Kronwall Could Get Green Light To Return Thursday
- Red Wings blueliner Niklas Kronwall is very close to returning to the lineup and could receive the green light to play on Thursday, notes Dana Wakiji on the Wings’ team site. Kronwall has been battling back spasms and a groin pull since late in training camp and has yet to play this season. Even if he receives clearance to return, it’s possible that Detroit may hold him out another game as they have a back-to-back coming up and it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll ask Kronwall to play in both just coming off of injury.
Latest On Andreas Athanasiou’s Trade Market
Last night during the Chicago Blackhawks-Montreal Canadiens game, TSN aired their latest “Insider Trading” segment featuring Bob McKenzie and Pierre LeBrun. In it, McKenzie explains that since there has been no movement between the Detroit Red Wings and restricted free agent Andreas Athanasiou, teams have started to call to ask about the young forward.
Though he makes it clear that Detroit is not shopping Athanasiou, they are listening to the offers with a specific price in mind. That price—another young forward with similar offensive potential—seems almost impossible to meet at this point. Though nothing seems imminent, Athanasiou has to sign somewhere in the league before December 1st, or forfeit his entire season. The Red Wings would maintain their rights over the 23-year old.
It is interesting that the Red Wings would be willing to listen. Despite yesterday’s 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars, the team has gotten off to a better start than many expected, riding solid goaltending to two wins in their first two games. Should that success continue, it will be a lot harder to pull the trigger and start selling off assets for an inevitable rebuild. Athanasiou is right on the border of being a key piece to build around, or an asset to sell off. If he continues his holdout, he may find himself slipping into the latter category.
Garrioch: Several Teams Inquiring About Riley Sheahan
- Red Wings center Riley Sheahan has drawn inquiries from several teams around the league as some anticipate that he will have to be moved if the team can agree to terms with restricted free agent winger Andreas Athanasiou. Sheahan’s struggles last season were well documented (he took until the last game of the season to score) but before that, he put up three straight years with at least 24 points. He’s in the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $2.075MM and will require that as a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent in June. If Athanasiou were to take Detroit’s two-year offer at an AAV of $1.9MM, moving Sheahan out would be enough to squeeze him in, as long as he was dealt for a prospect or draft choice.
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Rasmussen Might Be Solid Player
- Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) writes about the enigma that is 6-foot-7 center Michael Rasmussen, who he says was being hyped as a top-10 pick when he shouldn’t have been, and yet, the Detroit Red Wings ended up taking him No. 9 and being criticized for it. He writes, however, despite all the criticism, Detroit looks like it got a good investment from it after all. The youngster has developed nicely and looked good during Red Wings training camp.
Detroit's Asking Price For Andreas Athanasiou
Although the Red Wings aren’t shopping unsigned winger Andreas Athanasiou, they are listening to trade offers for him, reports Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required). However, they have set a high asking price for the 23-year-old as Custance notes that Detroit is seeking a top-four defenseman or a young center in return.
Athanasiou and the Red Wings continue to be far apart in contract talks in both one-year and two-year offers. With no resolution on the horizon, the winger has now flown to Switzerland to begin skating with HC Lugano of the NLA and while there is no contract in place to play yet, his presence over there will only fuel the trade speculation even further.
Andreas Athanasiou Heading To Switzerland
Detroit Red Wings restricted free agent forward Andreas Athanasiou remains unsigned… for now. The latest news on the league’s last remaining RFA comes from TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who shares that Athanasiou is on his way to Switzerland to skate with HC Lugano of the NLA. McKenzie was quick to add that Athanasiou has not signed Lugano and is still evaluating his options, but his commitment to going overseas for the time being raises more doubts that he will suit up in the NHL this season.
A recent poll revealed that most fans felt Athanasiou and former holdout Josh Anderson would each re-sign with their respective teams. The second most popular answer was that the pair would both play overseas. Anderson has done his part to prove true the majority, re-upping with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Athanasiou has not made any similar progress with Detroit and seems more likely to join in the dissenting opinion. Interestingly, it was Anderson who had been connected to the NLA this off-season, with Athanasiou reportedly fielding offers from the KHL. Athanasiou may still end up in Russia, but with an influx of talent heading to the NLA in recent years and the the past success of Lugano, who has not missed the playoffs in six years, the team is far from a poor fit. Athanasiou would be skating alongside former Red Wing Damien Brunner, as well as NHL veterans Maxim Lapierre and Bobby Sanguinetti should he sign with Lugano and the talented group could very well make a title run in 2017-18.
