Riley Sheahan Inks Two-Year Extension
According to Ansar Khan of MLive.com, the Detroit Red Wings have given Riley Sheahan a two-year extension worth $4.15MM. The 24-year old winger was set to become a restricted free agent this summer, after completing a two year deal signed before the 2014-15 season that saw him earn $1.9MM.
After a season in which Sheahan scored 14 goals and tallied 25 points, the former first-round pick looks to have a lock on a bottom six role on Jeff Blashill’s Red Wings. Those 14 goals actually ranked him sixth on the team, and with Brad Richards, Darren Helm, and Pavel Datsyuk all expected to leave this offseason, the Red Wings can’t afford to have a drawn out negotiation with some of their home grown talent. Sheahan put up just a single point in the Red Wings first round exit this season, and will need to continue to develop his offensive game if he’s to ever climb up the Detroit depth chart.
The Red Wings will now turn their attention to remaining RFAs Danny DeKeyser, Teemu Pulkkinen and Petr Mrazek. The 24-year old Mrazek is the most important of the three after putting up a solid season as the Red Wings number 1 goaltender. With Jimmy Howard already under contract for just under $5.3 million per season, the Wings will look to sign Mrazek to a similar low-numbered bridge deal for the next couple of seasons.
DeKeyser played a big role on the Red Wings’ back end, logging almost 22 minutes of ice time per game. His 20 points was a disappointing total for the 26-year old, but he’s set to get a substantial raise from the $2.9 million he earned last season. With Kyle Quincey coming off the books this season, the Red Wings will probably re-invest in DeKeyser who will be looking at around $4 million per season.
Red Wings Notes: Datsyuk, Howe, And Blashill
The hockey world mourned with the Detroit Red Wings when legend and ambassador Gordie Howe passed away last Friday at the age of 88. Tributes poured in, and San Jose even included a video tribute during the first intermission of last night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 6.
Howe’s wake will be held at the Joe Louis Arena tomorrow and open to the public to offer their respects. Howe’s death also affects the ramifications of the discussion between General Manager Ken Holland and Pavel Datsyuk on his expected retirement. Datsyuk’s contract will prove to hamper the Red Wings as it was extended when Datsyuk was 35. This of course means the full amount of his final year, $7.5MM, will remain on the books despite his retirement.
Already with the season over, speculation has run rampant over where the contract will be moved should Datsyuk indeed retire. The most likely places for his contract to be dealt to are Arizona, or Carolina. Most pundits have Arizona as the front runner since they have nearly $37MM of cap room to work with according to General Fanager. Once the meeting between Holland and Datsyuk takes place, it’s expected that the Red Wings will move accordingly to rid themselves of the contract. One element that Ken Holland has mentioned is his unwillingness to include a prospect or high draft pick to dispose of the contract. That may prove problematic since teams know how the contract hinders any offseason moves the Red Wings would want to make.
MLive.com’s Ansar Khan answered a lot of questions regarding head coach Jeff Blashill and the hiring of assistant coaches this offseason. Doug Houda and former Wild interim head coach John Torchetti were added in the past few weeks. Blashill came under fire for the regression of many players, namely forwards Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar, who were both expected to carry the team offensively. Blashill lost Tony Granato to the University of Wisconsin, where Granato once played and now serves as the head coach. Additionally, assistant coach Pat Ferschweiler was moved to the press box after the power play was dismal in the Red Wings first round loss to Tampa Bay.
Around The League: Coaching Vacancies, Goalies, Hertl, Datsyuk, Maatta
As we sit less than two weeks before the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, there are two head coaching vacancies that still need to be filled, Anaheim and Calgary. Elliotte Friedman’s latest 30 Thoughts column expanded on some of the likely candidates for each team. For the Ducks, Rick Bowness, former Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle, and Travis Green are under consideration while for the Flames, Glen Gulutzan and Mike Yeo have come up. Teams generally like to head their head coaches determined before the draft so it’s expected that these vacancies will be filled in the near future.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Bruce Garrioch discussed the potentially intriguing trade market for goaltenders in his latest Sunday column. He highlights a trio of goalies that could be of interest this offseason, Anaheim’s Frederik Andersen, Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, and Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop. Andersen is a restricted free agent this offseason while Fleury and Bishop are under contract through 2018-19 and 2016-17 respectively. Each of those teams has a high potential young netminder that has made a case that they’re ready for a larger workload. Given that the free agent class is relatively light between the pipes and the potential for an expansion draft as soon as 2017-18, there’s a case to be made that those teams should be investigating what the trade market is for their veterans.
- San Jose winger Tomas Hertl will not play in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday night. Head coach Peter DeBoer noted that he’s “getting better every day”. Hertl has not been ruled out for a potential Game 7 on Wednesday night should the Sharks extend the series once again.
- Detroit GM Ken Holland was scheduled to meet with Pavel Datsyuk early this week but that meeting has been delayed due to the passing of Red Wings legend Gordie Howe. Datsyuk has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $7.5 million. It has been reported that the 37 year old would like to play in Russia next year but if he does so, his cap hit will not come off Detroit’s books.
- It won’t be a quiet offseason for Pittsburgh defenceman Olli Maatta. As soon as the Stanley Cup Final ends, he will return home to his native Finland to begin his mandatory military training which will span the next two offseasons.