The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn posted a list of the NHL teams‘ “contract efficiencies” this morning, and as we already know, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has had to overpay to direct talent toward Detroit, so it’s not surprising that some of his free agency misses give Luszczyszyn the ammunition to rank the Wings 23rd out of 32 teams:
The Alex DeBrincat contract was exactly perfect, no notes. The same can be said for new deals for Klim Kostin and Shayne Gostisbehere, two of the many new additions Steve Yzerman made this summer.
As for the rest of the roster? Some notes.
Daniel Sprong is an incredibly savvy addition to the team in the same vein as Jake Walman a couple years ago. Underused players with high efficiency ratings who have potential to move up the lineup. We saw how it worked for Walman and something similar for Sprong wouldn’t be surprising.
Finding the right defensemen has been a bit of an issue under the Yzerplan and last year’s deal for Ben Chiarot is already a huge disaster. Justin Holl and Olli Maatta aren’t on that level, but neither option looks to add positive value relative to their contracts.
The same thing goes for finding a capable center to play behind Dylan Larkin (who I expect will see his value jump with DeBrincat in town). Andrew Copp struggled in his first season and the J.T. Compher bet doesn’t look safe either unless he finds another offensive gear.
With all the new faces and Detroit hoping for a jump it’ll be interesting to see where the team lands next season. Especially with Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Jonatan Berggren all due for new contracts.
Continued; again, there’s been some over-payment in both term and “terms,” so the Red Wings aren’t exactly tearing things up in the efficiency department. That’s part of being a rebuilding team.
