished 17th in the league with 23 even-strength goals. Donato’s track record may raise some concerns, but the Red Wings could provide a more competitive environment than Chicago.
The importance of even-strength scoring can’t be overlooked. 14 of this year’s 16 playoff contestants finished in the top half of the league in even-strength goals, with the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens being the only exceptions. Donato isn’t the only option either, but there will be more on that later.
Find Competent Penalty Killers
Detroit’s penalty kill was only 1.9 percentage points away from tying a record. No, it’s not a good record, as this year’s penalty kill was close to being the worst in NHL history with a 70.1% success rate.
To be fair, the team performed better with a man down after replacing Bob Boughner with Trent Yawney on December 26th, but not by much. Under Boughner and Derek Lalonde, the team averaged a 68.8% success rate on the kill, and 71.4% under Yawney and Todd McLellan.
Still, a 71.4% would have finished last in the league anyway, meaning the Red Wings will need different on-ice personnel to address the issue. The Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars, which had two of the top five penalty kill units this year, will have some cap constraints entering the offseason. This would provide a perfect avenue for Detroit to pursue left-shot defenseman Dmitry Orlov (after weeding out their defensive core) on the free-agent market, or offer the Stars some cap relief by acquiring freshly extended Sam Steel in a low-cost trade.
Trade For A Second-Line Center
Now it’s time for the area of need that has plagued the Red Wings for a few years. After signing Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher in back-to-back offseasons, and sparingly using top-10 draft selection Marco Kasper as a center this year, it’s apparent that Detroit still needs a legitimate second-line center.
For better or for worse, the Red Wings will use Dylan Larkin as their first-line center. There is a valid argument that his ceiling is that of an above-average second-line center, but with six years left on his extension and the unlikelihood of Detroit finding a better option, his role is likely secured for the foreseeable future.
There won’t be much for them to choose from on the free-agent market. Matt Duchene may become a target, given that he finished 37th in goals at even strength this season with 19, and the Stars are unlikely to re-sign him. The Red Wings may only need a one-to-two-year stopgap, too, assuming Kasper appropriates the role as his game matures.
Still, there appear to be better options on the trade market. Detroit should steer clear of Vancouver Canuck Elias Pettersson and his $11.6MM salary, and New York Ranger Mika Zibanejad and five years remaining on his deal. However, Jared McCann of the Seattle Kraken and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks represent quality options the Red Wings could pursue via trade this offseason.
Photo courtesy of Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images.
Max Comtois Receiving NHL Interest
A return to the NHL is on the horizon for winger Max Comtois. The 26-year-old has received “several NHL offers,” including from the Red Wings, after spending this season in Russia with Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League, according to Daria Tuboltseva of RG.
The big-bodied Comtois (6’2″, 210 lbs) was a second-round pick of the Ducks in 2017. In a few years’ time, it looked like he was one of the league’s brighter young power forwards. After turning pro in 2018 and splitting his first two seasons between Anaheim and AHL San Diego, he landed a full-time role with the Ducks in the shortened 2021 season and did so with a bang. He managed to lead the league’s worst offensive club in scoring with a 16-17–33 scoring line in 55 games, averaging 15:28 per game while ranking fourth on the team in plus/minus (+3) and hits (93).
Injuries and shooting regression meant the following years haven’t been nearly as successful for Comtois. He hasn’t touched double-digit goals or the 20-point mark in a single season since and wasn’t extended a qualifying offer by the Ducks when he became a free agent in 2023. He didn’t even land an NHL contract that summer, settling for an AHL deal with the Chicago Wolves and only receiving an NHL contract at the 2024 trade deadline from the Hurricanes to make him eligible for recalls down the stretch (he did play one game for Carolina). He did well enough in the minors, finishing third on the Wolves in scoring with 44 points in 65 games (and 109 PIMs).
That wasn’t enough to put him back on NHL teams’ radars, though – aside from a failed PTO with the Golden Knights – and he headed overseas for the first time in his career. It was a prudent move for the Quebec native, who emerged as a star in the Russian capital. Alongside other former NHLers like Nikita Gusev, Cédric Paquette, and Jordan Weal, Comtois posted a 21-29–50 scoring line in 62 regular-season games before leading Dynamo with 13 points in 15 Gagarin Cup Playoff games.
