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Detroit Red Wings Sign James Reimer

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The Detroit Red Wings have signed goalie James Reimer to a one-year, $1.5MM contract, the AP’s Stephen Whyno reports.

With Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg cut loose to the free agent market, the Red Wings needed to bring someone in who could serve as the backup to incumbent starter Ville Husso.

They’ve tapped Reimer to fill that role, a 35-year-old veteran of nearly 500 NHL games. Reimer has spent the last two seasons with the San Jose Sharks, and while he posted a brutal .890 save percentage this past season he did manage a .911 the year before. If the Red Wings can get play out of Reimer closer to his 2021-22 form, this will end up a sound investment for the club.

Reimer likely isn’t going to receive as heavy a workload in Detroit compared to what he got in San Jose, so getting more time off between games and less pressure placed on him than he had as a true tandem goalie could contribute to an improvement in Reimer’s numbers. That’s likely what Detroit is betting on here.

Red Wings Re-Sign Matt Luff

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Detroit’s busy free agent morning continues.  After agreeing to new deals with Klim Kostin and Gustav Lindstrom, the Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve re-signed winger Matt Luff to a one-year, two-way contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Luff will make $775K in the NHL and $400K in the AHL, while the contract has a guaranteed payout of $450K.

The Red Wings opted to non-tender the 26-year-old yesterday, taking away the potential that he could file for salary arbitration and potentially wind up with an award that’s worth more than they were comfortable paying.  Quietly, Luff has seen NHL action in each of the last five seasons, spanning a little more than 100 games which could have presented enough of a case for him to be awarded more than the minimum.  Clearly, the two sides were able to find common ground soon after.

Luff split last season between Detroit and AHL Grand Rapids.  He got into 19 games with the Red Wings, picking up two goals and two assists while logging just under ten minutes a night of playing time.  Meanwhile, with the Griffins, Luff was much more productive, notching eight goals and 17 helpers in just 28 contests.

It’s likely that Luff will have a similar role next season, one that sees him start the year as a key scorer for Grand Rapids but when injuries arise, he becomes one of their first recalls.

Red Wings Re-Sign Gustav Lindstrom

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For the second time in less than an hour, the Red Wings have re-signed one of their non-tendered players.  This time, it’s defenseman Gustav Lindstrom as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed him to a one-year, $950K contract.

Detroit opted not to tender the 24-year-old an offer of just under $1MM yesterday that also would have given him salary arbitration eligibility.  That proved to be a wise move considering they were able to get him for less than the qualifier by matching the salary he received last season.  Lindstrom will once again be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent next summer.

Lindstrom played in just 36 games last season, dealing with a couple of injuries while also spending time as a healthy scratch.  He picked up a goal and seven assists in those appearances but saw his ice time dip to a career-low 14:10 per night.

At the moment, Detroit has just five blueliners under contract for next season but with more than $27MM in cap space at their disposal per CapFriendly, that’s likely to change before too long.  Assuming they add a capable veteran or two, it’s likely that Lindstrom will remain in a depth role for 2023-24.

Red Wings Sign Klim Kostin

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A day after non-tendering him, the Red Wings have agreed to terms with winger Klim Kostin, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve signed him to a two-year contract.  The deal will carry an AAV of $2MM.

The 24-year-old was acquired at the draft from Edmonton along with Kailer Yamamoto (who was later bought out) in exchange for future considerations.  The move allowed Detroit to get a head start on contract negotiations and while it might have taken a little longer than they would have liked, they were able to get a deal in place.  By non-tendering Kostin, the Red Wings eliminated the risk of a higher-than-desired salary arbitration award.

Last season was an interesting one for the 24-year-old.  After failing to crack St. Louis’s roster in training camp, Kostin was placed on waivers and went unclaimed, allowing him to be sent to the minors.  That actually upped his trade value and the next day, Edmonton moved blueliner Dmitri Samorukov (who had also just gone unclaimed) to the Blues to pick up Kostin.

It took a month before Kostin got his first NHL opportunity but when he did, he didn’t look back.  He wound up being a capable bottom-six winger for Edmonton, notching 11 goals and 10 assists in 57 games while averaging a little under three hits per game in just over ten minutes a night.  Kostin also was a good contributor in limited playoff playing time, recording five points despite seeing ATOI dip to less than eight minutes per contest.

