Month: July 2023

PuckPedia: J.T. Compher has a 10-team no-trade list

Per PuckPedia on Twitter: Red Wings center J.T. Compher’s 5-year contract includes a 10-team no-trade list:

CapFriendly: Red Wings sign C Nolan Stevens

Per CapFriendly:

Stevens is 26 going on 27, and he’s a 6’3,” 190-pound center who played for the AHL’s Utica Comets this past season, posting 15 goals and 18 assists for 33 points in 48 games played.

Update: The Red Wings confirm:

Continue reading CapFriendly: Red Wings sign C Nolan Stevens

Sportsnet’s Bourne offers ‘two sentences’ on every free agent signing, including the Red Wings’ moves

Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne posted a set of comments about every free agent signing of significance this past week…

Klim Kostin, C, Detroit
Contract: Two years, $2 million AAV

I love this bet for the Red Wings, who are a team looking to turn some talented young players into a legitimate playoff team. He’s just 24 and can be the type of useful bottom-six contributor that can thrive in today’s NHL where physical players need to be able to play a bit, too.

…

G James Reimer, Detroit
Contract: One year, $1.5 million AAV

It’s pretty remarkable that, with all the great young goalies that continue to come up over the years, Reimer continues to land one of the 62 NHL goaltending gigs. I don’t say that because he’s bad – he’s not, he’s fine, though I’d bet a bottom-third goalie in the league next year – but rather because it feels like he’s been in the league for 100 years.

…

D Justin Holl, Detroit
Contract: Three years, $3.4 million AAV

William Nylander has been discussed 100 times more, but Holl still may be the most polarizing Leaf over the past four or five years, given few people actually think Nylander is a bad player. Some Leafs fans have thought Holl is done, and they’ve been flat-out wrong for years about a guy who can defend the blueline against top competition.

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D Shayne Gostisbehere, Detroit
Contract: One year, $4.125 million AAV

I have no idea what to make of this guy who obviously has offensive talent, but his teams just don’t seem to trust him. He gets paid well at 30 years old to “prove it,” with “it” being that he’s actually a middle-pair, PP1 guy — because with the way he defends, if he isn’t, he’s gonna stop making so much money.

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G Alex Lyon, DetroitContract: Two years, $900,000 AAVIt’s a simple equation — play well under a bright spotlight, get paid. Lyon is serviceable enough, and at near league minimum, a fine guy on any NHL depth chart.

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C J.T. Compher, Detroit
Contract: Five years, $5.5 million AAV

I like Compher fine, but all I know is the Red Wings’ draft picks better prove themselves to be bonafide studs, cause that’s kinda how it all worked out in the end for Steve Yzerman and those Tampa Bay teams, right? Some of his longer-term UFA fill-in-the-gap deals with Detroit – Andrew Copp 5 x $5.625, Ben Chiarot at 4 x $4.75, now these Compfheer and Holl deals – are generously OK and not exactly pushing the team towards greatness.

…

RW Daniel Sprong, Detroit
Contract: One year, $2 million AAV

Sneaky good signing here. No-risk cost or term and he can drive play.

Continued

Quick note: Friedman reports that the Red Wings are waiving Filip Zadina

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Red Wings have waived Filip Zadina.

The Red Wings would be on the hook for 1/3rd of his remaining salary paid over the next four years:

Update: Never mind:

Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins hire Roope Koistinen as goaltending coach

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Detroit Red Wings on Monday announced the hiring of Roope Koistinen as the goaltending coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Koistinen has been with Karpat’s youth programs in Finland since the 2014-15 campaign, serving in multiple roles for the club. In 2022-23, Karpat U20 allowed the third-fewest goals in the SM-sarja U20 league in Finland with 48 goals allowed in 23 outings (2.09 GAA) with Koistinen as its goaltending coach. The 30-year-old also garnered a 2023 U17 World Hockey Challenge bronze medal with Team Finland, serving as the team’s goaltending coach. As an assistant coach for Finland’s U17 team, he collected another bronze medal at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.

“We’re thrilled to add Roope to the coaching staff.  He brings a wealth of experience developing goaltenders with Karpat and we’re excited to have him here working with our goalies in Grand Rapids,” Griffins general manager Shawn Horcoff said.

Continue reading Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins hire Roope Koistinen as goaltending coach

Via A2Y: The Hockey News’s Proteau deems the Wings to be a free agency ‘loser’

Via Abel to Yzerman comes this list of “Winners and Losers” of the free agency period, per the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau:

The Wings also added talent on the weekend, signing four forwards, two defensemen, and two goaltenders to one-way contracts. But something felt off about many of the deals, mostly because they seemed to be given to players who must play better to justify their new contracts. 

At center, J.T. Compher is now earning $5.1 million through 2027-28, and he’s being paid like a second-liner when in equal likelihood, he’s a third-liner. Winger Christian Fischer got a $1.25-million contract for one year on Sunday, but he needs to rediscover his 33-point rookie season to prove he deserves a longer term and bigger salary next year. 

On defense, Justin Holl somehow got $3.4 million for the next three seasons, and anyone who watched Leafs hockey regularly this past season understands why eyebrows raised when Yzerman gave him that deal. In goal, Ville Husso’s new understudy is 35-year-old journeyman James Reimer, and they brought in Alex Lyon on a two-year, one-way deal as well. 

In a season where five teams from the highly competitive Metropolitan may limit the Atlantic Division to just three playoff sports, the Wings’ moves on the weekend didn’t feel like the final pieces of the championship puzzle. Not even close. Detroit will need all the stars to line up just right to secure a post-season berth, and you know how that usually ends. Not well.

Continued