“I’ve always said I want to return to the NHL, and this season I did everything possible to make that happen,” Comtois said (relayed by Tuboltseva). “Hockey had become just a job for me in North America, but here, it became my passion again.”
If he lands with Detroit or any other NHL team, it’ll presumably be on a two-way deal. There will be an opening for him to capture a bottom-six role with the Wings, with veterans Tyler Motte and Craig Smith headed for unrestricted free agency this summer.
Sam Gagner Confirms Retirement, Joins Senators’ Front Office
Longtime NHL forward Sam Gagner has confirmed his retirement and will join the Senators as their director of player development, the team announced.
“Sam had an incredible career as a player and we look forward to launching his next chapter,” Ottawa general manager Steve Staios said. “A true character individual, Sam has contributed to the success of his organizations, both on and off the ice.”
Gagner, 35, last played in the league during the 2023-24 season when he appeared in 28 games for the Oilers, his third go-around with the team that drafted him sixth overall in 2007. He cracked the 1,000 game plateau a few years ago. He finished his career with 1,034 regular-season appearances but played just 11 postseason contests over 17 years in the NHL, only reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Flyers in 2016 and the Blue Jackets in 2017.
After tantalizing with 118 points in just 53 junior games with the OHL’s London Knights in his draft year, the 5’11” center never arrived as an elite scoring presence in the pros. He was still a consistent yet sometimes injury-prone 40-point scorer, especially early in his career with Edmonton. He averaged 17 goals and 50 points per 82 games over the first seven years of his career with the Oilers and averaged north of 17 minutes per game.
One season into a three-year, $14.4MM contract he signed with the Oilers as an RFA, Gagner was flipped to the Coyotes via the Lightning in the summer of 2014 after underwhelming with 37 points and a -29 rating in 67 games the year prior. So began the journeyman stage of Gagner’s career as his offensive production fluctuated wildly from year to year, even resulting in some time in the minors. Between 2014 and 2020, Gagner would suit up for the Flyers, Blue Jackets, Canucks, the Oilers for a second time, and the Red Wings in addition to his year in Arizona. During that run, he scored a career-high 50 points in 81 games with Columbus in the 2016-17 campaign.
Gagner got a modicum of stability to end his career, spending two full seasons with Detroit after they acquired him from Edmonton at the 2020 trade deadline. He spent the 2022-23 season with the Jets before signing his final NHL deal with the Oilers nearly two years ago. The versatile right-shot pivot finishes his career with 197 goals, 332 assists, 529 points, and a -139 rating, averaging 15:37 per game and a 45.6 FO%. He earned approximately $38.1MM in salary throughout his career, per PuckPedia.
While Gagner didn’t play in the NHL last season, he was still active on an AHL deal with the Senators’ affiliate in Belleville, giving some context for his joining the front office of a team he never suited up for in the majors. He recorded 10 assists in 19 games for the B-Sens, appearing in his last game on March 5.
Ottawa also announced they’ve hired Matt Turek to serve as Belleville’s GM while taking a player personnel role with the parent club. He arrives in Ottawa after spending the last decade with the Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL as a scout and, later, their GM. Senators majority owner Michael Andlauer also owns that club, and Turek also worked under Staios as a scout when the latter was Hamilton’s GM before succeeding him upon his departure.
Turek will take on most of the responsibilities vacated by former assistant GM Ryan Bowness, who the Senators told clubs earlier this month won’t be back with the team next season.
Image courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.
A Look Into Detroit's Offseason Plans
To the dismay of Red Wings fans, the Original Six team set another franchise record this season by missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for a ninth consecutive season. Max Bultman of The Athletic summarized the Detroit Red Wings’ offseason plans, identifying players they are likely to part ways with this summer.
In his list of ‘possible farewells’, Bultman theorizes that Detroit will let Jeff Petry, Craig Smith, Tyler Motte, and Alex Lyon walk in free agency. Totalling a combined cap hit of more than $5MM, all four of the quartet could be easily replaced internally this offseason, allowing the Red Wings to pursue a higher-impact player.
Phil Roberto Passes Away
In a sad announcement, the St. Louis Blues revealed that former player Phil Roberto has passed away at the age of 76.
