Here’s the Red Wings’ press release regarding their free agent signings (Filppula, Nemeth and Pickard):

From the Detroit Red Wings:

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed center Valtteri Filppula, defenseman Patrik Nemeth and goaltender Calvin Pickard to two-year contracts.

Filppula, 35, was a 2008 Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings and returns to the team after recording 251 points (100-151-251), a plus-43 rating and 158 penalty minutes with Detroit from 2005-13. He has gone on to total 948 NHL games with the Red Wings, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, registering 494 points (185-309-494), a plus-39 rating and 310 penalty minutes. The 6-foot, 196-pound forward has also appeared in 166 career NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games – 105 of them during his time with the Red Wings – tallying 86 points (25-61-86), a plus-four rating and 38 penalty minutes. He appeared in the Stanley Cup Final with the Lightning in 2015 after making back-to-back Final appearances with Detroit in 2008 and 2009 during his second and third NHL seasons.

In 2018-19, Filppula skated in 72 games with the Islanders and ranked among team leaders with 17 goals (7th) and 31 points (8th), representing his highest goal total since scoring a career-best 25 goals with Tampa Bay in 2013-14, his first season away from Detroit. His most productive offensive campaign came with the Red Wings in the 2011-12 season, notching 66 points (23-43-66) in 81 games. The 14-year veteran and Vantaa, Finland, native ranks among the top Finnish-born NHL players of all time, ranking 10th in games played and 11th in points, sitting just 52 games shy of the 1,000 game mark and six points away from 500.

Filppula, who was originally drafted by Detroit in the third round (95th overall) of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, also appeared in 77 games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins from 2005-07, racking up 74 points (22-52-74) and was an AHL All-Star as a rookie in 2005-06. He has also logged 120 games in the SM-Liiga, Finland’s highest professional league, from 2003-05 and in 2012-13, showing 63 points (21-42-63), all with Jokerit Helsinki. Internationally, Filppula scored three goals in six games at the 2010 Winter Olympics, winning a bronze medal, and has represented Finland twice at the IIHF World Championship (2012 and 2017), combining for 15 points (6-9-15) in 20 games.

Nemeth, 27, has skated in six NHL seasons with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche, posting 39 points (4-35-39), a plus-24 rating and 134 penalty minutes in 250 NHL games. He appeared in a career-high 74 games during the 2018-19 season with Colorado, recording 10 points (1-9-10), a plus-five rating and 53 penalty minutes, while ranking second on the team in hits (137) and third in blocked shots (131). Nemeth posted career-best offensive totals with the Avalanche during the 2017-18 campaign, logging 15 points (3-12-15) and leading the team with a plus-27 rating in 68 games played, while ranking fifth in the NHL with 185 blocked shots. The 6-foot-3, 219-pound blueliner has also skated in 18 postseason games between Dallas and Colorado, notching one assist and 20 penalty minutes.

A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Nemeth was originally a second-round draft pick (41st overall) of Dallas in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He spent his first five seasons in North America (2012-17) splitting time with Dallas and the AHL’s Texas Stars, totaling 28 points (5-23-28), a plus-30 rating and 82 penalty minutes in 104 AHL games and winning a 2014 Calder Cup championship. Nemeth played professionally in Sweden before signing with Dallas, spending four seasons with AIK in second-tier Sweden (notching four assists in 17 games from 2008-10) and the Swedish Hockey League (recording one goal and nine assists in 84 games from 2010-12). He twice represented Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship (2011 and 2012), winning a gold medal in 2012 and leading all defensemen at the tournament with five assists in six games.

Pickard, 27, has appeared in 104 NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Arizona Coyotes since 2014-15, posting a 32-50-9 record, 2.93 goals-against average, 0.908 save percentage and four shutouts. In 2018-19, Pickard totaled 17 NHL games between the Flyers and Coyotes, posting a 4-6-2 record after he was twice claimed off waivers (claimed by Philadelphia from Toronto on Oct. 2 and by Arizona from Philadelphia on Nov. 29). The 6-foot-1, 207-pound netminder played a career-high 50 games for Colorado in 2016-17, registering a 15-31-2 record, 2.98 goals-against average, 0.904 save percentage and two shutouts.

Originally a second-round pick (49th overall) of the Avalanche in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Pickard has also appeared in 200 AHL games with the Lake Erie Monsters, San Antonio Rampage, Toronto Marlies and Tucson Roadrunners, sporting a career 93-71-15 record, 2.61 goals-against average, 0.915 save percentage and 12 shutouts. He was a 2018 Calder Cup champion with Toronto and won the Harry Holmes Memorial Award, awarded to the goaltending tandem with the lowest goals-against average, alongside Garret Sparks. The Moncton, New Brunswick, native represented Canada at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF World Championships, winning a gold and silver medal, respectively. Prior to turning professional, Pickard became the Western Hockey League’s all-time leader in saves (7,727) and minutes (14,025), combining for a 91-120-27 record, 3.29 goals-against average, 0.909 save percentage and 12 shutouts in four seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds (2008-12).

