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Red Wings Acquire Nick Leddy

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The Red Wings have added to their back end in advance of tomorrow’s transactions freeze, acquiring defenseman Nick Leddy from the Islanders in exchange for winger Richard Panik and the 52nd overall pick in this month’s draft.  Detroit is also retaining 50% of Panik’s contract, using their first of three salary retention slots in the process.  Both teams have announced the trade.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Leddy was being shopped to avoid the potential of losing him to Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft.  The 30-year-old had logged steady minutes over his seven years with the Islanders, averaging more than 21 minutes per game for each of the last six seasons.  Leddy even had a bounce-back year offensively this past season, tallying 31 points in 56 games.  However, with the Islanders having over $77MM in commitments for next season with several key players in need of new contracts, some money needed to be moved and Leddy’s $5.5MM price tag became the casualty.

Panik was acquired as salary ballast from Washington back at the trade deadline as part of the Anthony Mantha deal and is on the move again as salary ballast in this trade.  He has two years left on his deal with a $2.75MM AAV so with Detroit retaining half of that price tag, New York frees up $4.125MM in cap room with the move.  They also get a fairly high draft pick and Panik at a $1.375MM cost is serviceable for someone who is best served as a role player at this stage of his career after seeing his offensive numbers drop for four straight seasons to just 13 in 48 games in 2020-21.

Meanwhile, Leddy immediately becomes one of Detroit’s top defensemen but with his age and contract which expires next summer, it certainly doesn’t feel as if he’ll be a long-term fixture on their back end, especially since they’re still in rebuilding mode.  Instead, he’s someone that appears to be a strong candidate to be flipped closer to the trade deadline, perhaps with some salary retention as well to make it easier for a contender to add him later in the season where they may be able to recoup the second-rounder they’ve given up here.

As for New York’s expansion situation, this ensures they won’t lose Leddy for free but still poses some questions.  Each team must leave at least one signed defenseman unprotected that has played in at least 54 games over the past two years (or played in 27 games this season).  The Islanders only have three of those in Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, and Scott Mayfield.  Presumably, those are the three they want to keep so they will now need to acquire or sign a defenseman to serve as the mandatory unprotected player before the lists are submitted on Saturday.  Veterans Braydon Coburn and Andy Greene meet the games played requirement so a one-year contract for them would satisfy the requirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Detroit Interested In Bringing Back Jonathan Bernier and Luke Glendening

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  • While most of the hype surrounding the Detroit Red Wings lately has been the trade potential of Tyler Bertuzzi, there’s still decisions that the team needs to make elsewhere on the roster. A Detroit offseason piece from The Athletic’s Max Bultman reports that Detroit is interesting in bringing back a pair of pending UFAs in Jonathan Bernier and Luke Glendening. Bernier’s been a very solid netminder for Detroit since arriving in 2018-19. His best season was undoubtedly this last one, posting a 9-11-1 record and .914 save percentage, both his best numbers since signing with the Wings. He forms a decent pairing with Thomas Greiss, who’s still under contract, and would help the Wings stay afloat. There’s also Glendening, who’s passable defensively and gained positive notoriety for his faceoff prowess. Both extensions, hypothetically, would be affordable and decent moves for the rebuilding Wings.

Grand Rapids Griffins Extend Forward Dominik Shine

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  • The AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins today announced that they’ve re-signed forward Dominik Shine to a one-year AHL contract. The 28-year-old forward has never seen NHL action, but has remained with the Detroit Red Wings organization since turning pro at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. A Michigan-born product, Shine played his junior hockey with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars before playing four seasons of college hockey with Northern Michigan University. Shine hasn’t exactly blown away with his production, scoring just two goals and four points in 29 contests this past season, but was extended for his leadership and professional experience. He’ll help mentor a group in Grand Rapids in 2021-22 that could contain some of Detroit’s future superstars.

Expansion Primer: Detroit Red Wings

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Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.

