Arbitration Breakdown: Petr Mrazek
The Red Wings and goaltender Petr Mrazek have exchanged their arbitration numbers in advance of Wednesday’s scheduled hearing and suffice it to say, there is quite a gap between the two sides. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Detroit has submitted a two year offer worth $2.7MM in year one and $3.15MM in year two. Meanwhile, Mrazek has countered with a two year pact worth $5MM in both seasons.
[For more background on the arbitration process, consult Parts One and Two of our Capology 101: Arbitration series.]
Last season was a career year for the 24 year old Mrazek. He became Detroit’s starting goalie for most of the year, playing in 54 games. He compiled a 27-16-6 record with a 2.33 GAA and a .921 SV% with four shutouts. Mrazek ranked in the top half league-wide in terms of wins (T-13th), GAA (13th), and SV% (T-10th) among goalies that played at least 30 games which filters out most backup netminders.
Mrazek doesn’t have a whole lot of NHL experience under his belt in his career though as he has just a total of 94 career appearances. That makes this a particularly intriguing case as Mrazek is looking to earn starters money while being a #1 for basically just one full season. It also has a lot to do with the sizable gap in the two offers.
While it has no bearing on the arbitration case itself, it’s worth noting that the Red Wings have Jimmy Howard under contract for three more years at a cap hit just shy of $5.3MM. Their willingness or lack thereof to have both goalies on big money, multi-year deals could very likely impact contract negotiations.
Of the players in this process, Mrazek was the only player to not file for arbitration. Instead, Detroit opted to take him to arbitration. Players can only be subject to club-elected arbitration once in their careers so the Wings cannot pursue this route again in future offseasons.
Mrazek’s Stats
2015-16: 54 GP, 27-16-6 record, 2.33 GAA, .921 SV%, 4 shutouts
Career: 94 GP, 49-27-6 record, 2.29 GAA, .920 SV%, 9 shutouts
Potential Comparables
Jake Allen (St. Louis) – Four years, $17.4MM ($4.35MM AAV) – commencing in 2017-18
2015-16: 47 GP, 26-15-3 record, 2.35 GAA, .920 SV%, 6 shutouts
Career: 99 GP, 57-26-7 record, 2.34 GAA, .915 SV%, 11 shutouts
Frederik Andersen (Toronto) – Five years, $25MM ($5MM AAV) – commencing in 2016-17
2015-16: 43 GP, 22-9-7 record, 2.30 GAA, .919 SV%, 3 shutouts
Career: 125 GP, 77-26-12 record, 2.33 GAA, .918 SV%, 6 shutouts
Corey Crawford (Chicago) – Three years, $8MM ($2.67MM AAV) – from 2011-12 to 2013-14
2010-11: 57 GP, 33-18-6 record, 2.30 GAA, .917 SV%, 3 shutouts
Career as of ‘10-‘11: 65 GP, 34-21-7 record, 2.33 GAA, .917 SV%, 5 shutouts
(The salary cap is $9.7MM higher now than it was at the time the deal was signed. In 2011, Crawford’s deal was 4.5% of the cap. 4.5% of the current salary cap is roughly $3.3MM.)
Devan Dubnyk (Edmonton) – Two years, $7MM ($3.5MM AAV) – from 2012-13 to 2013-14
2011-12: 47 GP, 20-20-3 record, 2.67 GAA, .914 SV%, 2 shutouts
Career as of ‘11-‘12: 101 GP, 36-43-13 record, 2.85 GAA, .910 SV%, 4 shutouts
(The salary cap is $13MM higher now than it was at the time the deal was signed. In 2012, Dubnyk’s deal was 5.8% of the cap. 5.8% of the current salary cap is roughly $4.25MM.)
Jaroslav Halak (St. Louis) – Four years, $15MM ($4.25MM AAV) – from 2010-11 to 2013-14
2009-10: 45 GP, 26-13-5 record, 2.40 GAA, .924 SV%, 5 shutouts
Career as of ‘09-‘10: 101 GP, 56-34-7 record, 2.61 GAA, .919 SV%, 9 shutouts
(The salary cap is $13.6MM higher now than it was when the deal was signed. In 2010, Halak’s deal was 6.3% of the cap. 6.3% of the current salary cap is roughly $4.6MM.)
The above players are at least somewhat comparable both in terms of their platform (most recent) season as well as their career numbers. One other short-term contract comparable doesn’t have the ideal platform year to compare to but the career numbers are quite similar.