Roberto began his professional playing career with the Montreal Canadiens on December 17, 1969. Despite tallying only one assist in eight games during the 1969-70 season, Roberto increased his offense the following season, scoring 14 goals and 21 points in 39 games. He added another assist in 15 postseason contests as the Canadiens captured the Stanley Cup against the Chicago Black Hawks.
Without much information on the type of transaction, Roberto was moved from Montreal to the Blues organization partway through the 1971-72 season. St. Louis is where he’d have the most individual success of his career, scoring 33 goals and 71 points in 148 games in parts of four seasons.
The Niagara Falls, Ontario native joined the Detroit Red Wings partway through the 1974-75 season, and scored 14 goals and 48 points in 83 games with the second Original Six organization of his career. Roberto left the Red Wings in the 1975-76 season and began playing for three different teams that were briefly part of the NHL.
From halfway through the 1975-76 season to 1977, Roberto played for the Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies, and Cleveland Barons. He joined the WHA’s Birmingham Bulls in 1977-78, ending his NHL career with 75 goals and 106 assists in 385 regular-season games.
PHR sends our condolences to Roberto’s family, friends, colleagues, and former teammates.
Red Wings Expect To Re-Sign Patrick Kane
In an unusual move for General Manager Steve Yzerman, who often keeps his plans private, he expressed his desire to retain a veteran player this offseason. During today’s end-of-season press conference, Yzerman clearly stated that he not only wants to re-sign Patrick Kane but also expects the Detroit Red Wings to do so this offseason.
It’s a little surprising given that the 36-year-old veteran is two seasons removed from postseason hockey since joining the Red Wings. Still, with him and Alex DeBrincat‘s bromance, and his 0.87 points-per-game average, there’s no questioning the mutual interest between the two sides.
Valtteri Filppula Announces Retirement
16-year NHL veteran Valtteri Filppula has ended his playing career. Helsinki-based Jokerit of Finland’s second-tier league, Mestis, where he spent the 2024-25 campaign, made the announcement today.
Filppula, 41, hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2020-21 campaign but remained steadily active overseas. After a strong three-year run in Switzerland with Genève-Servette HC of the National League, he returned to Jokerit, where he began his professional career, last summer as player and part-owner.
Jokerit, a staple of top-flight Finnish hockey, joined Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League in the mid-2010s but withdrew from the league abruptly in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They were denied re-entry into the top-level Liiga and thus restarted play in Mestis in 2023-24. Filppula captained the team to a Mestis championship this season and finished second on the team in scoring with 14-27–41 in 39 games, but Jokerit dropped the Liiga relegation series against Pelicans and will thus remain in Mestis for 2025-26.
It was a mostly triumphant end to Filppula’s 22-year professional career. He made his Liiga (then the SM-liiga) debut with Jokerit in 2003-04, one year after the Red Wings selected him in the third round of the 2002 NHL draft. He led the league in rookie scoring that year and then reached the championship series in 2004-05 before heading to Detroit for 2005-06.
Filppula spent most of his first season in North America with AHL Grand Rapids, where he exploded out of the gate for a 20-50–70 scoring line in 74 games and was naturally a participant in the league’s All-Star Game. He earned a full-time role on the powerhouse Red Wings for 2006-07 and never looked back. The 6’0″ center played a key depth role in Detroit’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2008 and 2009, winning the only ring of his career in the former year, recording 27 points and a +15 rating in 45 games across the two runs.
The left-shot pivot got more of a run in top-six minutes in the years to come, but his offense was hot and cold from year to year. After scoring 23 goals and a career-high 66 points for Detroit in 81 games in the 2011-12 campaign, he mustered just 17 points in 41 games in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, leading the team to let him walk in unrestricted free agency after the five-year, $15MM deal he signed in the 2008 offseason expired.
Filppula landed another five-year deal on the open market, receiving $25MM from the Lightning to stay in the Atlantic Division. His offensive production came roaring back, lighting the lamp a career-best 25 times in 75 games in 2013-14 while playing just south of 20 minutes per night. In Year 2 in Tampa, he played a crucial top-line role with Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos as the Bolts marched to the Stanley Cup Final but lost to the Blackhawks. He scored 4-10–14 in 26 games in that playoff run.