The last time we gathered here to determine the Detroit Red Wings’ expansion draft considerations, the team was in a steep downward decline. Yet they still ended up losing a bit of a diamond in the rough, as the Vegas Golden Knights selected forward Tomas Nosek. Nosek’s been a contributor in a bottom-six role every season in Vegas’ history, robbing Detroit of some quality depth. Now, with Detroit having hit the rock-bottom of their rebuild, their expansion situation looks fairly clear-cut this time around. With a lot of young talent exempt (and no Jimmy Howard/Petr Mrazek goalie controversy), the Red Wings and general manager Steve Yzerman are in a good position coming into 2021’s Seattle expansion draft.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:
Riley Barber, Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Dylan Larkin, Frans Nielsen, Richard Panik, Vladislav Namestnikov, Michael Rasmussen, Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov, Hayden Verbeek, Jakub Vrana

Defense:
Dennis Cholowski, Danny DeKeyser, Christian Djoos, Filip Hronek, Gustav Lindstrom, Troy Stecher

Goalies:
Kaden Fulcher, Thomas Greiss

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents

F Valtteri Filppula, F Sam Gagner, F Luke Glendening, F Darren Helm, F Bobby Ryan, D Alex Biega, D Marc Staal, G Jonathan Bernier

Notable Exemptions

F Joseph Veleno, F Filip Zadina, D Jared McIsaac, D Moritz Seider, G Filip Larsson

Key Decisions

The key decisions start with Detroit’s young forward group. They’ll undoubtedly be going with the seven forwards/three defensemen protection scheme. Four of those forward spots are relatively clear-cut, with Larkin, Bertuzzi, Fabbri, and recent acquisition Vrana being protection locks. That leaves three spots remaining, but with a mix of four veterans and young forwards competing for them.

The veteran of those candidates is Namestnikov. Signed to a two-year, $4MM deal prior to 2020-21 to provide some veteran presence during their rebuild, Namestnikov had his worst offensive season to date with just 17 points in 53 games. His defensive metrics were mediocre, which is on-brand for the versatile Russian forward. Detroit was Namestnikov’s fourth team since the beginning of 2019-20, and if left unprotected, Seattle could be his fifth.

However, there’s a trio of three younger forwards who could also vie for those spots. Erne, Rasmussen, and Svechnikov all looked good with the Wings this season. It was an especially important season for Svechnikov, who’s struggled with frequent injuries. He rebounded this year for eight points in 21 games while posting incredibly impressive possession metrics. Erne had a nice rebound season after a ghastly 2019-20 performance, scoring 11 goals and 20 points in 45 games. While his 15.5% shooting rate doesn’t scream sustainability, the 26-year-old showed nice flashes this season. There’s also Rasmussen, who’s still a developing project despite already playing in over 100 NHL contests. Drafted ninth overall in 2017, Rasmussen’s now totalled 30 points in 102 NHL games, including 12 points in 40 games last season. He’s consistently posted decent possession results, suggesting that the goal-scoring touch he had in juniors could be coming.

Detroit faces a similar quandary on defense with three names fighting for two spots. Hronek’s protection is a foregone conclusion, but Stecher, Cholowski, and Lindstrom are names that could fall into those last two spots.

Stecher sits as effectively a more impressive Namestnikov. Joining Detroit as a free agent prior to this season, Stecher settled nicely into a top-four role, posting admirable defensive metrics considering the hacked-together situation that was Detroit’s defense. However, like Namestnikov, he’s under contract for just one more season and there’s no guarantee that he stays. There’s also a pair of younger defenders in Cholowski and Lindstrom. Cholowski was a first-round pick in 2016 and showed great potential in his 2018-19 rookie season, but has stagnated at all levels since then. Detroit is willing to play the wait-and-see game with the young defender, who may see a full-time role again next year after just 16 games played in 2020-21. Lindstrom’s a year younger and doesn’t have as much upside, but he’s cobbled together four assists in 29 NHL games and could have third-pairing potential.

Projected Protection List

F Tyler Bertuzzi
F Adam Erne
F Robby Fabbri
F Dylan Larkin
F Michael Rasmussen
F Evgeny Svechnikov
F Jakub Vrana

D Dennis Cholowski
D Filip Hronek
D Troy Stecher

G Thomas Greiss

Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist

When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined.  Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined.  In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.

Forwards (3): Vladislav Namestnikov, Frans Nielsen, Richard Panik
Defensemen (1): Danny DeKeyser

There are very few pickings here that the Kraken would be interested in, and Detroit is likely to emerge from the expansion draft unscathed. While Detroit will have some depth forwards exposed, Seattle can likely find cheaper and better options elsewhere. Seattle could end up taking an AHL skater with limited upside like Lindstrom or Smith, or take a pending UFA like Glendening if they really don’t like any of their options.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Red Wings Interested In Re-Signing Luke Glendening

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  • The Red Wings are interested in re-signing pending UFA center Luke Glendening, reports Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now. The 32-year-old has been in trade deadline speculation for several years now given his faceoff ability (he won a career-best 60.9% of his draws this season) but Detroit has opted to hold onto him each time.  Considering that fourth liners were hit hard last fall in free agency and a flat cap this summer, Glendening may be hard-pressed to get more than the $1.8MM AAV he had on his most recent contract.