Valtteri Filppula, Center
Born Mar 20 1984 — Vantaa, Finland
Height 6.00 — Weight 196 — Shoots L

Selected by Detroit Red Wings round 3 #95 overall 2002 NHL Entry Draft

                                      — Regular Season —  —- Playoffs —-

Season   Team                  Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
——————————————————————————–
2003-04  Jokerit Helsinki      FIN    49    5   13   18    6  —  —  —  —  —
2004-05  Jokerit Helsinki      FIN    55   10   20   30   20  12   5   6  11   2
2005-06  Grand Rapids Griffins AHL    74   20   50   70   30  16   7   9  16   4
2005-06  Detroit Red Wings     NHL     4    0    1    1    2  —  —  —  —  —
2006-07  Grand Rapids Griffins AHL     3    2    2    4    2  —  —  —  —  —
2006-07  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    73   10    7   17   20  18   3   2   5   2
2007-08  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    78   19   17   36   28  22   5   6  11   2
2008-09  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    80   12   28   40   42  23   3  13  16   8
2009-10  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    55   11   24   35   24  12   4   5   9   6
2010-11  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    71   16   23   39   22  11   2   6   8   6
2011-12  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    81   23   43   66   14   5   0   2   2   2
2012-13  Jokerit Helsinki      FIN    16    6    9   15    6  —  —  —  —  —
2012-13  Detroit Red Wings     NHL    41    9    8   17    6  14   2   4   6   4
2013-14  Tampa Bay Lightning   NHL    75   25   33   58   20   4   0   1   1   0
2014-15  Tampa Bay Lightning   NHL    82   12   36   48   24  26   4  10  14   4
2015-16  Tampa Bay Lightning   NHL    76    8   23   31   46  17   1   6   7   0
2016-17  Tampa Bay Lightning   NHL    59    7   27   34   24  —  —  —  —  —
2016-17  Philadelphia Flyers   NHL    20    5    3    8    2  —  —  —  —  —
2017-18  Philadelphia Flyers   NHL    81   11   22   33   20   6   1   2   3   2
2018-19  New York Islanders    NHL    72   17   14   31   16   8   0   4   4   2
——————————————————————————–

         NHL Totals                  948  185  309  494  310 166  25  61  86  38
 

Patrik Nemeth, Defenseman
Born Feb 8 1992  — Stockholm, Sweden
Height 6.03 — Weight 219 — Shoots L

Selected by Dallas Stars round 2 #41 overall 2010 NHL Entry Draft

                                      — Regular Season —  —- Playoffs —-

Season   Team                  Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
——————————————————————————–
2008-09  AIK                   Swe-2   1    0    1    1    0  —  —  —  —  —
2009-10  AIK                   Swe-2  16    0    3    3    8  —  —  —  —  —
2010-11  AIK                   SHL    38    1    6    7   18   7   0   0   0   2
2011-12  AIK                   SHL    46    0    3    3   55  —  —  —  —  —
2012-13  Texas Stars           AHL    47    1   11   12   40  —  —  —  —  —
2013-14  Texas Stars           AHL    37    3    7   10   32  18   1   4   5   8
2013-14  Dallas Stars          NHL     8    0    0    0    6   5   0   0   0  12
2014-15  Dallas Stars          NHL    22    0    3    3    6  —  —  —  —  —
2014-15  Texas Stars           AHL     8    0    2    2    6   3   0   1   1   4
2015-16  Dallas Stars          NHL    38    0    8    8   14  —  —  —  —  —
2015-16  Texas Stars           AHL     8    0    1    1    2  —  —  —  —  —
2016-17  Dallas Stars          NHL    40    0    3    3   14  —  —  —  —  —
2016-17  Texas Stars           AHL     4    1    2    3    2  —  —  —  —  —
2017-18  Colorado Avalanche    NHL    68    3   12   15   41   6   0   1   1   4
2018-19  Colorado Avalanche    NHL    74    1    9   10   53   7   0   0   0   4
——————————————————————————–

         NHL Totals                  250    4   35   39  134  18   0   1   1  20
 

Calvin Pickard, Goaltender
Born Apr 15 1992 — Moncton, NB
Height 6.01 — Weight 207 — Catches L

Selected by Colorado Avalanche round 2 #49 overall 2010 NHL Entry Draft

Season   Team            Lge    GP   Min   GA  EN SO   GAA   W   L   T   Svs  Pct
———————————————————————————-
2008-09  Seattle        WHL    47  2694  137   2  3  3.05  23  16   5  1182  0.896
2009-10  Seattle        WHL    62  3688  190  11  3  3.09  16  34  12  2017  0.914
2010-11  Seattle        WHL    68  4013  225   6  1  3.36  27  33   8  2443  0.916
2011-12  Seattle        WHL    64  3630  217  12  5  3.59  25  37   2  2085  0.906
2011-12  Lake Erie      AHL     2    77    4   0  0  3.12   1   0   0    33  0.892
2012-13  Lake Erie      AHL    47  2749  113   3  5  2.47  20  19   5  1268  0.918
2013-14  Lake Erie      AHL    43  2445  116   6  2  2.85  16  18   7  1121  0.906
2014-15  Lake Erie      AHL    50  2943  128   9  3  2.61  23  17   9  1412  0.917
2014-15  Colorado       NHL    16   895   35   4  0  2.35   6   7   3   476  0.932
2015-16  San Antonio    AHL    21  1264   58   1  1  2.75   9   8   4   642  0.917
2015-16  Colorado       NHL    20   975   42   7  1  2.56   7   6   1   497  0.922
2016-17  Colorado       NHL    50  2836  140   0  2  2.98  15  31   2  1321  0.904
2017-18  Toronto        AHL    33  1923   74   6  1  2.31  21   9   1   827  0.918
2017-18  Toronto        NHL     1    63    4   0  0  3.83   0   0   1    24  0.857
2018-19  Philadelphia   NHL    11   464   31   0  1  4.01   4   2   2   196  0.863
2018-19  Arizona        NHL     6   283   17   0  0  3.61   0   4   0   140  0.892
2018-19  Tucson         AHL     4   190   11   0  0  3.47   3   0   0    88  0.889

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.