Tuukka Rask (Boston) – One year, $3.5MM – for the 2012-13 season
2011-12: 23 GP, 11-8-3 record, 2.05 GAA, .929 SV%, 3 shutouts
Career as of 2011-12: 102 GP, 47-35-11 record, 2.20 GAA, .917 SV%, 11 shutouts
(The salary cap is $13MM higher now than it was at the time the deal was signed. In 2012, Rask’s deal was 5.8% of the cap. 5.8% of the current salary cap is roughly $4.25MM.)
Projection
The submissions show the difference in where each side feels Mrazek is. Detroit appears to want Mrazek to take more of a ‘prove it’ contract at a rate closer to that of a platoon goalie. Meanwhile, Mrazek and his reps feel that after a couple of years of above average goaltending (one as a starter, the other as more of a backup) that he’s worthy of the bigger ticket contract.
The comparables seem to favor Mrazek here. Goalies with basically one year as a starter and roughly 100 games of career NHL experience are getting sizable contracts in their post-bridge deals so it’s conceivable that Mrazek will get one here too. It’s going to be a two year contract at Mrazek’s request (since it was club-elected arbitration) and we project he’ll receive a deal that will line up with many of the comparables here. We project a contract where he’ll earn $4MM in year one and $4.25MM in year two for a cap hit of $4.125MM.
Speculative Suitors For Kris Russell
Yesterday we talked about the market for former Stars’ defenseman Kris Russell as reported by Andy Strickland, a Blues reporter for Fox Sports Midwest. On the 23rd day of free agency, Russell remains unsigned. This is surprising to an extent, since most assumed he’d be one of the few to sign a big money contract right away. Still, similar situations have happened before, including with defenseman Cody Franson last summer. Below are some teams that may have some interest in Russell, and who may be able to pay for him, given the right circumstances.
- Ottawa Senators: The Ottawa Senators currently have just six defensemen under contract for next year, and while that doesn’t count restricted free agent Cody Ceci, it does count Chris Wideman, Mike Kostka, and Mark Borowiecki, who are far from locks for serious NHL ice time. The team also lacks particularly strong defensemen, outside of Erik Karlsson, and while Russell has his detractors in the analytics community, a team that took on Dion Phaneuf without any retained salary seems like a likely one to use their own evaluation methods.
- Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres, similarly to the Senators, have six defensemen under contract, and one in Rasmus Ristolainen who is currently an unsigned restricted free agent, and one in Justin Falk, who’s yet to play serious minutes in the NHL, at 27 years old. One advantage the Sabres have in this situation is that with Franson, Ristolainen, and Zach Bogosian all being right handed, they can accomodate a left handed shot better than most teams. As mentioned earlier, Franson was an unsigned free agent far later into last summer than anyone anticipated, after talk of an expensive long term asking price, and ended up with the Sabres on a lower money, two year deal.
- Detroit Red Wings: Detroit has five defensemen under contract, in addition to the unsigned Danny DeKeyser. Once DeKeyser’s re-signed, there isn’t an obvious candidate to sit as the number seven defenseman in case of injuries, and they’re already mildly unbalanced in terms of handedness, carrying four left handers, and two right handers. Still, there’s been talk of the Wings improving their defense for a while now, and should they be able to clear out someone like Jonathan Ericsson or Jimmy Howard, which they’ll likely have to do to re-sign DeKeyser and goalie Petr Mrazek anyway, they could concievably be a fit for Russell, if GM Ken Holland values him more than one of his current defensemen, and should Ericsson be the one moved out, Russell would be a natural replacement.
- Edmonton Oilers: This is another scenario that really depends on how much the team values its current defenders. Andrew Ference was still injured during the buyout period, and so still on the roster, but between the injuries, his heavy decline, and his expiring contract, it’s hard to see him getting much ice time. The real questions are about what the Oilers want to do with Mark Fayne, who was waived and demoted this past season, and Jordan Oesterle, who has impressed in Bakersfield, and just turned 24, but who has just 23 NHL games to his credit, and is on a two way contract. We know the Oilers want to get better, and physical players are favored by GM Peter Chiarelli, but Ference was also once a physical, undersized, veteran free agent signing.