Free Agent Focus: Detroit Red Wings

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Free agency is now less than a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. The Red Wings, who have been quietly collecting assets for the last few seasons, could start to dip their toes into the UFA waters.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Jakub Vrana – At the deadine this season, instead of just selling, Red Wings’ GM Steve Yzerman took a bit of a different approach. Sure, he traded away core forward Anthony Mantha for a package that included two high draft picks, but the biggest piece coming back was Vrana, a 25-year-old forward who had already found a lot of success in the NHL. The deal immediately paid dividends (for both teams) as Vrana scored eight goals and 11 points in 11 games down the stretch in Detroit, including a four-goal effort against the Dallas Stars. He now enters the offseason as one of the team’s most important restricted free agents, though how Yzerman will handle his negotiation isn’t clear. With several seasons of NHL action under his belt, Vrana is arbitration-eligible and could reach unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2023. That means a long-term deal would be buying out most of the years with the highest earning potential, likely driving the average annual value way up. A short-term deal could be beneficial to both parties, especially if the Red Wings have any thought of flipping him for more futures at some point.

F Tyler Bertuzzi – Speaking of flipping an asset, Bertuzzi is now just a year away from unrestricted free agency and arbitration-eligible once again. That means he could potentially wait for the one-year contract given by the arbitrator and walk into UFA status at 27, but there is certainly risk on Bertuzzi’s part. For one thing, he played just nine games this season and underwent back surgery at the end of April. He is supposed to be healthy in time for the start of 2021-22, but who knows how his body will react after such a long layoff. There are other teams in the league who would covet the bang-and-crash style of the 26-year-old, and he very well could be a trade candidate in the coming weeks. Just like Mantha, Bertuzzi might be just a little too old to be part of the next wave in Detroit.

Other RFAs: F Adam Erne, F Evgeny Svechnikov, F Michael Rasmussen, F Mathias Brome, F Givani Smith, F Hayden Verbeek, F Chase Pearson, D Christian Djoos, D Filip Hronek, D Dennis Cholowski, D Gustav Lindstrom

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Luke Glendening – Is it finally time for the defensive specialist to leave Detroit? Glendening has been in trade rumors for the last half-decade, always a candidate to be moved to a contender at the deadline. It has never actually happened though, meaning the 32-year-old has played his entire 554-game NHL career with the Red Wings. One thing he hasn’t experienced much of during that time? Offensive zone faceoffs, as he has been hammered by defensive zone starts his entire career. There’s almost no offense there, and Glendening certainly isn’t the skater he once was, but his faceoff prowess is still a weapon on the penalty kill and in key defensive situations. He won nearly 61% of his draws this season, trailing only Patrice Bergeron in that category league-wide.

D Marc Staal – When Staal came to Detroit, it was a simple cap dump by the New York Rangers to free up more room on the back end for young players. Then he went and became one of the Red Wings most reliable defensemen, averaging more than 18 minutes a night against the opponent’s best. Suddenly, he seems like a realistic extension candidate for Detroit, who could help insulate some of the younger names that will be added to the lineup next season. The 34-year-old is nearing the end of his career and has made almost $55MM over the course of nearly 1,000 games; he shouldn’t be very expensive if Yzerman wants to bring him back.

G Jonathan Bernier – Undersized goalies can’t get it done? Tell that to Bernier, who has quietly been an effective NHL option for more than a decade. Now 32, he’s coming off another strong season in Detroit where he posted a .914 save percentage in 24 appearances. There’s a reasonable chance that Bernier could be a 1B option on a contending team, but there’s also a good argument to be made for the Red Wings to bring him back. He worked fine with Thomas Greiss this season and Detroit doesn’t have a minor league netminder truly banging down the door for an NHL opportunity.