While Edmonton certainly would have liked to keep Kostin for themselves, the threat of salary arbitration was too much for them to take the chance, resulting in them giving him away to Detroit.  Clearly, with this contract, the Red Wings feel that Kostin will be capable of playing at least a bigger role for them next season and if he has a performance similar to his 2022-23 campaign, they should get at least a decent return on this deal.

Detroit Red Wings To Buy Out Kailer Yamamoto

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The Detroit Red Wings are buying out the final year of recently-acquired winger Kailer Yamamoto’s contract, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.

Dreger adds that “Detroit strongly considered keeping him but couldn’t make moves to make it work.” The move will save Detroit $2.66MM of Yamamoto’s $3.1MM cap hit for this season, at a cost of $533k on their cap for next year.

It’s a somewhat curious move, as many initially viewed the Red Wings’ acquisition of Yamamoto as an earnest investment from Detroit in the possibility of a Yamamoto rebound.

He was a 20-goal, 41-point scorer just last year, but it appears the combination Yamamoto’s production decline as well as the somewhat crowded state of the Red Wings’ top-nine meant that it was in Detroit’s best interest to eat a relatively small cap penalty rather than roster the player at a $3.1MM cap hit.

This move means that Detroit took on the burden of buying out Yamamoto for the purpose of acquiring Klim Kostin’s RFA negotiation rights, rather than due to any interest in acquiring Yamamoto himself.

Kostin has been rumored to be considering a KHL exit (though that could obviously be no more than a negotiation tactic) and could be seeking a raise above his $750k cap hit from last season thanks to a quality campaign with the Edmonton Oilers.

For the any contract Detroit weighs giving Kostin, they’ll need to include the small amount of dead money afforded to Yamamoto in their value equation.

Detroit Red Wings Acquire Kailer Yamamoto And Klim Kostin

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The Detroit Red Wings have pillaged two players from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations: forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Klim Kostin.

The move adds two wingers of varying promise to the Red Wings in exchange for just cap space, as no assets were surrendered by Detroit to complete this trade. The Oilers were likely motivated to move off of Yamamoto’s cap hit as he’s making $3.1MM for the next season. While Yamamoto managed 20 goals and 41 points in 2021-22, the 2017 first-round pick struggled this past year and lost his spot in Edmonton’s long-term plans.

Yamamoto scored just 10 goals and 25 points this season, playing just 58 games. While that 35-point pace isn’t actually a huge decline from the 41 points he scored the year before, his lack of availability combined with his frustrating inconsistency is likely what led Edmonton to deal him in order to create some cap space to bring in new players.

As for Kostin, he was set to hit restricted free agency at the start of the new league year, and it’s likely that Edmonton wasn’t prepared to give him the type of contract he may be hoping to receive. Kostin was acquired by the Oilers in exchange for defenseman Dmitri Samorukov, and the 24-year-old 2017 first-rounder scored 11 goals and 21 points in 55 games in Edmonton, both easily career-highs.

Now, the six-foot-three forward will join the Red Wings, who have added two NHL-ready contributors in this deal. Their forward corps is already well-stocked with NHL talent, but Yamamoto can now compete with Filip Zadina and Jonatan Berggren for a role in coach Derek Lalonde’s top nine, while Kostin is likely to end up on their fourth line. At no asset cost, this is a savvy deal for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings, especially if Yamamoto can repeat his form from 2021-22.

Evening Notes: Red Wings, Penguins, Maharaj

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The Detroit Red Wings have announced the hiring of two new assistant coaches for the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Red Wings have hired Brian Lashoff and Stephane Julien to join the coaching staff of head coach Dan Watson.

Julien had a busy 2022-23 as he led the Sherbrooke Phoenix to a Central Division title with a record of 50-13-3-2 and earned Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Coach of the Year as well as the General Manager of the Year. He was also an assistant coach for Team Canada’s gold medal effort at the 2023 World Junior Championship. To top it all off Julien was the head coach of Canada’s U18 squad at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Not a bad 12 months.

Lashoff on the other hand was a defenseman for the Griffins for parts of 14 seasons including two Calder Championships in 2013 and 2017. The native of Albany, New York played 628 career games for the Griffins and accumulated 132 points. The 32-year-old announced his retirement from playing in April of this year and will begin his professional coaching career just a few months after officially hanging up his skates.

