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Mark Pysyk Undergoes Achilles Surgery

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Perhaps helping to explain today’s signing of Robert Hagg, the Detroit Red Wings have announced that Mark Pysyk has undergone successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. He has been given a recovery timeline of four to six months.

Pysyk, 30, signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Red Wings worth $850K on July 14.

While a fourth-month recovery would still allow him to play a good chunk of the season with Detroit, Achilles injuries are notorious for long rehab times, meaning Pysyk’s year is completely up in the air at this point.

Since it happened this early in the offseason, there is a good chance he is able to return at some point, though the Red Wings are obviously preparing for life without him. Hagg, who actually paired with Pysyk for most of 2021-22, was signed earlier today for a very similar one-year deal, replacing the defensive depth the team lost.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Robert Hagg

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The Detroit Red Wings have added a little more defensive depth, signing Robert Hagg to a one-year, one-way contract. Hagg will earn $800K in the 2022-23 season.

Hagg, 27, was swapped twice in the last year, first as part of the Buffalo Sabres’ return from the Philadelphia Flyers for Rasmus Ristolainen, and then to the Florida Panthers at the deadline for a sixth-round pick. He’ll see his salary cut in half after carrying a $1.6MM cap hit the last two seasons, and joins an organization where it is not immediately clear how much playing time is available.

The Red Wings have already added Ben Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Mark Pysyk, and Steven Kampfer this offseason, and have several prospects pushing for NHL playing time. No matter how it shakes out, Hagg offers 300 games of NHL experience, an intimidating physical presence, and a propensity for blocking shots. That kind of versatility could be of use on the bottom pair, though it’s hard to imagine him playing big minutes on the upstart Red Wings, who appear ready to start challenging for a postseason position once again.

In his 300-game career, Hagg has racked up nearly 900 hits and 500 blocked shots, while contributing just 56 points. He won’t contribute much offensively, but he and Chiarot could form quite the intimidating shorthanded pair, making life miserable for players in front of the net.

Detroit Red Wings Extend AHL Affiliation

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The Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins are a perfect match, and they won’t be splitting up anytime soon. The teams announced a five-year extension of their affiliation agreement today, continuing through at least the 2026-27 season.

It’s already been two decades since the teams first partnered, nearly the entire history of the Griffins since arriving in the AHL. In fact, the success of the Griffins and their geographical proximity to Detroit has been emulated by many teams around the league, who have sought to bring their minor league programs closer to home.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman released a statement:

Grand Rapids continues to be a model franchise both on and off the ice and we’re excited to continue our partnership. The winning culture established by the Griffins is extremely beneficial for the development of our young players and the fans in Grand Rapids do a tremendous job creating an exciting atmosphere to support the growth of our players.

That winning culture has resulted in two Calder Cup championships in the last decade, as Grand Rapids took down the Syracuse Crunch in both 2013 and 2017 to hoist the trophy. Even as that success has waned in the last few years, the development program there has still been a huge boon for the Red Wings.

Perhaps there has been no better example of late than Moritz Seider, who spent the entire 2019-20 season with the Griffins after being selected sixth overall. Not only did he make an impact for Grand Rapids but you could see his incredible development as soon as he hit the ice the following season, stepping into the SHL and dominating at both ends of the ice. After winning rookie of the year in the NHL, Seider is set to become another top alumnus of the program.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Chase Pearson

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July 21: The Red Wings have officially announced the contract.

July 20: Detroit Red Wings forward Chase Pearson accepted his qualifying offer today, per PuckPedia. The one-year contract is worth $917,831 at the NHL level and $70,000 at the AHL level.

Pearson, 24, played in his first three NHL games this season without registering a point. He had just 18 points in 50 AHL games this year, too, a big step back from his 22 points in 28 games during the 2020-21 campaign.

A fifth-round pick of the team in 2015, Pearson’s had an up-and-down development path with the team. He’s shown enough promise at points, though, that the team has decided to keep him retained in the hopes that he becomes a late bloomer.

