Yahoo Sports’ Justin Cuthbert posted the following take on the Red Wings’ particularly active first day of free agency, deeming the Wings a “winner” of the first day…
Steve Yzerman had to show something resembling short-term ambition at some point. While he’s earned the luxury of executing a slow and methodical rebuild, we’ve reached the point where the Red Wings need to demonstrate some on-ice progress.
Yzerman took steps toward that in the early stages of free agency, adding three legitimate top-nine forwards between Andrew Copp, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik, who together form some much-needed insulation for a young core. Copp arrives at a bit of a rich price tag at five years with an average annual value of $5.625 million, but Perron and Kubalik will cost a combined $7.25 million and could conceivably provide in the neighbourhood of 50 combined goals.
Detroit also brought in an experienced defender to insulate Moritz Seider on the back end in Ben Chiarot. His value may exclusively be tied to taking the load off the Calder Trophy winner by eating up some of the more taxing and difficult minutes.
While Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin suggests that the Red Wings lie in the “murky middle“:
Whaaat? Placing the EXTREMELY BUSY Red Wings in the middling tier will likely incite some minor Twitter riots, but loud and busy doesn’t always equal good. Yes, the Wings did well to upgrade their goaltending with the Ville Husso acquisition last week. And, yes, UFA signee David Perron should do wonders for their power play and arrives on a fairly low-risk contract given it’s only for two years. But what about the major term handed out to Andrew Copp and Ben Chiarot?
Copp, signed for five years at a $5.625 million AAV, deserved the deal he got. He’s an extremely versatile forward who can play center or the wing and be deployed in all situations. That said, it’s risky to bank on him to match the career-best production he showed with the Winnipeg Jets and New York Rangers this past season, playing with the likes of Mark Scheifele and Artemi Panarin. Detroit desperately needs a long-term complement for Dylan Larkin at center, but is that Copp? I’m skeptical. The Wings obviously had cap space to spare, but is this the kind of contract that might hold them back from chasing a superstar in a future offseason? Same goes for Chiarot, who will be 35 when his four-year deal at a $4.75 million cap hit expires. He has a propensity to take bad penalties and get caught out of position. He’s more of a bottom-pair blueliner who is earning, at worst, middle-pair money now.
I don’t hate what GM Steve Yzerman’s done. The Wings are undoubtedly going to be more competitive in 2022-23. But handing out a lot of term to mid-tier UFAs is a recipe for long-term mediocrity. At least he has an exciting nucleus to build around in Larkin, Calder Trophy winning D-man Moritz Seider, slick winger Lucas Raymond and many other promising youngsters in the system.
Where do you think the Red Wings land?
Matt Larkin is missing the bigger picture. The Wings are not starting a rebuild, thus their chances to draft in the top three in the next few years are likely gone. They are in the dreaded 8-12 drafting zone. What they do have are potential superstars in Seider, Raymond and Edvinsson. They also have proven young veterans like Larkin, Bertuzzi, Hronek and Vrana. They have a lot of future solid looking players like Kasper, Wallinder, Mazur, Viro and Sebrango. Rasmussen too has turned a corner. What they did not have was a surrounding cast that can provide leadership, drive and courage when things go bad. Perron, Chairot and Copp play hard. So does Sundqvist. They all hate losing. Kubalik is a threat on the third line in case Fabbri can’t come back. Maatta could be the calming influence Hronek needs. Yzerman brought in mentors today. The PK (Copp, Maatta), the PP (Perron, Kubalik) got better options, the defense got tougher (Chairot) and calmer (Maatta). Even Husso is a big add that makes Ned better. IMO GMSY is rebuilding the culture and making sure they actually are harder to play against. I think those horrible year end blowouts, hard to watch as they were, were probably for the best.
Agree RW19, he did what he had to do and FA route is not the best option but the one he had. I think there are more moves to come so he is not done and grade should not be final. But he made the
team better and as he said was his goal harder to play against.