In other evening notes:

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Vukie Mpofu is the new director of hockey operations and legal affairs. Newly hired Kyle Dubas made the announcement today on behalf of the franchise. Mpofu’s role will have a wide scope, but his main responsibilities will be to advise and assist the hockey operations department with salary cap compliance, contract negotiations, as well as compliance with the collective bargaining agreement and he will have an active role in the leadership of the Penguins hockey research and development department. The Saskatoon native has spent the past two years with the Los Angeles Kings as the manager of hockey operations and legal affairs and now joins the Penguins as one of Dubas’ first big hires as he builds out a new hockey operations department in Pittsburgh.
  • Sadly, the Anaheim Ducks announced that goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy in Toronto. Maharaj is planning to continue his treatments and hopes to have a planned surgery. His goal is to then re-join the club after that. In the interim Maharaj and Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek are planning to hire an assistant goaltending coach and will be making an announcement in the not-too-distant future.

Detroit Red Wings Won't Move 2023 First-Round Picks

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  • Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman told reporters today he doesn’t envision moving either of Detroit’s first-round picks in this year’s draft (ninth and 17th overall). Yzerman did infer he’d be willing to trade one or more of his three second-round picks, which could easily see themselves on the move with Detroit looking to make a run at the postseason in 2024. This may be some sobering news to Ottawa Senators fans, considering Detroit is gaining steam as a top trade destination for winger Alex DeBrincat. If it does turn out that way, they may have to settle for a 2024 first-round selection or multiple later-round picks.

Latest On Alex DeBrincat

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The trade market will only heat up over the next few weeks, and Ottawa Senators winger Alex DeBrincat is expected to be high on the list of most trade bait boards. Reports late last week suggested Ottawa will want to get a move in place by next week’s draft, as the 25-year-old sniper isn’t willing to sign a long-term extension with the Sens after heading to the Canadian capital via trade at this time last year. Today, we have some more clarity on where DeBrincat could end up by the end of the month: the Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Detroit Red Wings are on his preferred list of teams where he’d sign a long-term extension, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports.

Ottawa acquired DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks just before the first round of last year’s draft, conceding the seventh overall pick (used on Kevin Korchinski), the 39th overall pick (used on Paul Ludwinski), and a third-round pick in 2024. How much of that value Ottawa can recoup in a secondary trade remains to be seen.

Garrioch mentioned last year’s Kevin Fiala trade between the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings as a comparable, with the Kings sending high-end defense prospect Brock Faber and the 19th overall pick in the 2022 draft in return for Fiala’s RFA rights (he then signed a long-term extension). Garrioch argues that Senators general manager Pierre Dorion should be in a position to get a better return, given DeBrincat is a two-time 40-goal scorer at the time of the deal.

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli seemed to pour cold water on that today, however, suggesting an offer from the Detroit Red Wings of winger Filip Zadina (whose time to develop into a full-time NHLer is quickly running out) and futures as a likely return in terms of value for DeBrincat. What does seem clear is that Ottawa likely won’t be receiving a significant roster player in this deal – nor will they be getting the value of picks they gave up for DeBrincat in the first place.

If Ottawa is able to get a prospect closer to Faber’s caliber in return for DeBrincat, though, they should be aiming for a winger who could replace DeBrincat’s spot long-term. The team’s gamble on Tyler Boucher at 10th overall in 2021 doesn’t look like it will pay off, and the team is quickly running out of forward prospects with top-six ceilings with Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig graduating to full-time NHL roles. That could be someone like Mavrik Bourque from Dallas, Fedor Svechkov from Nashville, Mackie Samoskevich from Florida, or Brendan Brisson from Vegas.

Expecting a first-round pick along with Brisson from Vegas may be too much to ask, but the team is slated to pick with the last selection of the first round after winning the Stanley Cup, so it doesn’t quite hold as much value. Dallas and Florida do not have their first-round picks in this year’s draft, while Detroit holds the ninth overall selection, and Nashville holds the 15th and 24th overall picks.

Suter And Chiasson Decline Extension Offers

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  • It appears that the Red Wings won’t bring back any of their pending unrestricted free agents, suggests Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now. Duff adds that Detroit is believed to have made a one-year offer to center Pius Suter who declined in the hopes of securing a multi-year commitment while winger Alex Chiasson has passed on a two-way offer, hoping to land a one-way deal on the open market this summer.  Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and winger Adam Erne are among the other players set to hit the open market in a couple of weeks.

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