His offense soon began to taper off for good. He never eclipsed the 20-goal mark again after that 25-goal season, and his last time hitting 40 points was in the 2016-17 campaign. He remained a capable defensive presence in dwindling minutes, though. After brief stints with the Flyers and Islanders in the late 2010s, Filppula hit the open market in 2019 and reunited with Detroit on a two-year, $6MM deal.
An aging Filppula understandably wasn’t much of an impact player, especially on a 2019-20 Red Wings squad that finished with the worst points percentage of any team in the salary cap era. After recording a 12-24–36 scoring line with a -43 rating in 108 games for the Wings over two seasons, Filppula opted to play out the remainder of his career in Europe.
Filppula was one of Switzerland’s premier talents in his three-year run in the NL, scoring 47-84–131 in 145 games with a +16 rating for Genève-Servette after signing there in 2021. He won a league title with the club in 2023 while leading the postseason in assists and won a Champions Hockey League title as the top club in Europe in 2024. Heading overseas at the time also allowed him to represent Finland in the 2022 Winter Olympics, where he recorded two assists in six games as captain and won a gold medal. He also won a gold medal at the World Championship that year, making him the only Finnish member and most recent entrant of the Triple Gold Club.
Filppula retires after scoring 197 goals, 333 assists, and 530 points in 1,056 career regular-season games. The ever-steady center also won 50.8% of his career faceoffs and ranks 34th in playoff scoring since the 2004-05 lockout with 86 points in 166 career postseason games. All of us at PHR wish Filppula the best in retirement.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports.
Elmer Söderblom To Return To AHL When Healthy
- According to Rachel Hopmayer of CBS Detroit, Detroit Red Wings forward Elmer Söderblom is expected to join the team’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, for the Calder Cup playoffs once his undisclosed injury has healed. In his first extended stay in the NHL since the 2022-23 season, Söderblom scored four goals and 11 points in 26 games for the Red Wings after being recalled in late January. His addition will boost the Griffins’ postseason chances, given Söderblom scored five goals and 17 points in 38 games with Grand Rapids earlier this season.
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11 Teams To Carry Bonus Overage Cap Penalties In 2025-26
The end of the regular season also means the end of daily salary cap calculations across the NHL. With no more cap-related transactions left in the year, 11 teams have officially finished over the salary cap because players on entry-level or 35+ contracts earned performance bonuses that put them above the upper limit. They’ll carry bonus overage penalties in 2025-26 as a result. Those teams break down as follows, per PuckPedia:
Carolina Hurricanes: $33K – $1.076MM
Carolina’s numbers vary wildly here because of the $1.0375MM bonus rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin will incur if he wins the Conn Smythe. Their guaranteed $33K penalty comes from Logan Stankoven‘s post-acquisition games-played bonuses. There’s the potential for an additional $5K penalty if rookie Juha Jaaska plays at least two playoff games. Carolina ends the year in LTIR, so they can’t afford any bonuses. They don’t have any other cap charges next year.
Dallas Stars: $368K
The Stars ended the year in LTIR, so all of Wyatt Johnston‘s $319K in Schedule A bonuses and Logan Stankoven‘s $49.5K games-played bonus, which they paid out before he was traded to the Hurricanes, count as penalties next year. Their total dead cap charges will total $1.801MM with another year of Ryan Suter‘s buyout on the books.
Detroit Red Wings: $871K
Detroit ended the year with a comfortable $2.02MM in cap space but had $2.888MM in performance bonuses to dole out, so they’ll get hit with a six-figure penalty next year. Patrick Kane hit $1.75MM in games played bonuses this year as part of his 35+ contract, while Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper each hit multiple Schedule A bonus categories for $638K and $500K in respective bonuses. They also have a $1.056MM cap charge next season for the final year of Justin Abdelkader‘s buyout, bringing their total dead cap next season to $1.927MM.
Edmonton Oilers: $150K – $250K
All of the Oilers’ penalties stem from Corey Perry‘s 35+ contract after ending the season in LTIR. He’s already earned $150K in games played bonuses and could earn up to $100K in playoff bonuses – $50K if the Oilers win two rounds and Perry plays in either half of the second-round games or half of the total first and second-round games, and another $50K if they win three rounds and Perry plays in either half of the Western Conference Final games or half the total games through the WCF. That’s on top of the $2.3MM cap charge Edmonton faces from buying out Jack Campbell.
