Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings
Free agency is now a little more than a month away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Detroit’s free agent situation.
Key Restricted Free Agent: F Dylan Larkin — After a great start in his rookie year, there were a lot of questions after he struggled in his sophomore campaign when he put up just 32 points. However, the 21-year-old center brushed away any doubts this year, putting up 16 goals and a team-leading 63 points. With a team full of veterans, the Red Wings must begin to depend more and more on Larkin, who is developing into the franchise player they need to center one of their top lines. Add in a recent appearance at the IIHF World Championships where he helped Team USA win a bronze medal and he’s the key to Detroit’s rebuild.
Now coming off his entry-level deal, Larkin is in line for a significant raise from the $1.43MM deal he’s been on for the past three years. Not arbitration eligible, however, the negotiations might get ugly like the one that Andreas Athanasiou dealt with last year, especially with multiple quality players who will be restricted free agents this summer.
Other RFA’s: F Athanasiou, F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Martin Frk, F Matej Machovsky, F Anthony Mantha, F Zach Nastasiuk, F Matt Puempel, D Daniel Renouf.
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: D Mike Green — On a positive note, the team doesn’t have any pressing unrestricted free agents. While Green is quite an offensive defenseman, he’s also 32 years old and not necessarily in the team’s long-term plans. The team’s original plan was to trade the veteran blueliner to a playoff contender at the trade deadline and had hoped that he would provide the team with a big haul of picks and/or prospects. Instead, Green got hurt and missed the two weeks prior to the trade deadline and weren’t able to move Green.
While there has been some talk of bringing him back on a short-term deal, he might be able to get a bigger deal elsewhere, but considering defense is one of the team’s biggest weaknesses and not a lot of defensive prospects there to take his place, a reunion is certainly possible.
Other UFA’s: F David Booth, G Jared Coreau, F Turner Elson, F Matt Lorito, G Tom McCollum, F Ben Street, F Eric Tangradi.
Projected Cap Space: With all the bloated veteran contracts the Red Wings have on the books, cap space is something the team has had little of over the past few years. The team did get the contracts of Green, Tomas Tatar, and Petr Mrazek off the books to free up a little room, but they will likely need all of that to re-sign Larkin, Athanasiou, Mantha and Bertuzzi. While general manager Ken Holland says he doesn’t intend to sign any major free agents to long-term deals this summer, he did say he would look at players with shorter term deals, but in the end, the team hopes to bring in some of their youth to fill in the gaps this year.
Montreal Has Tough Decision To Make At Upcoming Draft
It’s well known that the Montreal Canadiens are looking for a franchise changing center. Usually when you have a top-three pick in a draft, a team can fill their biggest hole right there. However, that isn’t the case in the 2018 NHL Draft as the top of the draft is loaded with wingers and defenseman. Most of the centers are expected to go after the top-10. The Canadiens need help there as they have attempted to convert several players to the center position, including Jonathan Drouin and Alex Galchenyuk, but neither has made a successful conversion. If the team could add a couple of legitimate centers, it could hasten their turnaround.
Recent reports suggest the Canadiens have found themselves getting attached to Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who most mock drafts have going after the 10th pick. Admittedly, he has risen up draft boards over the past year after a season in Finland’s top league, SM-liiga and put up 10 goals and 29 points as a 17-year-old among men (ironically he played the wing position there). In fact, at the combine this week, Kotkaniemi said that Canadiens were one of three teams to take him out to a steak dinner this past week. Assuming the Canadiens’ interest in him is genuine, the Canadiens have some critical decisions to make in the next few weeks. Kotkaniemi, who has two years remaining on his contract in Finland, has said there is an out-clause and he could come to North America, depending on the team that drafts him. Regardless, whatever Montreal does with the No. 3 pick will alter the rest of the draft, according to the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey.
