Khan outlines the Wings’ free agency plans

MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a set of updates on Friday afternoon, discussing Jimmy Howard’s status (staying around), Martin Frk’s status (may or may not be re-signed), the statuses of the team’s other restricted free agents (Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha = 3 “bridge deals,” if not 4 if Larkin is not interested in a long-term contract), coaching staff (Dan Bylsma remains a possibility as an assistant coach) and outlining the Wings’ free agency plans:

Left wing Ilya Kovalchuk is at the top of their wish list. They’d be willing to give him a two-year contract at a high salary, a source said. They believe he’s capable of scoring 25 to 30 goals.

Kovalchuk, 35, is returning to the NHL after playing in Russia for five years. He has stated a desire to play for a Stanley Cup-contending team, so it’s unlikely he’d be interested in Detroit.

The Red Wings are interested in bringing back Thomas Vanek, 34, on a one-year deal. They would trade him at the deadline for a draft pick if they’re out of the playoff race. Vanek was a good fit in Detroit in 2016-17 (15 goals, 38 points in 48 games), before being dealt to Florida at the deadline for a third-round pick.

He had 24 goals and 56 points in 80 games last season between Vancouver and Columbus.

The Red Wings want to re-sign defenseman Mike Green, offering him a one-year deal at $6 million, his salary the past three seasons, or two years at $5 million per year.

Green turns 33 in October but was the team’s lone consistent offensive threat on the blue line. It’s a particularly weak free-agent market for defensemen.

The Red Wings are eying two 32-year-old goalies – Carter Hutton of St. Louis and Anton Khudobin of Boston. Hutton, their first choice, went 17-7-3 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. Khudobin went 16-6-7, with a 2.56 GAA and .913 save percentage.

Khan continues at length

 

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.

21 thoughts on “Khan outlines the Wings’ free agency plans”

  1. Kids should fill holes except goaltending.

    If kids don’t wotk, try more kids.

    If that doesn’t work, then you can use whoever you want.

    1. Totally agree homers.
      “They want to compete, sell tickets, draw TV viewers. They don’t want to be so bad that fans lose interest”

      Greed is not the way to rebuild a team, you would not build a house that way. You start from the foundation up.
      The wings have a solid young core of forwards and have a plethora of draft picks this year, build it right. Clean out the top end debris (helm for example) draft lots of D and a few centers and get rid of the ridiculous logjam in GR and other affiliates. Let the kids play and see if they have what it takes to be a NHL player.

  2. The other team in Detroit that has the same owner as the Wings is rebuilding with youth and a new coaching staff. I find them to be very entertaining and fun to watch, even though they make mistakes and look pretty bad sometimes as they learn to play the right way. Why not follow the same blueprint and stop signing older stopgap type players who just impede the influx of new blood into the system? They already have plenty of veterans to demonstrate the “Red Wing way.”
    If they truly mean what they said about rebuilding at the end of last season, why would they even consider guys like Green and Vanek? They are not being consistent with their previous statements. Maybe they need Avila to mentor Holland on how this process should take place.

  3. The other team in Detroit that has the same owner as the Wings is rebuilding with youth and a new coaching staff. I find them to be very entertaining and fun to watch, even though they make mistakes and look pretty bad sometimes as they learn to play the right way. Why not follow the same blueprint and stop signing older stopgap type players who just impede the influx of new blood into the system? They already have plenty of veterans to demonstrate the “Red Wing way.”
    If they truly mean what they said about rebuilding at the end of last season, why would they even consider guys like Green and Vanek? They are not being consistent with their previous statements. Maybe they need Avila to mentor Holland on how this process should take place.

    1. Perfectly stated Norm. I feel the same way about the tigers and would feel the same if the wings went all in on youth. Good post thanks!

  4. it seems to me that Kenny is operating in “poke and hope” mode.

    if we can sneak into the playoffs, anything can happen….hope
    if one of our draft picks exceeds projections….hope
    if the bingo balls go our way…..hope
    if one of our kids in GR takes a vets job in training camp….hope

    Hope is not a plan.

  5. I believe in Kenny.

    I doubt he is playing poke and hope, but is looking to keep the team spirit up by remaining competitive while stocking up a few more assets for trade deadline moves to acquire futures.

  6. I agree, Puckmucker, that those are likely two
    of Holland’s main goals.

    Buffalo is not a good model to follow either.
    But it does usually help a rebuild to pick higher.

    I think where Holland keeps running into
    trouble is with the reality of numbers. Barring
    a bunch of injuries, there simply isn’t room for
    Svech, Rasmussen, Pope, Turgeon, etc. to play
    if Holland keeps bringing in fading veterans.

    It also begs the question whether moves like this do
    keep players’ spirits up and the team competitive.

    5th from the bottom.

    How do the young guys feel about vets being added ahead of them every season, right after more opportunities are promised
    to younger players?

    Apparently one idea is to let Frk loose,
    as a way of partly absorbing a new forward.

    I really hope Holland doesn’t do this. And the trade returns can be very iffy. What is the use of Z, Nielsen, Abby, Helm, Glendening, Nyquist, etc. if we need even more veteran forwards to help show the way?

    1. I don’t think the Wings will ever give one-fourth of the roster’s forwards to rookies.

      Injuries will indeed play a role in kids getting a chance, and likely sticking for a prolonged cup of coffee, or a full time spot.

      Competition is good. If you beat out a former 50 goal scorer for a roster spot, you done did good and your confidence is high.

      The promise is of opportunity, not guaranteed roster spots.

      How do young players feel about losing? Do they better if they lose with younger players than they do with veteran players?

      Again, perhaps the idea is to start trimming some veterans via trades? I would argue that plan is already being executed. Look to the trades of the last 2 years.

      I agree 100% that Buffalo is not the model of a rebuild. But they also have been signing and trading veterans as they roll in their youth.

  7. “It also begs the question whether moves like this do keep players’ spirits up and the team competitive.

    5th from the bottom.”

    ^^^

  8. Maybe that’s why they are signing veterans. The emphasis is on a winning culture, and prospects won’t get that in Detroit right now haha. Then again, I think there is a lot to learn from losing.

    See: Larkins will and frustration, desire to win and Ovie’s cup celebration.

    1. It should to the greatest possible extent be about ice time for the top prospects. Kovalchuck, Vanek, & Greene don’t lend to that.
      Injuries could kill (last year?) stocking draft choices in February.

  9. They do need a backup goalie, and if they can get a reclamation guy or two they can flip at the deadline that would help the rebuilding process. The rumours they want to sign guys like Carlson to a 7 year deal is a bad idea.

    1. I’m in agreement (for the most part) that long term FA signings are a bad idea at this point.

      But a one or two year deal for a couple of vets that you plan to flip will help the rebuild…

      1. Unless these old guys pull a Greene and get injured—lost ice time for the young talent PLUS no February stockpiling for 2019 Draft.
        The lost ice time, I believe to be the bigger concern.

  10. You also need guys to mentor rookies, so the winning culture thing isn’t that far fetched. If I remember right Lidstrom wouldn’t have been Lidstrom if the Wings didn’t bring in Mark Howe to mentor him back in the day. His career really took off after that. I’m pretty sure it was Howe anyway.

    1. They have enough old guys (eg, Kronwall, Nielson, Daley) to do ‘mentoring’!
      Get the upwardly mobile young players the ice time.

Comments are closed.