Los Angeles Kings: $213K
It’s simple here – the Kings couldn’t fit the performance bonus earned by Brandt Clarke for hitting 25 assists. That gives them $813K in dead cap next year, combined with the Mike Richards buyout.
Minnesota Wild: $1.1MM – $1.15MM
The Wild ended the year with just $36K in cap space, so virtually all of the performance bonuses earned by Marco Rossi and Brock Faber hitting their full complement of Schedule A targets ($850K and $250K, respectively) will count as a penalty. The number could increase slightly if rookie defenseman Zeev Buium plays five playoff games or wins the Conn Smythe, each landing him a $25K bonus. Minnesota’s total dead cap charges will be at least $2.767MM with Zach Parise‘s and Ryan Suter‘s buyouts still on the books, albeit at a drastically reduced cost from the last few years.
Montreal Canadiens: $1.728MM – $2.308MM
All of the Canadiens’ performance bonuses awarded this season will count toward their overage because they ended the year with Carey Price on long-term injured reserve to remain cap-compliant. Star rookie Lane Hutson maxed out his Schedule A bonuses for $750K, Juraj Slafkovsky earned $500K in A bonuses for finishing top-six among Montreal forwards in average time on ice and top-three in plus-minus rating, defenseman Kaiden Guhle maxed out his $420K in A bonuses, and rearguard Jayden Struble earned his $57.5K games played bonus. Their penalty will increase based on the performance bonuses rookie Ivan Demidov incurs in the postseason. He’ll earn $25K for five playoff appearances, $30K for 10, and a whopping $525K bonus if he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy. The Habs don’t have any other dead cap charges next year, but still have to contend with the final year of Price’s deal.
New Jersey Devils: $1MM
The Devils ended the season in long-term injured reserve and thus can’t afford reigning Calder Trophy finalist Luke Hughes‘ $1MM in Schedule A bonuses. At present, it’s the only dead cap charge New Jersey will have next year.
New York Islanders: $600K – $850K
Mathew Barzal‘s and Semyon Varlamov‘s LTIR placements kept the Isles cap-compliant at season’s end, so the entirety of Matt Martin‘s $100K in games played bonuses and Maxim Tsyplakov‘s $500K in Schedule A bonuses (plus-minus and ice time). If Tsyplakov makes the NHL’s All-Rookie Team, he’ll incur an additional $250K bonus. New York doesn’t have any other dead cap charges next year.
St. Louis Blues: $2.153MM
The Blues are currently set to incur the most significant bonus overage penalty of any team next year. Most of that comes from the $2.225MM in performance bonuses awarded to veteran Ryan Suter in his 35+ contract last summer. He earned all of them, while sophomore Zachary Bolduc earned a $212.5K bonus for finishing in the top three in plus-minus rating among St. Louis forwards. Those, less the Blues’ $284K in season-ending cap space, give them a bonus overage carryover penalty of $2.153MM. Barring any buyouts this summer, that will comprise their entire dead cap hit for 2025-26.
Toronto Maple Leafs: $626K
Since they ended the season in LTIR, the performance bonuses Max Pacioretty earned for playing 37 games on his 35+ contract will count against the Leafs’ cap next year. As things stand, they could begin the year with an additional $300K in dead cap if Ryan Reaves and Matt Benning are buried in the minors as they were to end 2024-25.
The Capitals could find themselves added to this list if rookie Ryan Leonard wins the Conn Smythe. He’s owed $275K if he does, which the Caps can’t accommodate after ending the year in LTIR.
Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.
The Red Wings Need To Have A Strong Summer
The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, prompting hockey pundits and fans to question the direction of the team and whether general manager Steve Yzerman is the right man to lead the club. Yzerman was hired six years ago to steer the Red Wings through a rebuild, and while he has hit on some of his moves, he hasn’t been able to lead the Red Wings back to the playoffs in what has become the longest postseason drought in the franchise’s 98-year history. The Red Wings have been close to making the playoffs the last few seasons, but they need a big summer to get them over the hump and back into the hunt in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit’s play has been incredibly inconsistent in the past two seasons. They start slow and then pick up their play in the middle of the season, only to fall apart down the stretch. This year, the club was boosted by a coaching change after Christmas when they relieved Derek Lalonde of his duties and replaced him with Todd McLellan. The Red Wings went 17-5-2 after the coaching change to get back into the thick of the playoff race, but then rattled off six regulation losses and never recovered.