- Winnipeg Jets: The Jets have a large defense core as it is, but they also have tops of cap room, and a lot of their defensemen are cheaper veterans like Paul Postma and Brian Strait, who’d be easily stashed in the minors. It’s not a pressing need, but you can see why a team might make a less than necessary upgrade to their defense later in the summer if it’s possible, and the price tag is lower than originally imagined. Still, the Jets have a history of caution in the free agent market.
Snapshots: Versteeg, Senators, Red Wings
Darren Dreger tweets that unrestricted free agent Kris Versteeg may be leaving the NHL for the Swiss League. Versteeg is rumored to be heading to Bern and it could happen sometime this weekend. PHR listed Versteeg at #25 out of the top 50 free agents. Last season, Versteeg had 33 points (11-22) in 63 games with Carolina. While with Los Angeles after a late February trade, he had 5 points (4-1) in 14 games. In the playoffs, Versteeg registered 2 points (1-1) in five games.
In other news:
- NHL.com featured the Ottawa Senators as a team to watch in the Eastern Conference. Arpon Basu writes that with new coach Guy Boucher in the fold, the Sens look to return to the playoffs after missing out last season. Boucher’s first order, Basu writes, is to improve a team that hemorrhaged goals. Despite a younger team, general manager Pierre Dorion feels the Sens are poised to take the next step. Dorion recently added Derick Brassard in a trade with New York and believes that the Senators are “going to surprise some people.”
- MLive’s Brendan Savage writes about recently acquired forward Dylan Sadowy, and his ascent through the OHL. Sadowy was acquired by the Red Wings from the Sharks for a 2017 third round draft pick after the Sharks realized they were not going to come to terms with Sadowy. The young forward turned some heads in prospect camp when he notched a hat trick during a scrimmage. But it’s the impressive numbers he put up as a member of the Barrie Colts and Saginaw Spirit that caught the Wings attention. Between both teams last season, Sadowy recorded 70 points (45-25) in 64 games. Despite the scoring prowess, Sadowy indicates that he wants to be a two-way player. While a number of forwards are in his way, Savage writes that Sadowy still intends to do whatever it takes to make the Red Wings roster. Even though it would be a tall order with a number of forwards already penciled in, Sadowy will work hard to make his NHL dream a reality.
Arbitration Tracker
Ten days ago, the NHLPA released the schedule for player and team-elected arbitration hearings. Since then, four hearing dates have come and gone with no hearings, with eight players agreeing to contracts to avoid the unpleasant process.
Here’s an updated list of all 24 players who were scheduled for an arbitration hearing:
Player Elected Filings:
Arizona Coyotes
Michael Stone – Stone and the tough-negotiating Coyotes have a hearing set for August 4.
Colorado Avalanche
Tyson Barrie – Hearing set for July 29. Barrie has been the subject of near-constant trade rumors this summer.
Mikhail Grigorenko – Agreed to a one-year, $1.3MM contract on July 20, just two days before the scheduled hearing.
Detroit Red Wings
Jared Coreau – Agreed to a two-year, $1.25MM contract on July 6, well before any hearings were scheduled.
Danny DeKeyser – Signed a six-year deal on July 26th, locking him up long-term for the Red Wings.
Minnesota Wild
Jordan Schroeder – The Wild signed Schroeder to a one-year, two-way deal on July 23rd worth $675K in the NHL and $275K in the AHL.
Nashville Predators
Petter Granberg – Signed a two-year, two-way deal worth $575K / $175K (300K guaranteed) in the first year, and $650K / $175K in the second.
Calle Jarnkrok – Signed a six-year, $12MM deal July 27th.
New York Rangers
Kevin Hayes – Signed a two-year, $5.2MM deal Friday afternoon, hours after Kreider.
Chris Kreider – The Rangers and Kreider agreed to a four-year, $18.5MM contract Friday morning, beating the scheduled 9am arbitration meeting.
Dylan McIlrath – The massive defender signed a one-year, $800k contract last week, beating his hearing by a week.
J.T. Miller – World Cup-bound Miller and the Rangers settled on a two-year, $2.75MM contract on July 13.
Ottawa Senators
Mike Hoffman – After a long negotiation, the Senators and Hoffman agreed to a four-year, $20.75MM deal on July 27th.
Philadelphia Flyers
Brandon Manning – Manning got an unexpected second year in his two-year, $1.95MM deal he signed on July 26th.
Brayden Schenn – Schenn and the Flyers agreed to a four-year deal worth $5.125MM AAV.