One option is to take Kotkaniemi with the third overall pick regardless of the prospect rankings. Afterall, the Columbus Blue Jackets did the same thing in 2016 when they surprised many by taking Pierre-Luc Dubois with the No. 3 pick then. That worked out pretty well. The downside is the team would likely pass on some top talent in either winger Andrei Svechnikov or Filip Zadina (whoever Carolina doesn’t take at No. 2) as well as a number of stud defensemen like Adam Boqvist, Noah Dobson or Quinn Hughes. Montreal needs help at both positions as well.
The second option is for Montreal to trade back and pick up Kotkaniemi at a more reasonable spot and pick up more assets. Unfortunately, several other teams like Kotkaniemi as well, including the Detroit Red Wings (No. 6) and the Chicago Blackhawks (No. 8). By the way, both teams were the only other teams to take Kotkaniemi out to a steak dinner this week. However, earlier in the week, general manager Marc Bergevin said he was reluctant to trade back in the draft. Director of player personnel Trevor Timmons countered that Saturday, suggesting the team could go up or down with all their extra picks in this draft.
Assuming the Canadiens do want to add a center in the draft, then the team will have a big decision to make in the coming weeks about which route they intend to take.
Red Wings Could Package First-Rounders In Effort To Move Up
While there has been speculation that the Red Wings are a candidate to slide back from the sixth pick in the draft, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes that speculation around the Draft Combine is that Detroit is looking to move up and may be willing to move their second first-round pick (from Vegas which will slot in 30th or 31st) to do so. Detroit is believed to be looking for defensemen so jumping up a spot or two would likely guarantee they’d get the second-best blueliner available (beyond Rasmus Dahlin who is expected to go to Buffalo at number one).
Exclusive Negotiating Rights Of 33 Draft Picks Expire
The deadline for signing draft picks has come and gone, and unless more deals come in after the fact, 33 players—the same total as last year—will see their exclusive negotiating rights expire. With it they will either re-enter the 2018 draft for the final time or become free agents, depending on their age. Adam Mascherin is the highest picked player among those who will be headed back into the draft, selected 38th overall by the Florida Panthers two years ago. Below is the full list of players:
Anaheim Ducks:
F Tyler Soy (7th round, 2016)
Arizona Coyotes:
F Anton Karlsson (3rd round, 2014)
D David Westlund (6th round, 2014)
Buffalo Sabres:
D Vojtech Budik (5th round, 2016)
F Brandon Hagel (6th round, 2016)
D Austin Osmanski (7th round, 2016)
Calgary Flames:
D Adam Ollas Mattsson (6th round, 2014)
Carolina Hurricanes:
C Hudson Elynuik (3rd round, 2016)
D Noah Carroll (6th round, 2016)
Chicago Blackhawks:
D Andreas Soderberg (5th round, 2014)
Colorado Avalanche:
G Maximilian Pajpach (6th round, 2014)
Dallas Stars:
D Miro Karjalainen (5th round, 2014)
Detroit Red Wings:
D Jordan Sambrook (5th round, 2016)
F Julius Vahatalo (6th round, 2014)
Florida Panthers:
G Hugo Fagerblom (7th round, 2014)
C Adam Mascherin (2nd round, 2016)
Los Angeles Kings:
D Jacob Friend (7th round, 2016)
Minnesota Wild:
D Pontus Sjalin (6th round, 2014)
D Brayden Chizen (7th round, 2016)
New Jersey Devils:
G Evan Cormier (4th round, 2016)
Philadelphia Flyers:
C Anthony Salinitri (6th round, 2016)
Pittsburgh Penguins:
D Connor Hall (3rd round, 2016)
San Jose Sharks:
D Mark Shoemaker (6th round, 2016)
Tampa Bay Lightning:
C Christopher Paquette (5th round, 2016)
Toronto Maple Leafs:
D Keaton Middleton (4th rond, 2016)
F J.J. Piccinich (4th round, 2014)
D Nicolas Mattinen (6th round, 2016)
Vancouver Canucks:
D Cole Candella (5th round, 2016)
F Jakob Stukel (6th round, 2016)
C Brett McKenzie (7th round, 2016)
Washington Capitals:
F Kevin Elgestal (7th round, 2014)
D Dmitri Zaitsev (7th round, 2016)
Winnipeg Jets:
C Jordan Stallard (5th round, 2016)
Detroit Open To Trading Down At The Draft, Have Had Preliminary Talks With Three Pending Free Agents
- The Red Wings are open to moving their sixth-overall selection in the draft, reports Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required). GM Ken Holland admitted that trading up doesn’t make a lot of sense for them but sliding down a few spots would certainly be a possibility for them. Custance adds that Holland has had preliminary meetings with the agents for pending RFA wingers Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha plus pending UFA defenseman Mike Green.