Assessing what went wrong is essential before determining what needs to be done this summer. Detroit was undone by the worst penalty kill in the NHL this season, with a success rate of just 69.5%, almost three percent lower than the Wild’s second-worst penalty kill. The other issue the Red Wings need to address is their poor 5-on-5 offensive numbers, largely covered up by their effective power play. Detroit scored the fourth-lowest 5-on-5 goals in the league, which they must improve upon if they hope to reach the playoffs next year.
Detroit’s rebuild could be characterized as still in motion or taking too long. Despite that, the Red Wings have plenty of reasons for optimism. Many of their top players, such as Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, are in their early to mid-20s, and they have several promising prospects, including Nate Danielson and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who are nearing NHL readiness. This summer, it will be crucial to surround these younger pieces with capable NHL talent who can elevate the team and play within McLellan’s structure.
Yzerman’s work has been a mixed bag in Detroit, with some successes and setbacks regarding trades and free agency. This summer, he badly needs to avoid mistakes in free agency, which he has had his fair share of in recent seasons. Defenseman Justin Holl’s three-year $10.2MM contract has been an unmitigated disaster, and center Andrew Copp was signed to a massive five-year deal worth $28.125MM in 2022 but has fallen to the bottom six and has seen his offensive numbers drop off. The list could go on, but the point is that Yzerman has struggled to build around his stars. Many of his forwards are overpaid, and Yzerman likely isn’t going to find much help in free agency without overpaying even more players. The trade market is probably the best avenue for Yzerman, and it is a place where he has found a lot of success in his career as a GM, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t dip his toe in the free agent market.
Detroit needs a right-shot defenseman to slide in behind Seider on the second pairing after Holl and Jeff Petry did not work out in that role in previous seasons. This is one spot where Yzerman could find help with free agency, as Aaron Ekblad is available. However, the cost could become prohibitive. The Red Wings are projected to have $22MM in cap space this summer but will need to sign five players and have a handful of RFAs. Daily Faceoff projects Ekblad to sign a contract in the range of $6.9MM annually. If Detroit were to miss on him, Brent Burns of the Carolina Hurricanes would also be available, but at 40 years old, he wouldn’t be a long-term fit.
The most prolific right-shot defenseman on the trade market will likely be Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Karlsson would help the Red Wings at 5-on-5 but wouldn’t relieve their penalty kill. Karlsson can still put up points, but he comes with a $10MM price tag that Pittsburgh might be willing to retain part of. Detroit was 25th in offense this season, and Karlsson could help from the backend, but his presence would put a lot of pressure on whoever he is paired with. At 34 years old, the three-time Norris Trophy winner can still put up points, but the turnovers and defensive lapses have reached another level this season, giving any team that tries to acquire him serious pause.
Rasmus Ristolainen of the Philadelphia Flyers could be a player of interest to the Red Wings, but they would be wise to avoid making that move, given the past state of his game and the $5.1MM cap hit he carries. There will be an appeal to Ristolainen’s game since he is a big body with a nasty shot, but the warts in his game would be too much for Detroit to add to a top-four that is already not very good.
If Detroit can’t compensate for their penalty-killing and goal-scoring troubles, Mitch Marner is an available UFA who would help in both areas. The 27-year-old forward is the type of player the Red Wings could and should be aggressive in pursuing. Sure, he would eat up most of the remaining cap space they have, but he would be a top-line player who could help improve their penalty-killing and 5-on-5 play. The Markham, Ontario native has received Selke Trophy consideration for six straight years and could be just the piece Detroit has been missing in their top six.
Detroit could look to the free agency and trade markets for scoring depth. If that is a route they are interested in, Yzerman would be wise to avoid overspending on another mid-tier player and instead look for a short-term bounce-back candidate, such as Andrei Kuzmenko, who has performed well since being traded to the Kings at the deadline. Detroit has too much money tied up in too many underperforming depth players and can’t afford to insert another one into the lineup long-term. Marner is an exception, as he is a top-line player and should perform well through the bulk of his next deal.
Detroit fans are hopeful that a playoff position is within their grasp for next year, and the bones are in place to make that happen; they will just need a strong summer to address the holes in the roster construction and the shortcomings that kept them out of the postseason this year.
Photo by James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports