- When Detroit waived Filip Zadina yesterday, the move came as a surprise. However, GM Steve Yzerman told reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that the youngster had requested a trade a couple of weeks prior to the draft. Clearly, that didn’t materialize and after he cleared today, it’s back to the drawing board on that front. Zadina has two years left on a contract that carries a $1.825MM AAV and it appears that the Red Wings will need to pay some of that down or take a similar contract back if they want to move him. Alternatively, the fact he cleared now suggests they could waive him in training camp, saving $1.15MM in cap room in the process for any time that he’s in the minors.
Red Wings Rumors
Filip Zadina Clears Waivers
Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets is reporting that Detroit Red Wings forward Filip Zadina has cleared waivers and will remain with the team. Detroit put the 2018 sixth overall pick on waivers yesterday and no team wanted to pick up the tab on his $1.825MM cap hit. Zadina has struggled to establish himself in the league putting up just 28 goals and 68 points in 190 career NHL games and while he does have the pedigree of being a recent top-10 pick in the entry draft, the on-ice results have been less than stellar.
The Athletic’s Max Bultman reported yesterday that the 23-year-old asked for a trade through his agent before the draft and Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has been trying to accommodate Zadina’s request but has been unable to find a suitor and it’s easy to see why. Zadina had just three goals last season to go along with four assists in 30 games while averaging a tick over 13 minutes a game in ice time. By placing Zadina on waivers Detroit expanded the possibility of facilitating his move to a new team but were unable to find a taker for him and the remaining two years on his contract.
It’s a little bit surprising that none of the rebuilding teams in the league took a gamble on Zadina given his draft pedigree, but it goes to show just how little cap space there is around the league and how poor Zadina’s on-ice results have been. While his offensive play has left a lot to be desired, his analytics and fancy stats have been decent in what has been a fourth-line role for the most part. Given that he hasn’t been able to produce on the fourth line teams opted to let him pass through waivers.
It’s unclear what will happen with Zadina going forward. Detroit could welcome him back next season or may still try and facilitate a trade for another player on a bad contract. Either way, it’s become clear that both the team and the player view a fresh start as a best-case scenario.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Nolan Stevens
A strong showing in the minors has earned former St. Louis Blues forward prospect Nolan Stevens another NHL contract. The Detroit Red Wings have nabbed the unrestricted free agent on a one-year, two-way deal, with CapFriendly reporting it’s worth $775K in the NHL and $150K in the AHL.
The 26-year-old center scored 15 goals and 33 points in 48 games with the AHL’s Utica Comets on a minor-league contract last season, setting a career-high in both categories. The Blues cut ties with Stevens during the 2021-22 season, trading him to the Minnesota Wild in a minor-league swap for forward William Bitten. Minnesota then opted not to re-sign Stevens when he became a UFA under Group VI rules last offseason.
Now with 119 points in 237 AHL games to his name, Stevens is slated for usage with the Grand Rapids Griffins, who will be his fifth AHL squad. Detroit’s affiliate struggled last season, posting a 28-36-8 record and missing the Calder Cup Playoffs for the second straight season. Stevens was on pace for 50 points in a full 72 AHL games last season, which would’ve placed him second on the 2022-23 Griffins squad. Needless to say, he’ll be an important cog in helping Detroit’s farm team return to postseason play.
An NHL contract provides the 6-foot-2 center a chance at his NHL debut, something he hasn’t achieved in five seasons since turning pro. The former Northeastern University captain was selected by the Blues with the 125th overall pick in 2016.
Detroit Red Wings Place Filip Zadina On Waivers
The Detroit Red Wings have placed forward Filip Zadina on waivers, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Zadina, the sixth-overall pick at the 2018 draft, has two years remaining on his $1.825MM AAV contract. A lethal scorer at the junior level with the Halifax Mooseheads, Zadina turned pro immediately after the draft and spent his rookie professional season in the AHL.
He scored at a solid clip with Grand Rapids, potting 16 goals and 35 points in 59 games, a very respectable total for a teenage AHL rookie. He also scored three points in nine NHL for the Red Wings that year, flashing his offensive talent and showcasing why the consensus among scouts was that he would end up a star forward.
Zadina’s 2019-20 season was not a resounding leap forward but a solid step nonetheless, though as the pandemic wreaked havoc on pro hockey around the world Zadina’s development path was affected.
He never found a rhythm in his first season of full-time NHL duty and finished with 19 points in 49 games.
2021-22 was a continuation of Zadina’s struggles from the year before, and in his first full-length season in the NHL he managed only 10 goals and 24 points. Then this past season Zadina only played in 30 NHL games and scored just seven points.
Set to turn 24 next November, it’s been clear for some time that a change of scenery would likely be necessary for Zadina to reach his potential at the NHL level.
With Jonatan Berggren a more effective winger at the NHL level and the Red Wings signing Daniel Sprong in free agency, Zadina simply ran out of chances on Detroit’s roster.
Drafted by a previous regime led by current Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland, Zadina’s draft status was only going to get him so far, and now he’ll either be claimed by another NHL franchise or likely begin the season in the AHL hoping to earn a call-up if other wingers ahead of him on the pecking order struggle or get injured.
While his $1.825MM cap hit isn’t a massive number, in a flat-cap environment where so many teams are counting every last dollar available to them Zadina’s contract likely reduces the number of teams willing to acquire him by a decent degree.
Now all 31 other clubs will get a chance to add Zadina, and it remains to be seen if any team is confident enough in their development staff and what remains of Zadina’s former top prospect luster to take a chance on the final two years of his contract.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Red Wings Sign Christian Fischer
July 2nd: Detroit has officially announced the signing, as it will be a one-year, $1.125MM deal for Fischer.
July 1st: The Red Wings have been active in filling out their roster today and they’re set to make another addition up front. Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports (Twitter link) that Detroit is set to sign winger Christian Fischer to a one-year contract. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
Fischer was among the many players non-tendered yesterday to avoid the risk of a higher-than-desired salary arbitration award. The 26-year-old is coming off a bounce-back season offensively, picking up 13 goals and 14 assists in 80 games with Arizona last season. For context, he had just 30 points in the previous three seasons combined, spanning 161 contests.
Assuming a deal is eventually finalized, Fischer should add some grit to Detroit’s bottom six as he’s averaging just under 1.9 hits per game over his seven-year career, spanning 398 games. Fischer’s qualifying offer with Arizona was for just over $1.125MM and considering the fact that he’s coming off the second-best offensive season of his career, it stands to reason that he’ll be landing a nice raise on that amount.
Shayne Gostisbehere Signs With Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have once again added to their back end as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports that they’ve signed defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. It’s a one-year deal worth $4.125MM. PuckPedia adds the contract includes a 10-team no-trade clause.
The 30-year-old has seen his value change considerably over the last couple of years. It was only two summers ago that Philadelphia parted with a pair of draft picks (including a second-rounder) to simply offload Gostisbehere’s contract onto Arizona for no return. Considering his production had dropped to just 32 points over the previous two seasons combined, it was an understandable move given their cap situation.
That trade proved to be great for Gostisbehere who rediscovered his offensive touch in the desert. In 2021-22, he picked up 14 goals and 37 assists, putting him in a tie for 15th in NHL scoring by a blueliner. He followed that up with another impressive performance this past season, tallying 10 goals and 21 assists in 52 games with Arizona before being traded to Carolina at the trade deadline. Gostisbehere saw his playing time drop by 5:30 per game following the swap to just 17 minutes a night but he still managed to pick up 10 points in 23 games following the swap before adding three assists in 15 playoff contests.
With Detroit, Gostisbehere figures to be one of the key contributors from the back end, effectively filling the role that Filip Hronek held prior to him being moved to Vancouver at the deadline. While Moritz Seider is also in the mix offensively, they could opt to give Gostisbehere the top power play minutes to help manage Seider’s ice time. If that happens, Gostisbehere could be in line for another productive season, potentially helping to boost his value and land a multi-year deal next summer.
Even after the flurry of signings they’ve had today, Detroit still has more than $9MM in cap room at their disposal, per CapFriendly, with only Joe Veleno to re-sign as a restricted free agent. Accordingly, GM Steve Yzerman still has plenty of flexibility to work with if other opportunities to add to his roster present themselves.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to note the two sides were in discussions.
Detroit Red Wings Sign J.T. Compher
Just a year after signing Andrew Copp to a significant free agent deal, the Detroit Red Wings have added another center: J.T. Compher. Per a team announcement, he’s signed a five-year, $5.1MM AAV deal to play in Hockeytown.
At first glance, this is a somewhat curious signing since the Red Wings have already committed $5.625MM per year to Copp, $8.7MM per year to Dylan Larkin, and used 2022’s sixth-overall pick on Austrian center Marco Kasper.
But seeing as the Red Wings are looking to exit their long rebuild as soon as next season, it’s possible Detroit wanted a surer bet down the middle than Kasper.
It may take a little more development for Kasper to be NHL-ready at all, let alone ready to play center in the world’s most challenging hockey league.
Compher is that surer bet, especially after a breakout season that saw him post 17 goals and 52 points. The 28-year-old former Michigan Wolverine is an ideal middle-six center, capable of contributing on both ends of the ice.
He’d be an excellent third-line center on many NHL teams or could handle second-line center duty should the Red Wings want to utilize Copp as a winger, similar to how he was used as a member of the New York Rangers.