Jordan Weal – Acquired by the Flyers in the Vincent Lecavalier trade, Weal signed a one-year, two-way, $650K contract the day the arbitration schedule was released.
St. Louis Blues
Jaden Schwartz – The Blues signed their young star to a five-year, $5.5MM contract last week.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Alex Killorn – The clutch playoff performer signed a long-term extension over the weekend, agreeing to $4.45MM per year for seven seasons.
Vladislav Namestnikov – World Cup-bound forward signed a two-year deal worth $1.9375MM on July 26th, three days before arbitration hearing.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Frank Corrado – Toronto signed Corrado to a one-year, one-way deal worth $600K on July 25.
Peter Holland – Holland signed a one-year deal worth $1.3MM on July 25.
Martin Marincin – The promising young shut-down defenseman is scheduled for arbitration on August 2.
Washington Capitals
Marcus Johansson – Johansson agreed to a three-year, $4.58MM contract just minutes before his hearing was set to begin.
CLUB ELECTED FILINGS:
Detroit Red Wings
Petr Mrazek – Just before his hearing on July 27th, Mrazek and the Red Wings inked a two-year, $8MM deal. With Jimmy Howard still earning $5.3MM for next season, the duo is one of the more expensive in the league.
We’ve previously explained the arbitration process as part of our Capology 101 series. Check out our Mike Furlano’s articles on eligibility and the arbitration process.
Minor Transactions: Leivo, Leafs, Sabres, Red Wings
On this date 20 years ago, The Great One signed a free agent contract with the New York Rangers, rejoining his former Edmonton Oilers running mate, Mark Messier. While it’s highly unlikely will see a signing of that magnitude today, we’ll still bring you news of today’s transactions, even the minor ones.
- The Buffalo Sabres have announced, via the team’s website, the signing of free agent defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer to a one-year, two-way contract. Burgdoerfer played for the Hershey Bears last season, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The 27-year-old native of East Setauket, NY recorded 20 points along with 59 penalty minutes in 74 games for the Bears.
- According to James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail (via Twitter) the Toronto Maple Leafs have re-signed forward Josh Leivo to a two-year deal. Cap Friendly reports the breakdown of the contract, including that it comes with a cap charge of $612.5K annually. Leivo tallied five goals in 12 NHL games and has seven in 28 career contests in the league. A third-round pick of the Leafs in 2011, Leivo had a nice year for Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Marlies, scoring 17 goals and 48 points in just 51 games in 2015-16. At this point Leivo projects to be a depth player, again likely to see most of his action in the minors.
- Mitch Callahan has re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings, according to the team’s website. The right wing, who has appeared in just one NHL contest during his career, recorded 19 goals and 32 points in 62 games for Grand Rapids in 2015-16. Callahan, who inked a two-way contract, will earn $600K at the NHL level and $175K while playing in the AHL, as reported by Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.
- Winnipeg has agreed to re-sign RFA left wing Brandon Tanev to a one-year, two-way deal, as reported on the team’s website. Brandon, the younger brother of Vancouver defenseman Chris Tanev, will earn a little more than $874K while on the NHL roster, which is the value of his qualifying offer. Tanev skated in three NHL contests upon signing as an undrafted free agent in March after wrapping up his four-year college career at Providence College.
Brad Richards Retires
According the NHLPA website, veteran pivot Brad Richards has retired from the NHL following a distinguished 15-year career.
Richards, who spent the 2015-16 season with the Detroit Red Wings, ends his career with 932 points in 1,126 regular season games. He’s also been part of two Stanley Cup championship squads, winning a Conn Smythe award as playoff MVP in 2003-04 while a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Drafted originally in the third-round (64th overall) of the 1998 entry draft (the same draft that saw Vincent Lecavalier go #1 overall to Tampa), Richards formed a deadly tandem down the middle with Lecavalier, and helped to elevate the team into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. He would spend the first six-plus campaigns of his career with the Lightning before being shipped to Dallas at the 2008 trade deadline. With Lecavalier in the midst of an 11-year, $85MM deal and Richards under contract at $7.8MM annually, the Lightning decided they could no longer afford both centers and executed the trade with Dallas.
Richards spent parts of four seasons with Dallas, averaging better than a point-per-game and helping the Stars to a berth in the 2007-08 Western Conference Finals, where the club lost to eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit in six games. Unfortunately that would be the highlight for Richards during his tenure with the team as the Stars failed to again make the postseason.
