MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a notebook article this afternoon which discusses the Red Wings’ signing of Dominik Kubalik to a 2-year, $5 million contract as an unrestricted free agent:
“He’s big. He can skate. He has a great shot,” Yzerman said. “And the contract we think is very reasonable. It’s a guy that has a lot of upside. It’s another player who gives us more scoring depth.”
Kubalik might slot onto the third line alongside former teammate Pius Suter, who took the same path to Detroit a year ago after the Blackhawks opted not to qualify him.
Like they did with Suter, the Red Wing became quite familiar with Kubalik during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, when they played the Blackhawks eight times. Kubalik scored 13 fewer goals in 12 less games that season, but he maintained the same points per game output.
His production slipped significantly last season with 15 goals and 32 points in 78 games.
“Last season was up and down pretty much the whole year,” Kubalik said. “Right from the beginning we got on a losing streak and it’s usually hard to get back and get it going. We just couldn’t figure it out, how to win, how to play. That’s exactly what happened with me, too. I couldn’t find my game. I had some good streaks and some bad moments at the beginning of the season. But right now, it’s a fresh start, it’s a clean table and I’m very excited about the opportunity.”