Pearson does have appealing size, standing at 6′ 3″, 203 pounds, and uses that frame to deliver clean hits as evidenced by his rather low penalty minute totals. His NHL upside will likely come in a defensive bottom-six role, and since he can play both center and wing, that does give him a bit of an edge on the organizational depth chart.

Detroit Red Wings Hire Jay Varady

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A rising coaching prospect has found his way back to the NHL, as Jay Varady has been hired by the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant for the upcoming season. Varady has spent the last few seasons as head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners, with a short stop as an assistant for the Arizona Coyotes during the shortened 2020-21 season.

It’s been an interesting path for the 44-year-old Varady, who made the transition to coaching soon after his playing days ended for Union College in 2000. After winning an NAHL championship after taking over the Pittsburgh Forge midseason, he went to the WHL where he joined the Everett Silvertips for seven seasons. Two years as a head coach in France followed before a return to North America to lead the Sioux City Musketeers, where he really established himself as a top coaching prospect.

One year with the Kingston Frontenacs was enough to lead to an AHL gig, and now the NHL, where he’ll serve under rookie head coach Derek Lalonde. In the next few years, it won’t be surprising when Varady’s name comes up in coaching searches around the league.

In a statement, the Coyotes announced that they will begin the search for a new AHL coach immediately, wishing Varady well with his new appointment in Detroit.

Jake Walman Files For Salary Arbitration

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The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) announced that 24 players have filed for player-elected salary arbitration, the deadline for which came this afternoon. This list is not necessarily the final and complete list of players headed for arbitration, with clubs now eligible to elect salary arbitration until tomorrow, July 18th at 5:00 pm ET.

Mason Appleton (WPG)

Ethan Bear (CAR)

Jesper Bratt (NJD)

Lawson Crouse (ARI)

Morgan Geekie (SEA)

Mathieu Joseph (OTT)

Kaapo Kahkonen (SJS)

Kasperi Kapanen (PIT)

Keegan Kolesar (VGK)

Oliver Kylington (CGY)

Maxime Lajoie (CAR)

Steven Lorentz (SJS)

Isac Lundestrom (ANA)

Zack MacEwen (PHI)

Niko Mikkola (STL)

Andrew Mangiapane (CGY)

Matthew Phillips (CGY)

Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM)

Tyce Thompson (NJD)

Yakov Trenin (NSH)

Vitek Vanecek (NJD)

Jake Walman (DET)

Kailer Yamamoto (EDM)

Pavel Zacha (BOS)

Notably out of this list, Mikkola had previously filed for arbitration, but the two sides were able to settle on a one-year, $1.9MM contract that will leave the defenseman an UFA after next season.

A key distinction to add is that any player who has filed for arbitration is no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet, effectively taking the players on this list off the market. Three notable names that did not file for arbitration are Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine. Though contract talks have been quiet on Dubois and Tkachuck, word of amicable discussions between Laine’s camp and Columbus has been made known. Once tomorrow’s club-elected salary arbitration deadline passes, teams and players will have time to prepare their cases before hearings begin, running from July 27th through August 11th.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Mark Pysyk

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The Detroit Red Wings have added another depth defenseman, this time signing Mark Pysyk to a one-year, $850K contract. The deal comes just as the team announced their contract with Olli Maatta and follows the bigger addition of Ben Chiarot to a four-year deal.

Pysyk, 30, might not be a household name but is an effective bottom-pairing option, who played in 68 games for the Buffalo Sabres last season. With more than 500 games of NHL experience, a good bit of penalty-killing acumen, and even a bit of offensive upside–Pysyk did score a hat-trick while lining up as a winger in 2020–he can fill in some of the gaps for the Red Wings this season while not having too much responsibility heaped on his shoulders.