Richards would leave the Lone Star State following the 2010-11 season and as one of the marquee free agents that summer, would go on to sign a lucrative, nine-year contract worth $60MM with the New York Rangers. As was typical with big money free agent contracts of the day, Richards’ deal was heavily back-loaded in an effort to drive down the AAV and subsequently the salary cap hit. Richards was to collect $57MM of the money in the first six seasons, with each of the final three years coming with salaries of just $1M each.
While perhaps not quite living up to that price tag with the Rangers, Richards did help the club make it to the Eastern Conference Finals his first year with the team. He was also part of the squad that lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2013-14 Stanley Cup Finals.
After three years with the club and in desperate need of cap space as they continued their pursuit of a championship, the Rangers exercised a compliance buyout on Richards following the 2014-15 season. Under terms of the new CBA, the Blueshirts would have faced stiff cap recapture penalties had they not gone that route and Richards retired prior to the end of his contract.
Richards would move on as a free agent, signing with Chicago and winning another Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks. But the writing may have already been on the wall as Richards tallied just 37 points that season, the lowest full-season total of his career to that point.
Following his one year in Chicago, Richards signed with Detroit where his offensive production continued to wane. In 68 contests with the Red Wings, Richards scored just 10 goals and 28 points.
The announcement comes just weeks after former Lightning teammate Vincent Lecavalier also stepped away from the game. It’s also quite possible Dan Boyle joins in to make it a trio of former Lightning players walking away from the NHL this summer. One year ago, Martin St. Louis, who played with Richards, Boyle and Lecavalier in Tampa and again with Richards and Boyle as members of the Rangers, announced his retirement.
Richards was a free agent, profiled recently on Pro Hockey Rumors here, but after apparently not finding the right fit, has elected to hang up his skates and move on to the next phase of his life. Those of us here at Pro Hockey Rumors would like to congratulate Richards on his wonderful career and wish him the best in his future.
Red Wings Notes: Pulkkinen, Athanasiou, Mantha, Glendening
Detroit Red Wings beat writer Ansar Khan answered questions from readers on a range of topics. Here are some of the highlights from Khan’s column:
- On the chance of Teemu Pulkkinen seeing more ice time, Khan writes that the AHL scoring machine, aside from being injured, missed a chance to secure a regular roster spot. A constant cry from several fan blogs and even analysts who use advanced metrics argue that Pulkkinen, Anthony Mantha, Tomas Jurco, and Andreas Athanasiou have not been given the proper ice time or chance to succeed. Khan does acknowledge this claim, but argues that it falls on the individual player to “seize” the moment. With the signings of Thomas Vanek, and Steve Ott, it pushes out a number of bubble players. But Khan states that Ott will not be a reason Mantha doesn’t see more ice time.
- More on Athanasiou and Mantha: Khan predicts that Mantha will begin the season in Grand Rapids while Athanasiou could get the 2013 Gustav Nyquist treatment that saw the dynamic forward bottled up in Grand Rapids until injuries forced his call up. Khan states that burying Athanasiou in Grand Rapids would be a mistake should he show the same speed and offensive prowess he did during the latter half of last season.
- On Luke Glendening‘s new contract: Khan claims that the feedback he has received from fans has been mixed regarding Glendening’s new four-year, $7.2MM deal. Many fans bristled at the long term, and higher dollar amount for Glendening. Carolyn Wilke created a number of graphs that shows the value of players through a number of metrics. Wilke’s quantitative work reveals the irritation that many Wings fans had with the signing. Khan argues that Glendening “brings more to the table than people give him credit for.” While he points out that former coach Mike Babcock, current coach Jeff Blashill, and general manager Ken Holland like his work, the Red Wings are known for their loyalty to certain players.–often to a fault.
- On trades and Jimmy Vesey: Khan indicates that the Red Wings, like every other organization except Nashville, will certainly be in on pursuing Hobey Baker winner and free agent Jimmy Vesey. Additionally, he says to watch Colorado’s Tyson Barrie as another possible defensive target should the Avalanche make him available via trade.
