The Athletic’s Ian Mendes suggested that Bobby Ryan would be moving on from the Red Wings on UFA Day, and, thus far, anyway, the Wings haven’t made a move to reacquire Ryan’s services.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James suggests the same as Mendes did this morning, all while answering a mailbag question:
Ryan, who turned 34, turned out to be a no-risk gamble that didn’t yield the hoped-for results, producing 14 points in 33 games. When it came time this offseason to assess whether any of his pending unrestricted free agent forwards should be re-signed, Yzerman went with Sam Gagner, a slightly younger (32 on Aug. 10) former high-end pick (sixth, 2007). Both he and Ryan shoot right. Gagner, originally acquired by Yzerman at the 2020 trade deadline, had seven goals and 15 points in 42 games. His 0.36 points-per-game clip was a smidge below Ryan’s 0.42, but Gagner had a minus-4 rating to Ryan’s minus-14, and Gagner can play both special teams, whereas Ryan was limited to the power play.
With Ryan not being re-signed, the Wings don’t have any top-six forwards who shoot right. That’s not ideal, but the bottom line is, the Wings took a chance on Ryan, and the results unfortunately just weren’t there.
St. James continues (paywall); I wouldn’t completely rule out the Red Wings signing one more forward, but my gut feeling is that Ryan will indeed move on.