Expecting Compher’s offensive breakout to be the new norm could be folly, but he did score 18 goals in 2021-22 and has scored at around a 30-plus point rate consistently. If that’s his floor in Detroit, a $5.1MM AAV is only slightly above what a team might ideally want to pay for that kind of production. If he can repeat his 52-point season and be a strong all-around center in Detroit, his cap hit will be more than well spent.
If Kasper ends up an NHL center sooner rather than later, will this end up a wise use of scarce cap dollars? Probably not, but if Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman is earnest about wanting to compete for a playoff spot as soon as next season, he can’t afford to wait on a player like Kasper to fill such an important role.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Detroit Red Wings To Sign Daniel Sprong, Tim Gettinger, Brogan Rafferty
Per Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, the Detroit Red Wings are signing non-qualified UFA Daniel Sprong to a one-year deal worth $2MM.
They’ve also added depth forward Tim Gettinger on a one-year, two-way contract with a $775k cap hit and $250k AHL salary, according to PuckPedia. Aside from Gettinger, Brogan Rafferty has also been signed by the team for additional depth, securing a two-year, two-way deal with the team.
Sprong is coming off his best season by a considerable margin, picking up 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games with Seattle. Prior to last season, his previous benchmarks in a single season were 14 goals and nine helpers. With that in mind, it was somewhat surprising that the Kraken opted to non-tender him but as was the case with many players around the league, his eligibility for salary arbitration was enough to dissuade them from giving him a qualifier for less than $800K.
The Red Wings are the happy beneficiaries of that, landing themselves an intriguing winger on a low-risk contract. Sprong should slot into a middle-six role next season with Detroit, giving him a chance to at least come close to matching that production. Even if he comes up a bit short in that regard, Sprong should still be able to provide a good return on this contract.
As for Gettinger, the 25-year-old spent last season with AHL Hartford, picking up 35 points in 52 regular season games plus nine more in eight playoff contests. This will be his first time away from the Rangers after spending the first five seasons of his pro career with them. Gettinger has 16 career NHL appearances under his belt and is likely to have the same role with Detroit as he did in New York, serving as injury insurance in the minors.
Rafferty, meanwhile, is coming off a strong offensive season in the minors with Coachella Valley, Seattle’s affiliate. The 28-year-old collected 51 points in 72 games with the Firebirds, putting him in a tie for third in AHL scoring among all blueliners. Rafferty has three career NHL appearances to his name (all with Vancouver), the last of which came back in 2020-21. He projects to be a key offensive threat on a new-look Grand Rapids squad in 2023-24.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Justin Holl
The Detroit Red Wings have signed defenseman Justin Holl to a three-year contract worth $3.4MM per season, the team said. Per CapFriendly, his deal includes a 21-team no-trade list.
In what will likely go down as one of the more interesting signings from the free agency frenzy today, the deal for Holl is very reminiscent of one of Detroit’s signings last offseason in Ben Chiarot. Last offseason, the Red Wings spent over $20MM when the market opened up, and only managed a +3 win differential over the course of a year.
At last year’s deadline, Detroit flipped defenseman Filip Hronek to the Vancouver Canucks for the New York Islander’s first-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. In doing so, it was expected that the team would transfer Hronek’s minute to one of their best prospects, Simon Edvinsson. Instead, it appears that Holl will replace Hronek in the lineup moving forward.
Even with the Holl signing, the Red Wings still only have six defensemen on their roster, indicating that Edvinsson could still find a place on the team, moving Gustav Lindstrom to their seventh defenseman spot in the lineup. However, Edvinsson is not the only defenseman ready for a callup to the NHL, as fellow countrymen William Wallinder appears ready for NHL action as well.
Detroit Red Wings Sign Alex Lyon
The Detroit Red Wings signed UFA netminder Alex Lyon to a two-year, $1.8MM deal today, per PuckPedia. He’ll earn $900K per season.
Having already added to their depth in goal with the signing of James Reimer, the Red Wings continue to try and improve one of their worst categories from the 2022-23 NHL season. In another attempt at getting more value than they paid for, it remains to be seen what version of Lyon the team will get next year.
Playing on the eventual 2023 Eastern Conference Champion, Florida Panthers, Lyon was one of the main reasons the Panthers even got to the dance in the first place. To end the regular season, Lyon posted a 6-2-1 record in nine games, carrying a .930 SV%, leading his team to the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Heading into their first-round matchup against the President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins, Florida wanted to ride the hot hand of Lyon in the net. Unfortunately at the time for the team, Lyon got completely lit up against the Bruins, leading to the team using Sergei Bobrovsky the rest of the way. In his four games against Boston, Lyon went 1-2-0, only garnering a .888 SV%, leading to his eventual move to the bench.
The jury is still out on whether or not the Red Wings plan to find their way back to contention next year, so Lyon may not be playing under as much pressure as he was in Florida. Likely going to be serving as a third-string goalie behind both Reimer and Ville Husso, Lyon will be an adequate option for Detroit if there is an injury or a complete breakdown from the other two.