Still, the best thing for Athanasiou and for hockey is for the skilled 23-year-old to stay in North America. In just his second NHL season, the young center scored 18 goals and defied expectations for a Detroit team with few bright spots. The Red Wings may not want to overpay – in salary or term – for Athanasiou, who did have an unsustainable 15% shooting percentage in 2016-17 and is only in the early stages of developing a defensive game, but the best decision is always to work things out. Just ask the Dallas Stars, who missed the playoffs last season and had to go on a spending spree this summer in hopes of righting the ship. They would love to have Valeri Nichushkin back, the talented young winger who left the team in the summer of 2016 to head to the KHL, where he remains, after failing to come to terms in restricted free agency. Maybe the Red Wings would rather trade Athanasiou or maybe they’ll realize their mistake and work out a contract. Either way, there seems to be little upside to simply losing the scoring youth for this season (or longer). Athanasiou skating with Lugano may just be the straw that finally breaks Ken Holland‘s back.
No Progress In Contract Talks For Andreas Athanasiou
Although the Red Wings have been in contact with Andreas Athanasiou’s agent over the last few days, the GM told reporters, including MLive’s Ansar Khan, that nothing has changed with regards to the stalemate in negotiations. Athanasiou’s agent Darren Ferris also told Khan that there is nothing to update at this time.
Detroit made a pair of offers to the 23-year-old restricted free agent earlier in the offseason. They tabled a one-year offer worth $1.25MM that would allow him to return to restricted free agency next summer with arbitration eligibility where he could possibly have more leverage to yield a bigger salary. They’ve also offered him a two-year pact with an AAV of $1.9MM.
However, Athanasiou is believed to still be seeking $2.5MM per season which means there is still a pretty large gap to bridge. Ferris revealed back in August that the winger had a KHL offer on the table and while he wouldn’t reveal the specifics financially, it was suggested that it was worth more than what the Red Wings have offered.
Athanasiou is coming off of a strong season that saw him record 18 goals and 11 assists in just 64 games. However, this was also his only year that he was a full-time NHL player so his track record is still pretty small. The team is likely using comparables such as Toronto winger Connor Brown (three years, $2.1MM), Columbus winger Josh Anderson (who just signed a three year, $5.55MM deal on Monday), and Vancouver winger Sven Baertschi (two years, $3.7MM). Those players all were coming off similar seasons to Athanasiou without any sort of long-term track record of NHL production.
With the season getting underway today, this will be the first day where Athanasiou is leaving money on the table by not being under contract. If he is to play in the NHL at all in 2017-18, the two sides will need to reach an agreement on a new deal by December 1st.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Martin Frk Considered Signing In Europe Over The Offseason
- Red Wings winger Martin Frk gave serious consideration towards leaving the team to play overseas, notes Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. After being waived on multiple occasions last season, the soon-to-be 24-year-old played in just two NHL games last season (both with Carolina before rejoining Detroit via the waiver wire) but he was assured by head coach Jeff Blashill to get a long look in training camp. The decision to stick around was a smart one as he was named to their season-opening roster on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh Penguins Have Moved On From Red Wings Rumors
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been tied to the Detroit Red Wings for some time, with rumors swirling around Riley Sheahan and Andreas Athanasiou as potential trade candidates. Athanasiou remains unsigned, and as Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest “31 Thoughts” for Sportsnet, the Penguins have seemingly moved on.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Kaden Fulcher To ELC
The Detroit Red Wings have signed Kaden Fulcher to a three-year entry-level contract, inking the undrafted goaltender after he attended their development camp this summer. Fulcher is already back with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, but will no longer need to re-enter the draft next summer.
Fulcher must have shown something the the Red Wings’ brass in camp to let them know he had turned a corner, as his previous OHL experience has been far from deserving. The 19-year old goaltender posted just an .891 save percentage last year on a pretty average Bulldogs team, but has so far impressed with a .935 mark through four games. Perhaps attending camp unlocked something, and the Red Wings didn’t want to wait around for other teams to pick up on it.
It’s been a long road for Fulcher, who was selected in the 13th round of the OHL Bantam Draft before being traded from Sarnia to Hamilton after just three games. He’ll have quite a bit of work ahead of him to make the NHL, but now knows his future is somewhat stable with the Red Wings organization.