Other UFAs: F Bobby Ryan, F Sam Gagner, F Valtteri Filppula, F Darren Helm, F Henrik Zetterberg, F Turner Elson, F Dominic Turgeon, F Kyle Criscuolo, F Taro Hirose, D Dylan McIlrath, D Joe Hicketts, D Alex Biega, G Calvin Pickard, G Kevin Boyle

Projected Cap Space

Part of the rebuild that Yzerman has done in Detroit, along with accumulating lots of draft picks, is clearing the books of any real long-term money. In fact, after trading Mantha, the team has just two players signed to one-way contracts through the 2022-23 season. That means nearly the entire cap is his to play with going forward, with more than $48MM this offseason in particular. If the team wants to sign players, they have the room.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Keith Petruzzelli Won't Sign Entry-Level Contract With Detroit Red Wings

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  • Despite the Detroit Red Wings being one of the more up-and-coming teams in the league, one of their prospects is deciding to leave the organization. Mark Divver of The New England Hockey Journal reports that goaltender Keith Petruzzelli doesn’t intend to sign his entry-level contract with the Wings and will hit free agency in August. A promising young netminder with a big 6′ 5″ frame, Petruzzelli was drafted in the third round (88th overall) by Detroit at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft after a solid season with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. Petruzzelli has since spent his hockey career playing four seasons for Quinnipiac University, with his record and save percentage climbing every season. Capping off his senior year with a .926 save percentage and 17-8-4 record, Petruzzelli will undoubtedly receive NHL and AHL offers this August to join another organization.

Detroit Red Wings Hire Alex Tanguay

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The Detroit Red Wings have a new assistant coach, as GM Steve Yzerman announced the hiring of Alex Tanguay today. The Stanley Cup champion has spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the Iowa Wild of the AHL and will now get his first chance behind an NHL bench.

Tanguay, 41, retired from a long playing career in 2016 after more than 1,000 games at the NHL level. Most of that time was spent with the Colorado Avalanche, though there were also stops with the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes. A gifted playmaker, he recorded a career-high 81 points in the 2006-07 season and finished with 580 career assists. In 2001, he scored the Cup-clinching goal with the Avalanche but would lose to the Yzerman-led Red Wings in the Western Conference Final the following year.

Now behind the bench instead of on it, Tanguay is an up-and-coming coaching prospect that will quickly make the leap to the NHL. He’ll join head coach Jeff Blashill’s staff for the 2021-22 season, replacing the outgoing Dan Bylsma, who left the club earlier this year. Blashill was clear that in the search for a replacement the team would be looking for someone that can help the powerplay, which Tanguay is obviously qualified to do. In his career, he registered 244 points with the man-advantage, picking apart defenses with quick puck movement and precision passing.

He certainly can’t make it much worse, as the Red Wings had the league’s second-worst powerplay in 2020-21. At just 11.4% effectiveness, it sagged well behind everyone except the Anaheim Ducks. Even raising it to the league average of 19.8% would have resulted in 12 more goals in the shortened season.

Detroit Red Wings Prospect Jared McIsaac Will Be Ready For Training Camp

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  • The Detroit Red Wings organization received some good news today, as defense prospect Jared McIsaac has a clean bill of health, per the team’s website. McIsaac, as the piece by Josh Berenter mentions, has been on the wrong end of three shoulder injuries in the past two calendar years. Drafted 36th overall by Detroit in 2018, he’s part of a prospect stable on defense that includes SHL standout Moritz Seider and Gustav Lindstrom. Before encountering his injury troubles, McIsaac had 62 points in just 53 games with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads in 2018-19. If he’s able to regain that form, a healthy McIsaac could prove to be a solid piece of Detroit’s rebuild.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Carey, Johansson

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The Arizona Coyotes have interviewed a long list of head coaching candidates so far in their search to replace Rick Tocchet. Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider tweets that Syracuse Crunch coach Benoit Groulx has spoken to Arizona about the position and lists Mike Van Ryn, Todd Nelson, Jay Leach, and Andre Tourigny as others.

Last week, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic said on TSN radio that he believes the Coyotes will go with a first-time NHL head coach, which this list obviously suggests. Groulx, 53, has been behind the bench for Syracuse the last four season and signed a new deal with the organization earlier this season. That likely wouldn’t stop him from taking an NHL job, but shows how much the Lightning value him in the minors.

  • Paul Carey is on his way overseas, signing with Djurgardens IF for the 2021-22 season. The minor league veteran served as captain for the Providence Bruins this season, scoring 14 points in 22 games. The 32-year-old has 100 NHL games under his belt including one during the 2019-20 season, but those days are likely behind him at this point in his long professional career.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have loaned Albert Johansson to the SHL, giving him a chance to continue developing in Sweden. The 20-year-old defenseman scored 19 points in 44 games last season, his second full year with Farjestads. Selected 60th overall in 2019, he signed his entry-level deal last summer but it slid this season. That won’t be the case next year, meaning he will be scheduled for restricted free agency in 2024.

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