In fact, as a right-handed option on a team that already has Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek locked in, there may not be that many minutes for Pysyk at all. He joins an interesting mix of youth and experience in Detroit as the team appears ready to start contending for the playoffs again.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Matt Luff, Austin Czarnik

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The Detroit Red Wings have added a pair of depth signings, inking Matt Luff to a one-year, two-way contract and Austin Czarnik to a two-year, two-way contract. Every team needs minor league depth, and that’s exactly what Luff and Czarnik represent, even if they do have some NHL experience under their belts.

Luff, 25, played in 23 games this season for the Nashville Predators and scored six goals but ended up unqualified by the team at the end of the year. Originally signed by the Los Angeles Kings as an undrafted OHL forward, he now has 87 games in the NHL. In that time he does have a rather impressive 13 goals, though eight of those came in the 2018-19 season.

Czarnik meanwhile has a little bit more, with 142 games to his name but hasn’t seen the NHL much in the last several years. What he has done, is light up the minor leagues by scoring at a point-per-game pace over his entire career. In 2021-22 he had 37 points in 38 games for the Bridgeport Islanders, while also suiting up 17 times combined for the New York Islanders and Seattle Kraken.

Neither one should be playing regular minutes for Detroit this season, especially after they added several forwards today. Still, they’ll provide some good options for short stretches in case of injury, and load up the talent for the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Dominik Kubalik

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Another year, another Chicago unqualified RFA heading to Detroit. The Red Wings have signed forward Dominik Kubalik to a two-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $2.5MM.

It’s been a rollercoaster NHL career so far for the 26-year-old Kubalik. After scoring 30 goals in 68 games during his rookie season in 2019-20, it appeared as though the Chicago Blackhawks had pulled a star out of the Swiss leagues. The lanky winger clicked immediately with Chicago’s top talent and signed a two-year, $7.4MM deal that fall that set him up nicely as a key part of their future.

Two years later and Kubalik scored just 15 goals in 78 games and is left unqualified by the team, scared of an arbitration award that would have been hefty. The Red Wings are apparently happy to snap him up, sign him to a reasonable deal for just two years and plug him into a forward group that suddenly looks formidable.

With Andrew Copp and David Perron also joining the Red Wings today, Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde should have plenty of options to mix and match as he sees fit, trying to find the best chemistry combinations up front. If Kubalik can click with a top forward like he did that rookie season, perhaps he can get back to the 30-goal man that he debuted as. If not, Detroit hasn’t put itself in a dangerous situation, since a $2.5MM contract won’t affect their overall financial structure much and they can walk away in two years if necessary.

Detroit Red Wings Sign David Perron

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The Atlantic Division arms race continues. After signing Andrew Copp earlier today, the Detroit Red Wings have inked David Perron. The team has officially announced the signing, with Perron getting a two-year contract worth $4.75MM per year.

For the first time in his lengthy career, the 34-year-old Perron has signed a contract with someone other than the St. Louis Blues. He’ll join the upstart Detroit squad and offer a plug-and-play offensive dynamo for new head coach Derek Lalonde to deploy. Almost seeming to get better with age, Perron has recorded at least 46 points in each of his last six seasons, including 27 goals and 57 points this year in just 67 games.

Strong on the powerplay and at even-strength, he will add even more firepower to a suddenly dangerous-looking Red Wings group, that could be ready to compete for the postseason again.

Importantly, with the deal stretching just two years, general manager Steve Yzerman maintains his cap flexibility, something that has been so important during this Red Wings rebuild. Copp and Benn Chiarot earned long-term deals from the team today but Perron and Dominik Kubalik are only signed through 2023-24, meaning there will be a good amount of money to re-sign young players like Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, who will be coming off their entry-level deals.

There is some risk that Perron’s game takes a step backward as he heads into his mid-thirties but unless his offense falls off a cliff immediately, it shouldn’t really pose a problem for the Red Wings. Even after their spending spree this offseason they have a good amount of cap space left, meaning there is no danger of getting squeezed by an underperforming 30-something.

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