Snapshots: Subban, Red Wings, Riley
Yesterday’s news that the Canadiens released analytics guru Matt Pfeffer received more clarification from the young analyst today. Before the trade was consummated, Pfeffer told Sportsnet’s Eric Engels that he never had a meeting with management regarding any movement of Subban. Instead, Pfeffer submitted a report comparing Shea Weber and P.K. Subban that argued passionately for keeping Subban. The 21-year-old analyst added that management would always make their decisions on different types of information. Earlier reports indicated that Pfeffer made an “impassioned and elaborate presentation to management” for the retention of Subban. The trade was questioned and lamented by many Montreal fans. General manager Marc Bergevin, on the other hand, still has 100% support of ownership.
- The four year, $7.2MM extension of forward Luke Glendening crosses off another player for next season’s free agency craze, but still has some wondering what the Detroit Red Wings will do with a glut of forwards. While rumors spin that the Wings would pull the trigger to bring in a defenseman, all is quiet on that front, and with the re-signing of Glendening, it only adds to the intrigue writes the Hockey News’ Jared Clinton. With money committed to so many forwards, Clinton wonders what happens to Anthony Mantha, who can pass through waivers without being claimed. But is it best for the team? Mantha is the Red Wings top prospect, drafted for scoring purposes but rarely given the ice time in the NHL to prove that. General manager Ken Holland‘s recent statement that young players must earn their spot only confused after Holland looked ready to give younger players more responsibility. Additionally, it sounded like numerous trades would be made. With the signings of veterans, re-upping current players to long contracts, and no trades as of now, it appears that Holland may be changing his tune. Clinton writes that signing Danny DeKeyser and Petr Mrazek will put the Wings over the cap, and then, more difficult decisions will have to be made. With teams knowing the Red Wings are squeezed financially, it certainly adds a new wrinkle to the many decisions Holland still has to make.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins released a statement on the passing of the organization’s first general manager, Jack Riley. Riley was hired to build the Penguins, who were brought into the NHL as an expansion team for the 1967-68 season. Riley was 97.
Minor Transactions: 7/14/16
- The Los Angeles Kings have signed 2016 fourth round pick Jacob Moverare to a three-year, entry-level deal. The cap hit is $691,667. Jon Rosen writes that the 17-year-old forward has a hockey IQ and awareness of a first round pick, but his skating pulls his stock down. He quotes Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti as saying he has one of the highest IQ’s in the 2016 draft. Moverare played on HV71’s U20 team, notching 21 points (5-16) in 41 games.
- The Detroit Red Wings inked defenseman Filip Hronek to a three-year entry-level deal. The 2016 second round choice of the Wings played for HK Hradec Kralove in the Czech professional league, tallying 4 points (0-4) in 40 games. For the Under 20 junior club, Hronek registered 16 points (4-12) in 13 games. He will most likely play with the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL.
- The Sharks have re-signed forward Ryan Carpenter to a one-year deal. Carpenter spent 66 games with the San Jose Barracuda, registering 55 points (18-37). He played one game with the Sharks.
- The Arizona Coyotes have re-upped their affiliation with ECHL club Rapid City for the 2016-17 season. According to the release, the Rush were founded in 2008 and captured the CHL Championship in 2009-10.
- The Philadelphia Flyers have signed 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will have a cap-hit of $842.5K each season, according to CapFriendly. Laberge played for the Victoriaville Tigers of the QMJHL last season, scoring 68 points in 56 games. He’s expected to head back there for the 2016-17 season.
Red Wings Re-Sign Luke Glendening
The Detroit Red Wings announced via Twitter and their website that they’ve re-signed forward Luke Glendening to a four year contract. GeneralFanager reports on Twitter that the deal is worth $1.8MM a year. Glendening had one year left on his contract, so this contract starts in 2017-18, and will expire in July of 2021.
Glendening, who is 27 years old, was undrafted, but began his NHL career with the Red Wings, played at the University of Michigan and was raised in Grand Rapids. He scored eight goals, and added 13 assists last year, having played 81 games for the Red Wings. In his NHL career, he has scored 21 goals, and 25 assists in 219 games.
Glendening, a right-hand shot, and natural center, adds to a growing list of forwards for the Red Wings. They now have 18 under contract. The large number will be easily pared down, as Johan Franzen will likely spend the season on long-term injured reserve, and Joe Vitale, acquired in the Pavel Datsyuk trade, might join him.
After that, the Red Wings have many forwards who can be sent to the Grand Rapids Griffins without much panic, including Glendening, Teemu Pulkkinen, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha, and Tomas Jurco. Mantha and Athanasiou would not require waivers before being demoted, and both played part-time in the NHL last year.