Todd Nelson, Mike Van Ryn Join NHL Coaching Staffs
Two top AHL coaches are leaving for the NHL, as reports have surfaced from Sean Shapiro and Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic that Todd Nelson and Mike Van Ryn will be joining the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues respectively. Nelson had been the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings’ affiliate in Grand Rapids, while Van Ryn was the head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners, affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes.
Nelson took over from Jeff Blashill as head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2015, and led them to an AHL Calder Cup championship in his second season. Though the Griffins took a slight step backwards this season, they still posted their third straight 40+ win season under Nelson and made the playoffs. Knocked out by a tough Manitoba Moose squad in a five games, they’ll have to look for a new leader behind the bench to try and overcome their playoff disappointment.
Van Ryn, 39, finished his playing career in 2009 with the Toronto Maple Leafs and quickly moved into the coaching ranks. Spending time in both the OHL and AHL, he was given the head coaching job in Tucson last summer after previously serving as director of player development. Once a first-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, Van Ryn tallied quite a few successful seasons in the NHL before having his playing days cut short by injuries. Joining the Blues is the next step in a coaching career that seems destined for an NHL head coaching job eventually.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Gustav Lindstrom To Three-Year Deal
The Detroit Red Wings have signed another one of their top prospects, inking Gustav Lindstrom to a three-year entry-level contract. Lindstrom is expected to play this season for Frolunda of the SHL, but could show up at development camp this summer for the Red Wings.
Lindstrom, selected with the 38th pick of the 2017 draft, has played the last two seasons in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, their equivalent of the AHL. The 19-year old right-handed defenseman recorded 14 points, but isn’t necessarily known for his offensive production. The biggest takeaway from many scouts is how calm Lindstrom is in his own end, collecting pucks and completing quick breakout passes. While that may not be as exciting as a high-flying defender with elite puck skills, the Red Wings should be happy with their second-round pick’s development so far and his track to becoming an NHL player down the road.
The Red Wings have just one NHL defenseman—Danny DeKeyser—signed past next season, and will be looking to rebuild their entire blue line in the coming years. With players like Lindstrom, Dennis Cholowski and Filip Hronek on the way, that problem may not be too hard to solve. They’ll have to cross their fingers and hope everyone develops as planned, but things are starting to look up in Motown.
Todd Nelson Eyeing NHL Assistant Jobs
The head coach of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, the 2017 Calder Cup champions, has his eye on greener pastures. According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, Todd Nelson is a hot name on the coaching market right now among teams in need of an NHL assistant. Nelson is reportedly considering offers from many teams. Custance describes Nelson as an AHL coach who has proven himself ready to be an NHL head coach, but is facing the dilemma of deciding how best to position himself for that move.
Nelson, 49, has a long history with the Griffins and will not be quick to choose an NHL assistant position if the fit is not perfect. The former defenseman spent much of his playing career in the minor leagues, wrapping up his career in Grand Rapids in 2002. He immediately jumped into coaching as an assistant with the Griffins the next year. While he left the team after just one year, Nelson found his way back to Grand Rapids in 2015 as the head coach and took home a title last year. In his decade away from the team, Nelson spent time as an assistant with the Atlanta Thrashers, was the long-time head coach of the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, and even briefly served as the interim head coach of their then-parent club, the Edmonton Oilers. While Nelson’s Oilers won just 17 of 51 games under his guidance, it was an invaluable experience and strays greatly from Nelson’s other head coaching outcomes, in which he has a career .611 points percentage in the AHL.
