The Score’s staff compiled a list of power rankings reflecting each and every team’s offseason roster moves, and the Red Wings come in at 20th out of 32 teams:
20. Detroit Red Wings (32-40-10): The Red Wings addressed needs at all position groups this summer and the “Yzerplan” looks to be in great shape. It’s not the end of the world if Detroit misses the playoffs this coming season, but it’s fair to expect some progress.
New Red Wings forward David Perron spent three stints in St. Louis with the Blues, and he spoke with The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford regarding his decision to sign with the Red Wings this past July:
“I’m still in a little bit of shock that it didn’t work out, just kind of the way the years went,” Perron said. “I guess if you see my performance declining or something, then you’re like, ‘Maybe there’s something there.’ That’s still like raw to me. I had to let some of the dust settle and I guess I still have to let that happen.”
In 2020-21, the third of Perron’s four-year, $16 million contract with the Blues, he had 19 goals and a team-high 39 assists, and his point-per-game pace of 58 points in 56 games also led the club. He missed the playoffs with COVID-19.
Prior to the start of the 2021-22 season, a team source said that Perron was offered a two-year, $8 million contract ($4 million AAV) that was declined. Another source familiar with the negotiations said it was a one-year, $4 million offer, and after a successful season, he was looking for a longer contract.
“I didn’t understand why that offer was made, but I was respectful,” Perron said. “There’s a pecking order and I understand (Blues general manager Doug Armstrong) had to re-sign Colton Parayko; he signed eight years and deserved it.
“So yeah, the progression of the young guys, and maybe (Blues coach Craig Berube) wasn’t sure about me. Maybe my performance as I get older, like you don’t want to get burned. We kind of wanted to see some things.”
Continued (paywall) and worth your time…
The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler re-drafted the NHL’s class of 2019, attempting to assuage any mistakes made in terms of evaluating players incorrectly as The Athletic’s resident prospect guru…
And it’s a little surprising to see him ranking both Jack Hughes and Trevor Zegras ahead of Moritz Seider:
Continue reading Seider still third-best in Wheeler’s 2019 re-draftThe Detroit Red Wings did not sign defenseman John Klingberg to the 1-year, $7 million contract which the Swedish rearguard signed with the Anaheim Ducks for several reasons, including team fit (or the lack thereof), the team’s strength on its right side defense, cap space, and, very frankly, probably because Klingberg chose to go to Anaheim after he received their offer.
This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James offers her answer as to why Klingberg didn’t end up wearing red and white, per a reader mailbag question:
Had [GM Steve] Yzerman signed Klingberg, it would have meant jettisoning [Filip] Hronek, and Yzerman made it clear on July 14 that he wasn’t interested in being put in such a situation: “What I wouldn’t want to do is go and sign another free agent, a significant free agent, and put myself in a position where I have to trade somebody, because that’s not a good time to do it.”
Hronek is coming off a subpar season in which he struggled to adapt to losing his spot as the Wings’ top defenseman to Seider. But Hronek is five years younger than Klingberg, and has a respectable 118 points in 245 games on a team that, since Hronek entered the NHL in 2018-19, has not had as much talent as the [Dallas] Stars.
Yzerman signed Hronek for three years, $13.2 million last September. Yzerman clearly sees Hronek, drafted at No. 53 in 2016, as part of the rebuild. Hronek plays bigger than his 6-foot frame, and is a good shooter and passer.
Since being named GM in April 2019, Yzerman has been careful about the contracts he has given to free agents.
When he signed forward Andrew Copp on July 13, it marked the longest (five years) and highest annual average value ($5.625 million) for a deal, but the Wings didn’t have a second-line center. They do have two talented, young right-handed defensemen in Seider (21 years old) and Hronek (24) and with the signings of Chiarot and Määttä, now have two partners who project to strengthen the top-four corps.
Continued; I’m not certain whether Filip Hronek’s presence alone is the reason the Wings didn’t end up signing Klingberg, but I do believe that St. James hits at the nail on the head by suggesting that the Red Wings didn’t need to put themselves in a salary cap bind by signing the soon-to-be-30-year-old Klingberg.
Between the fact that he’s a right-shooting right defenseman, which the Red Wings already have, and the fact that they have to re-sign Filip Zadina and Jake Walman, the Wings didn’t need to tie their hands salary-wise…
And, quite frankly, Steve Yzerman tends to tell you what he’s thinking on the rare occasions that he does speak.
He was blunt and frank in stating that he would be more interested in pursuing a trade with a salary cap-stressed team than he would be interested in signing any more unrestricted free agents this summer, and I believe that he’s going to be good upon his word.
In a subscriber-only article, MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ probable standing in the Atlantic Division via a set of power rankings. Khan feels that the Atlantic Division has gotten more difficult to win thanks to the teams’ offseason machinations, and he doesn’t see the Wings as a playoff team–yet:
5. DETROIT: The Red Wings are much deeper and have a different look following a series of moves. Andrew Copp, David Perron and Dominik Kubalik provide pieces for an upgraded second line and improved power play. Chiarot, Olli Maatta, Robert Hagg, Mark Pysyk (out the first half of the season due to Achilles surgery) and possibly top 2021 pick Simon Edvinsson make for a better defense. Ville Husso is an upgrade over Thomas Greiss. Derek Lalonde, in his first NHL head-coaching job, has enough talent to get the Red Wings over .500 for the first time since 2015-2016, but ending a six-year playoff drought doesn’t seem likely in a tough Eastern Conference.
Continued (paywall)
New Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso spoke with Iltaleti’s Juuso Taipale while taking part in a street hockey tournament in Helsinki, Finland. Here’s a very rough translation of the article, which comes from a very difficult-to-translate language:
Continue reading Roughly translated: Ville Husso speaks with Iltalheti while taking part in a street hockey tournamentVille Husso, who received an award as a hero of the Finnish Lions, didn’t rush home: “The weather was good there, too”
Ville Husso is looking forward to the upcoming season. Fellow Finnish Lion Jussi Olkinuora will also arrive to compete with the goaltender who’s been traded to Detroit.
Ville Husso speaks enthusiastically about the upcoming NHL season. New winds await the 27-year-old goaltender. His time in St. Louis came to an end when the team traded its Finnish player, who had displayed great performances, to the Detroit Red Wings.
“I didn’t come back to Finland until the middle of July. The plan is to fly back at the end of August. Before then, the plan is to train a bit and see family and friends,” Husso tells Iltalheti.