It’s possible that Nelson could land in the same scenario as Oklahoma City if he stays in his current position, possibly taking over for Jeff Blashill of the Detroit Red Wings, who have struggled of late, during or after the next season. However, this time he would likely be given a longer tryout as head coach for Detroit given his improved coaching pedigree. Nelson could also get a jump on that process by simply becoming one of Blashill’s assistants, the same path that Jack Adams candidate Bruce Cassidy took, moving from head coach of the Providence Bruins to an assistant in Boston before taking over. Yet, Custance hears that Nelson is still considering a move. “By no means am I unhappy in Grand Rapids,” Nelson told Custance, but added “I just want to see what the next step might present… My goal is to be a head coach in the National Hockey League. Maybe it means going with a different organization where I’m more visible.” Teams reportedly chasing Nelson include the Dallas Stars, and new head coach Jim Montgomery, and at least one other Western Conference team, per Custance. Only time will tell what choice Nelson makes, but he is certainly a name to keep an eye on in the coming years as a top head coach candidate in the NHL.
Snapshots: KHL Awards, Sambrook, Middleton
The KHL announced their award winners today and there were plenty of surprises, not the least of which was their Rookie of the Year recipient. One would think that Eeli Tolvanen, the 19-year old phenom who broke nearly every junior-aged scoring record in the league would have walked away with the award, but instead Vitaly Kravtsov was the winner after scoring four goals and three assists for Traktor Chelyabinsk.
Just playing in the KHL was impressive for Kravtsov, who was just 17 for much of the season, but it does seem unlikely that Tolvanen’s 19 goals and 36 points for Jokerit wasn’t good enough to win. Tolvanen of course bolted for the NHL after his season ended, and played three games for the Nashville Predators down the stretch. Other winners today included Nikita Gusev as league MVP, Philip Larsen as the top defenseman, and Pavel Francouz as the top goaltender.
- Jordan Sambrook will not be offered a contract by the Detroit Red Wings, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Sambrook, selected in the fifth round in 2016, is one of many players who will see their draft rights expire on June 1st. Sambrook had a good season split between the Erie Otters and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL, recording 39 points in the regular season and helping the Greyhounds make it all the way to the OHL Finals.
- Keaton Middleton is in a similar situation, as Dhiren Mahiban reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick will not be signed by the deadline. Middleton will instead go back into the draft again, hoping to find another team who wants to bring him into the organization. The 6’5″ defenseman recorded 24 points for the Saginaw Spirit this year, after being selected in the fourth round in 2016.
- Another Maple Leafs prospect, Nicolas Mattinen, has yet to decide whether he’ll sign or not according to Mahiban. The sixth-round pick from 2016 is still playing in the Memorial Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs, where he continues to show what a long reach and good defensive positioning can accomplish.
Patrik Rybar Signs Entry-Level Contract With Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings have added some international talent to their prospect pool, signing Slovakian goaltender Patrik Rybar to a one-year entry-level contract. Rybar has spent the last two seasons playing in the Czech Republic, and recently represented Solovakia at the Olympics and IIHF World Championship.
Rybar, 24, was never drafted by an NHL team but has turned in nothing but outstanding appearances in his time as a professional. At the highest level in the Czech Republic, Rybar has posted .922 and .932 save percentages in the last two years, and held his own in the recent international tournament. He didn’t get into the crease at the Olympics, but even the experience of being there was probably beneficial to his long-term development.
Detroit doesn’t have a succession plan in place for their goaltending situation, as Petr Mrazek never took the net from Jimmy Howard and was eventually traded off this season. Howard, now 34, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, the same designation Jared Coreau will receive this year. No one is expecting Rybar to step in and become the future for Detroit right away, but he is an extremely low-risk addition that could strengthen the position for them down the road. There is more work to do for the Red Wings, but adding a top international goaltender on a short-term deal is never a bad option.